Ivan Knunyants
Ivan Lyudvigovich Knunyants (Armenian: Իվան Կնունյանց, Russian: Иван Людвигович Кнунянц; 4 June [O.S. 22 May] 1906 – 21 December 1990), was a Soviet chemist of Armenian origin, academician of the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union, a major general and engineer, who significantly contributed to the advancement of Soviet chemistry.[1] He made more than 200 inventions, many of which used in the Soviet industry.
Ivan Knunyants | |
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| Born | Ivan Lyudvigovich Knunyants June 4, 1906 |
| Died | December 21, 1990 (aged 84) |
| Nationality | Soviet Union |
| Known for | One of major developers of Soviet chemical weapons program |
| Awards | Hero of Socialist Labour (1966) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Chemistry |
Graduated from Moscow Bauman Highest Technical School (MVTU) 1928, student of Aleksei Chichibabin. Leader of laboratory for elementooranic chemistry.
He was one of the pioneers of the synthesis of poly-caprolactam (capron, nylon-6, polyamide-6), founder of Soviet school of fluorocarbon's chemistry, one of major developers of Soviet chemical weapons program, also an author of a few drugs for chemotherapy of cancer.
He proposed the method of getting the 5-hydroxypentan-2-one from ethyl ethanoate and oxirane, also used in the industrial synthesis of vitamin B. His scientific group synthesized compounds containing fluorine, along with nitro-, amino-hydroxy-isoquinoline-air and other groups.
Awards
- Hero of Socialist Labour (1966)
- Order of Lenin (1966)
- Lenin Prize (1972)
- Three Stalin Prizes (1943, 1948 and 1950)
- Order of the October Revolution
- Order of the Red Banner
- Order of the Red Banner of Labour
- Order of the Red Star
See also
References
- (in Russian) Biography
- (in Russian) I.L. Knunyants Laboratory at Korovy Brod, Chemistry and Life, N6, 1981
- (in Russian) Knunyants entry on the All-Russia Genealogical Tree site
- (in Russian) Ivan Knunyants on warheroes.ru
- Кнунянц Иван Людвигович in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 1969–1978 (in Russian)