The way of a scientist...

"The way of a scientist... is... the path from the contemplation of facts and phenomena to abstract thinking and analysis, and from there to practical implementation of conclusions, which is the basis of scientific progress in the world."

The two-time recipient of the Hero of Socialist Labor Award (1949 and 1954)

The recipient of four state awards (1941, 1949, 1951 and 1953)

The recipient of the Lenin Prize (1960)

Holder of the Order of Lenin, Red Star, Order of the Red Banner of Labor, medals For Distinguished Labor and For Valiant Labor during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.

Honored Worker of Science and Technology, Professor, Academician of USSR Academy of Sciences, 1946

Director of VNIINM (1952-1984)

Andrey Bochvar was an outstanding metal scientist, Academician, a two-time Hero of Socialist labor, the winner of the Lenin, four Stalin and State Awards, the Honored Worker of Science and Technology of the RSFSR, founder of the Russian school of radiation materials science.

By force of circumstances, A. A. Bochvar, was one of Soviet (Russian) scientists whose life and work were covered with a veil of the strictest secrecy and were revealed to the general public only relatively recently, although his name is by right on a par with such figures of world significance Khlopin, Yu. Khariton, Ya. Zeldovich, and others.

The life of Andrey Bochvar is a vivid confirmation of the falseness of the popular idea that nature "takes a rest" on the children of talented parents. He was born on August 8, 1902, in the family of a scientist, the founder of the Moscow school of metal science, Professor Anatoly Bochvar, who in the early 20th century organized the first metallurgical and metallographic laboratories in Moscow.

The disciples and followers of Professor A. M. Bochvar greatly contributed to the studies of ferrous and non-ferrous metals, but even among a whole galaxy of famous scientists, the son of the Professor, Andrey Bochvar, was particularly prominent. The future academician almost repeated the fate of his father, by graduating in 1923 from the Chemical Department of the Moscow State Technical University. A. A. Bochvar showed an interest in research very early in his life: as a student in 1922, he actively carried out scientific and pedagogical work, held the positions of assistant and Assistant Department Professor of the Moscow State Technical University, the Pedagogical Institute named after K. Libknecht and the Plekhanov Institute.

In 1925-1928, Andrey Anatolyevich completed an internship in Germany, at the Goettingen Institute under Professor G. Tamman, where he studied crystallization conditions of eutectic systems. In 1926, the young scientist theoretically predicted and experimentally confirmed that the temperature of the beginning of recrystallization of all pure metals is a certain fraction of their melting temperature on the Kelvin scale. This provision later became known as the "Bochvar rule", and was included in all textbooks on metal science and heat treatment of metals.

The career of a young scientist developed rapidly. In 1930, Andrey Anatolyevich started work at the Moscow Institute of Non-Ferrous Metals and Gold named after M. I. Kalinin (MITZMbZ), presently it is TU MISiS. In 1931, after had become a Professor, he headed the Department of Metal Science, founded by his father.

In 1935, at the age of 33, A. A. Bochvar successfully defended his doctoral dissertation. Interestingly enough, this was the country's first doctoral work in metal science. In 1939, the scientist was elected a Corresponding Fellow of USSR Academy of Sciences, and in 1946 he became an Academician.

In many ways, the 1930s were the period when the national metal science was born, and work of A. A. Bochvar played a significant role in this process.

In 1931, he published a textbook on heat treatment of metals, in 1935 -- on metal science. These textbooks, which have passed many editions (5 editions are known), were used to train several generations of domestic researchers and workers of various applied industries.

Speaking generally, one distinctive feature of A. A. Bochvar was his ability to transfer the results of scientific research into practical application. This talent, apparently, passed on to him from his father. As an example, the method of shaped casting with crystallization under pressure developed by him in cooperation with Professor A. G. Spassky in 1936 was quickly introduced into production and was widely used during the Great Patriotic War, especially in the foundries of aircraft factories. For this work, Andrey Anatolyevich received his first government award - the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, and his first prize -- in 1941, he became the Winner of the Stalin Prize.

