Victor Ambartsumian

Armenia

In 1943 Ambartsumian moved with his family to Yerevan, Soviet Armenia, where he lived until the end of his life. In the same year, he co-founded the Armenian Academy of Sciences along with scientists and scholars Hovsep Orbeli, Hrachia Acharian, Artem Alikhanian, Abram Alikhanov, Manuk Abeghian and others. He served as vice president of the academy until 1947 and as president from 1947 to 1993.

Since 1943 Ambartsumian served as director of the Yerevan Astronomical Observatory. The small observatory was affiliated with Yerevan State University. Ambartsumian had secured a nine-inch telescope from Leningrad for the observatory. Ambartsumian said that before the war "this observatory did not rise significantly above the level of amateur variable star observations. During the war they also carried out photographic observations of variable stars using a small camera." In 1945–1946 Ambartsumian founded the department of astrophysics at Yerevan State University (YSU). He was named professor of astrophysics at YSU in 1947. He served as chair of the department until 1994.

In 1965 Ambartsumian founded the journal Astrofizika (Armenian: Աստղաֆիզիկա, Russian: Астрофизика), which has been published by the Armenian Academy of Sciences since then. It was originally published in Russian, subsequently articles in English began to appear. He served as its editor-in-chief until 1987. The journal has also been published since the first issue in English by Springer in the US as Astrophysics.

Byurakan

In 1946 Ambartsumian founded the Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory in the village of Byurakan, at an altittude of 1,405 m (4,610 ft), on the slopes of Mount Aragats, some 35 km (22 mi) from Yerevan. The first buildings were completed in 1951, though the official inauguration took place in 1956. Observations began to be carried out simultaneous with the construction of the observatory. "Our instruments stood under the open sky, covered with tarpaulin," said Ambartsumian. Ambartsumian initially lived at a house in the village of Byurakan then build a house within the observatory grounds with the money awarded with the 1950 Stalin Prize. Ambartsumian directed the Byurakan Observatory until 1988 and was named its honorary director that year. From 1946 until his death in 1996, the Byurakan Observatory served as Ambartsumian's "institutional base."

In 1960 Ambartsumian secured a Schmidt telescope with 40І (102 cm) correcting plate and 52І (132 cm) mirror for Byurakan. The telescope was reportedly made by Carl Zeiss AG in Nazi Germany in the 1930s and was transferred to Leningrad as spoils of war. It was completed in Leningrad and sent to Armenia. Beginning with 1965, on Ambartsumian's initiative, Benjamin Markarian started the First Byurakan Survey that resulted in the discovery of the Markarian galaxies. A number of international symposiums and meetings were held at Byurakan under Ambartsumian's supervision. In 1968 the observatory was awarded the Order of Lenin, the Soviet Union's highest civilian order for its great merit to the development of science. In 1961 Ambartsumian supervised the establishment of an astrophysical station of Leningrad State University, his alma mater, within the grounds of the Byurakan Observatory. It is where graduate students of the LSU did their summer internships until the late 1980s. It was shut down in 1993.

Ambartsumian and his disciples at the Byurakan Observatory became known in the scholarly literature as the "Byurakan School." From 1977 to 1996 Ambartsumian headed a specialized council for theses defenses at Byurakan. Over 50 scientists defended their PhD (Candidate) and Doctoral theses on astronomy, astrophysics and theoretical physics in those years under Ambartsumian. Though most of the students were graduates of the astrophysics department of Yerevan State University, many came from Russia, Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Hungary, Bulgaria, and elsewhere. Several symposiums of the International Astronomical Union and numerous conferences were held in Byurakan in attendance of Jan Oort, Fritz Zwicky, Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, Pyotr Kapitsa, Vitaly Ginzburg, and others. It was also visited by Soviet leaders Nikita Khrushchev and Leonid Brezhnev.

With the Byurakan Observatory, Ambartsumian "put Armenia on the astronomical map" and made Soviet Armenia "one of the world's centers for the study of astrophysics." By the time of his death in 1996, The New York Times described Byurakan as "one of the world's leading astronomical research centers." As of 1960 the Byurakan Observatory maintained regular contact with 350 research institutions and with scientists from 50 countries.

When Ambartsumian was referred to by foreigners as a Russian scientist, he corrected them by saying he was Armenian. He spoke perfect Armenian, albeit with an accent.

Between 1946 and 1996 Ambartsumian mostly divided his time between Yerevan and Byurakan. He built himself a house within the Byurakan Observatory with the award money that came with his second Stalin Prize in 1950. Since 1960 he also maintained a house next to the building of the Academy of Sciences in Yerevan, on Baghramyan Avenue.

Personality

Donald Lynden-Bell characterized Ambartsumian as a "broad-shouldered thickset man of medium height, quick intellect and strong character." Lynden-Bell and Vahe Gurzadyan wrote that Ambartsumian was modest in private life and behaved simply in public. Fadey Sargsyan described Ambartsumian as an "extremely modest" man. Anthony Astrachan wrote in The New Yorker that Ambartsumian is "by all reports an engaging human being." Ambartsumian admitted to not having any hobbies: "My only passion is science, astronomy. Like a jealous wife, it expects a man to give all of himself." However, he loved poetry and music, and "could enliven even the most abstract mathematical lectures with quotations from classical and contemporary poets."

Family

In 1930 or 1931 Ambartsumian married Vera Fyodorovna (née Klochikhina), an ethnic Russian, who was the niece and the adopted daughter of Pelageya Shajn, the wife of Grigory Shajn, both Russian astronomers. She was an English teacher who taught him to read his papers in English when he visited the U.S. and Britain. However, she could not reconcile with his "barbarous pronunciation," as she described it. He was deeply depressed by her death in 1995. They had four children: daughters Karine (b. 1933) and Yelena (b. 1936) and sons Rafayel (b. 1940) and Rouben (b. 1941). All four became either mathematicians or physicists. As of 1987 he had eight grandchildren.

