Photo: Unknown (Mondadori Publishers), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons²³

Pyotr Kapitsa

Russian and Soviet physicist (1894–1984)

Pyotr Leonidovich Kapitsa (Russian: Пётр Леонидович Капица; Romanian: Petre Capița; 9 July [O.S. 27 June] 1894 – 8 April 1984), also known as Peter Kapitza, was a Russian and Soviet physicist, whose research focused on low-temperature physics. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1978.²

From Wikipedia’s article on Pyotr Kapitsa (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Born Jul 8, 1894, died Apr 8, 1984.¹

Companies

KriogenmashFounder²²

Early life and education

Date not recordedUniversity of Cambridge³
Date not recordedTrinity College³
Since 1914Saint Petersburg Polytechnic Institute³

Career

Occupation: professor, inventor, physicist.⁹

Since 1956Worked at Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology⁴
Since 1943Worked at Lomonosov Moscow State University⁴
1935 to 1946Director, P.L. Kapitza Institute for Physical Problems RAS⁴
1935 to 1946Chair, P.L. Kapitza Institute for Physical Problems RAS⁸
Date not recordedWorked at A.V. Shubnikov Institute of Crystallography⁴
Date not recordedWorked at Peter the Great Saint Petersburg State Polytechnical University⁴
Date not recordedWorked at University of Cambridge⁴
Date not recordedWorked at Ioffe Institute⁴
Date not recordedDirector, P.L. Kapitza Institute for Physical Problems RAS⁴
Date not recordedFounded Geliymash⁵
Date not recordedFounded Kriogenmash⁶
Date not recordedFounded P.L. Kapitza Institute for Physical Problems RAS⁷
Date not recordedChair, P.L. Kapitza Institute for Physical Problems RAS⁸

Personal life

BornJul 8, 1894, Kronstadt^{10 11}
DiedApr 8, 1984, Moscow^{12 13}
CitizenshipRussian Empire, Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic, Soviet Union^{14 15}
SpouseAnna Krylova¹⁶

Pyotr Kapitsa had the nickname "Centaurus". This arose when once Artem Alikhanian asked Kapitsas' student Shalnikov "is your supervisor a human or a beast?" to which Shalnikov responded that he is a Centaurus, i.e. he can be human but also he can get angry and hit you with hooves like a horse. Kapitsa was married in 1927 to Anna Alekseyevna Krylova (1903–1996), daughter of applied mathematician Aleksey Krylov. They had two sons, Sergey and Andrey. Sergey Kapitsa (1928–2012) was a physicist and demographer. Kapitsa was also the host of the popular and long-running Russian scientific TV show Evident, but Incredible. Andrey Kapitsa (1931–2011) was a geographer. He was credited with the discovery and naming of Lake Vostok, the largest subglacial lake in Antarctica, which lies 4,000 meters below the continent's ice cap.

Kapitsa had the ear of people high up in the Soviet government, due to the usefulness to industry of his discoveries, regularly writing letters on matters of science policy. In particular, he saved both Vladimir Fock and Lev Landau from Stalin's purges of the 1930s, telling Vyacheslav Molotov that Landau was the only one who would be able to solve an important physics puzzle of the time.

Kapitsa died on 8 April 1984 in Moscow, at the age 89.

From Wikipedia’s article on Pyotr Kapitsa (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Awards

1981Helmholtz Medal¹⁷
1978Nobel Prize in Physics^{17 21}
1974Hero of Socialist Labour¹⁷
1974Order of Lenin¹⁷
1973Simon Memorial Prize¹⁷
1971Order of Lenin¹⁷
1968Kamerlingh Onnes Award¹⁷
1966Rutherford Medal and Prize^{17 20}
1965Niels Bohr International Gold Medal¹⁷
1964Order of Lenin¹⁷

More awards (19)

1964Order of the Partisan Star¹⁷
1959Cothenius Medal¹⁷
1959Lomonosov Gold Medal^{17 19}
1954Order of the Red Banner of Labour¹⁷
1945Hero of Socialist Labour¹⁷
1945Order of Lenin¹⁷
1945doctor honoris causa from the University of Paris¹⁷
1944Franklin Medal¹⁷
1944Order of Lenin¹⁷
1944doctor honoris causa from the University of Alger^{17 18}
1943Order of Lenin¹⁷
1943State Stalin Prize, 1st degree¹⁷
1942Faraday Medal¹⁷
1941State Stalin Prize, 1st degree¹⁷
Date not recordedJubilee Medal "In Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin"¹⁷
Date not recordedMedal "For Valiant Labour in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945"¹⁷
Date not recordedMedal "For the Defence of Moscow"¹⁷
Date not recordedMedal "In Commemoration of the 800th Anniversary of Moscow"¹⁷
Date not recordedMedal "Veteran of Labour"¹⁷

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

1
WikidataPyotr Kapitsa on Wikidata
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WikipediaPyotr Kapitsa on Wikipedia
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WikidataPyotr Kapitsa: education, on Wikidata
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WikidataPyotr Kapitsa: Worked at A.V. Shubnikov Institute of Crystallography, on Wikidata
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WikidataPyotr Kapitsa: Founded Geliymash, on Wikidata
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WikidataPyotr Kapitsa: Founded Kriogenmash, on Wikidata
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WikidataPyotr Kapitsa: Founded P.L. Kapitza Institute for Physical Problems RAS, on Wikidata
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WikidataPyotr Kapitsa: Chair, P.L. Kapitza Institute for Physical Problems RAS, on Wikidata
9
WikidataPyotr Kapitsa: occupation, on Wikidata
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WikidataPyotr Kapitsa: place of birth, on Wikidata
11
Wikidataplace of birth, as reported
12
WikidataPyotr Kapitsa: place of death, on Wikidata
13
Wikidataplace of death, as reported by Great Norwegian Encyclopedia
14
WikidataPyotr Kapitsa: citizenship, on Wikidata
15
Wikidatacitizenship, as reported
16
WikidataPyotr Kapitsa: spouse, on Wikidata
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WikidataPyotr Kapitsa: award, on Wikidata
18
Wikidataaward, as reported
19
Wikidataaward, as reported
20
Wikidataaward, as reported
21
Wikidataaward, as reported
22
WikidataKriogenmash, Founder
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Wikimedia CommonsPyotr Kapitsa photo by Unknown (Mondadori Publishers), Public domain