Late 1930s and early 1940s for the whole country and, of course, for A. A. Bochvar was an intense time of discoveries and accumulation of experience. It is no wonder that during this period two more foreign business trips followed: in 1937 -- to France where he studied the production of light alloys, and in 1940-1941 -- to Germany, where Andrey Bochvar found out the production of magnesium and its alloys.

This knowledge was very useful during the war, when A. A. Bochvar was actively involved in solving the problems of the defense industry, participated in the development of new alloys and in the search of methods to replace scarce strategic materials.

One of the most important discoveries in his life was made by Andrey Anatolyevich made in 1945, when together with his student Z. A. Svidersky he discovered the phenomenon of superplastic alloys. The practical possibilities of using this phenomenon have not been overused till present days, and the article by A. A. Bochvar in the "Reports of USSR Academy of Sciences" Journal for 1945, especially after the publication in the United States in 1962 of the review of Soviet periodicals on superplasticity, became one of the most cited in the world of metal studies.

A seminal milestone for Academician A. A. Bochvar was the Soviet Nuclear Project. Igor Kurchatov, the Research Director and the organizer of the nuclear bomb project, invited Andrey Anatolyevich, as the best metal scientist in the country and the scientist of global renown, to lead a new research direction – reactor (radiation) materials science. From that moment on, the academician's life for many years was connected with the nuclear industry and VNIINM, which today proudly bears his name and is known to the scientific elite as the "Advanced Research Institute of Inorganic Materials named after Academician A. A. Bochvar”. The Institute is part of the management structure of the Rosatom fuel department, TVEL, and is known as a multi-disciplinary state research center.

Originally, in 1946, A. A. Bochvar was engaged as a scientific consultant, but in November 1947 he became the head of a special department whose main task was to study plutonium and uranium.

With the direct participation and under the scientific guidance of Andrey Anatolyevich, not only the research was carried out, but unique technologies were developed, so that the country was able to obtain nuclear weapons in a short time, thereby ending the US monopoly in this area.

The successful test of the RDS-1 (the first Soviet nuclear bomb) earned Andrey Bochvar the first Star of the Hero of Socialist Labor, the highest award of the Soviet Union.

it should not go unspoken that A. A. Bochvar used his ability to attract the best specialists to solve such a complex problem.  The most valuable feature of the team of like-minded people created by him was that the team combined the various qualities. It would be enough to tell some names, such as academician I. I. Chernyaev, Corresponding Fellow S. T. Konobeevsky, Corresponding Fellow N. A. Izgaryshev, Academician A. N. Volsky, Corresponding Fellow A. S. Zaimovski, Corresponding Fellow V. V. Andrey Fomin, to prove both the scientific talent and his organizational abilities.

In 1953, the first Soviet thermonuclear bomb was successfully tested. The role played by A. A.  Bochvar and his research team in its development was appreciated by the Government: he was awarded his second Star of the Hero of Socialist Labor. Many employees of the Institute were also awarded orders and medals. By that time, the Institute has been already headed by Academician A. A. Bochvar, who remained its continuous Director until his death in 1984.

We would like to cite a comment of Academician Yu. Khariton in an interview as proof of the highest assessment of the contribution of Andrey Bochvar to the solution of the most important task of ensuring the country's defense capability. In response to the statement of a journalist who called Yuli Borisovich the "father" of the Soviet nuclear bomb, Academician Khariton said: "This is not so. The development of the bomb required the efforts of a tremendous number of people. Plutonium metallurgy -- that was the prime accomplishment of Andrey Bochvar!".

The knowledge and experience accumulated in the course of this specialized work became the basis for the gradual transformation of the "Institute of Special Metals", as VNIINM was called at that time, into a complex multi-disciplinary research organization, which was fully facilitated by the high authority of A. Bochvar. At the same time, a most important and promising process was underway -- the formation of a scientific school in the broadest sense of the word. Top graduates of many universities in the country sought to be taken "under wing" by the Academician, since this almost certainly guaranteed participation in interesting and promising work. As they say today, this provided a "social lift" and motivation. But at the same time, it was necessary to meet the high standards that, according to his students, academician Bochvar imposed on both potential and current employees. Being aware of national and foreign scientific publications and literature (since he read fluently in three European languages), the Academician demanded the same from his employees, and did not accept objections related to ignorance of foreign languages.