Retirement and death

Ambartsumian began retiring from the various positions he held in 1988, at 80. He left the position of the director of the Byurakan Observatory that year. In 1993 he stepped down as president of the Armenian Academy of Sciences and in 1994 as chair of astrophysics at Yerevan State University.

Ambartsumian died at his Byurakan house on August 12, 1996, a month short of his 88th birthday. He was buried at the observatory grounds, next to his wife and parents. His funeral was attended by thousands of people, including Armenia's president Levon Ter-Petrosyan.

His house was inaugurated as a museum in August 1998.

Cold War politics

Ambartsumian often signed open letters in support of the official line of the Soviet authorities. In 1971 he was among leading 14 Soviet scientists who signed a letter to U.S. President Richard Nixon in support of Angela Davis and appealed him to "give her an opportunity of continuing her scientific work." In 1983 Ambartsumian was among 244 Soviet scientists who signed a statement attacking U.S. President Ronald Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative ("Star Wars"), namely Reagan's plan for an effective defense against nuclear attack. The scientists stated that Reagan is "creating a most dangerous illusion that may turn into an even more threatening spiral of the arms race."

Ambartsumian's relationship with dissidents was complicated. In 1973 he refused to meet Yuri Orlov, nuclear physicist and a prominent dissident, after having offered him a job in Yerevan. Ambartsumian told him through subordinate that "there are situations when even an Academy member is helpless." In 1975 he was among 72 Soviet scientists who denounced the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to Soviet physicist and dissident Andrei Sakharov.

Armenian causes

Ambartsumian revered the Armenian language and supported its usage. He insisted all internal communication of the Armenian Academy of Sciences be done in Armenian when he became president in 1947. As president of the Armenian Academy of Sciences, Ambartsumian often gave speeches at major events, such as during the commemorations of the 1600th anniversary of Mesrop Mashtots, the inventor of the Armenian alphabet, in 1962 and the 100th anniversary of Hovhannes Tumanyan, Armenia's national poet, in 1969. Ambartsumian stated: "The history of our culture has given many outstanding figures, but of all these figures, the Armenian people owe the most to Mashtots."

Armenian genocide

Ambartsumian delivered a speech on 24 April 1965, on the 50th anniversary of the Armenian genocide, describing it as "extermination of the Armenian population of Western Armenia." He linked it to the 45th anniversary of Soviet Armenia and the revival of the Armenian people as a result of the October Revolution. In an article published in Pravda on 24 April 1975 Ambartsumian linked the Armenian genocide to the Holocaust and blamed German imperialism during World War I for inspiring the Young Turks and the capitalist states for failing to defend the innocent Armenian population and praised the October Revolution for saving the Armenian nation.

Nagorno-Karabakh

Ambartsumian played a role in the Karabakh movement and was vocal in the initial phase of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. In November 1989, the Ambartsumian-led Armenian Academy of Sciences issued a statement protesting the decision of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union to return Nagorno-Karabakh under the direct control of Soviet Azerbaijan.

In September 1990 Ambartsumian and four other Armenians, including writer Zori Balayan and actor Sos Sargsyan, went on a hunger strike at the Hotel Moskva in Moscow to protest the military rule over Nagorno-Karabakh declared by Mikhail Gorbachev. Ambartsumian celebrated his 82nd birthday hunger striking. He insisted that Gorbachev had violated the Soviet constitution by keeping Nagorno-Karabakh under direct rule from Moscow. "This is a bad thing when a government does not abide by its own laws," he argued. He also stated: "My desire is that Karabakh be part of Armenia. This is a problem that has to be solved with a long process and with concessions." Ambartsumian stated that his only demand is that the "elected leaders of Nagorno-Karabakh regain control." Ambartsumian called the hunger strike a "modest step" aimed at making a "huge resonance in the world—to let the world know." The Soviet authorities "totally ignored" the strike. He ended it after 9 days only when Catholicos Vazgen I persuaded him to do so.

On 11 May 1991 Ambartsumian and a number of members of the Armenian Academy of Sciences wrote a letter to Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev expressing their concern with the forced expulsion of ethnic Armenians from parts of NKAO and Shahumian rayon as part of Operation Ring.

Soviet collapse and independence of Armenia

In June 1991 the session of the Armenian Academy of Sciences issued a statement on its views on Armenian independence and the future of the Soviet Union. The Academy stated its unconditional support for the independence of Armenia, pushed at the time by the Pan-Armenian National Movement (HHSh). However, it argued that because Armenia is economically interconnected with and dependent on other Soviet republics, an abrupt disruption in the existing relations would result in "unimaginable levels of economic collapse, unemployment and emigration." Thus, they called for Armenia to join the New Union Treaty proposed by Gorbachev. The session also argued that leaving the Soviet Union would mean to abandon Nagorno-Karabakh.

As a communist, Ambartsumian reportedly regretted the collapse of the Soviet Union, but voted for Armenia's independence in the 1991 referendum. He appreciated independent Armenia, but reminded Armenians that they will be paying a high price for it. In 1995 he congratulated Armenians worldwide with Armenia's independence and stated that the newly independent republic is "moving forward." According to Yuri Shahbazyan, a friend and biographer of Ambartsumian, he remained sympathetic towards the Communist Party of Russia and was critical of Western-sponsored economic liberalization in Russia and other post-Soviet countries.