The Director of the Institute carefully monitored the thoroughness of scientific research and the formalization of the results, because he had tolerance to self-indulgence and unreliability. The Academician A. A. detested when someone would pass everyday work off as something out of the ordinary, and at the slightest attempt by any of the employees to glorify their achievements he became harsh and intolerant.

Throughout his leadership of the Institute, an enormous number of fundamental and applied researches were carried out with the direct participation and under the leadership of academician A. Bochvar. A significant contribution to the development of nuclear reactors for peaceful purposes was made in energy, transport and research applications, to the development and implementation of structural and fissile materials in the FR and FA, of RW (radioactive waste) and SNF (spent nuclear fuel) treatment technologies. For the first time ever, superconducting materials for thermonuclear reactors were studied, obtained, and then implemented.

The more than 30-year leadership of the Institute, which has become a potent research center over the years, is characterized primarily by the fact that A. A. Bochvar created one of the best material science research schools in the country, which became not only the foundry of scientific specialists, but also bred many highly qualified research and production facilitators. The meticulous approach of the Academician to thesis defense carried out in VNIINM also contributed to the professional growth of the Institute's experts and industrial companies. A. Bochvar constantly followed the changes in the requirements of the higher attestation introduced by State Commission for Academic Degrees and Titles of USSR, and strictly monitored their implementation.

There is truth behind the saying that a talented person is talented in everything. By force of circumstances, A. A. Bochvar was an outstanding scientist, a patient teacher, an excellent organizer of the scientific process and a very engaging person. Everyone who had come across him over the years of working together felt this. Not everyone, however, could observe their Director and supervisor in an off-duty environment. That was not because the Academician created a distance between himself and others artificially. The reason for this was the extraordinary modesty and unwillingness to “shine" and use the official position for personal interests. I. V. Kurchatov even called Andrey Anatolyevich "Withdrawer".

Andrey Bochvar's great authority at all the levels of human and administrative relations is confirmed by the rarest fact in the country's history: despite the fact that he was neither a Komsomol member nor a member of the Communist (Bolshevik) Party, he was continuously reelected as a People’s Deputy -- in 1939 for the Moscow City Council, and starting 1951 -- for the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR.

The country highly appreciated the merits of Andrey Anatolyevich Bochvar: he was twice named the Hero of Socialist Labor, the holder of six Orders of Lenin, three Orders of the Red Banner, the Order of the Red Star, the Order of the October Revolution and numerous medals. A bust of the Academician was erected while he was still alive. Today, the bust is located on the territory of JSC "VNIINM", at the center of corporate activities of the Institute. Many guests of the company express the special desire to be photographed near the bust of A. A. Bochvar for good memory. VNIINM, JSC cherishes and preserves the memory of its outstanding Director: memorial plaques shine on the facades of the two process department buildings where Andrey Anatolyevich worked, always polished to a high gloss.

After the death of A. A. Bochvar, the Institute of Inorganic Materials, a research Institute to which he dedicated more than 30 years of fruitful work, one of the streets in Moscow, located near the Institute, an ocean-going refrigerator ship, and a mountain peak in the Altai territory were named after him. There are memorial plaques on the facade of the house where he lived on Tverskaya Street, and in one of the buildings of TU MISiS, where he headed a department for more than 30 years.

In 2002, in the year of the 100th anniversary of the Academician's birth, the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences decided to establish the Andrey Bochvar Prize of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Several contemporary Russian scientists have already won this unique award.

VNIINM, JSC traditionally hosts the annual Bochvar scientific competition, where participants present their best experimental designs, scientific, engineering, design and research works within the entire range of the Institute's research areas.

But the most important thing is the scientific schools created by Bochvar, the traditions developed by his fellow-thinkers, the memory of him and his contribution to international science as an outstanding Russian scientist, and the memory of this person, which is cherished in the hearts of his students and followers.