A man of essence: Academician Velikhov has been farewelled in Moscow

A farewell ceremony was held in Moscow for Yevgeny Velikhov, an outstanding specialist in the field of thermonuclear fusion and plasma physics, honorary president of the Kurchatov Institute and academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences. In addition to the main areas to which the scientist devoted his life, those present at the farewell ceremony noted his achievements as a major statesman and organizer of science, who participated in the implementation of breakthrough projects of our time. In particular, the ITER mega-installation, the Internet in Russia and the development of the Arctic. They also spoke about Velikhov's outstanding qualities as a teacher and a citizen.

Achievements of a great scientist

On December 9, the scientific world bid farewell to the outstanding scientist Yevgeny Velikhov, a specialist in thermonuclear fusion and plasma physics, honorary president of the Kurchatov Institute and an academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

He died on December 5 at the age of 89. The farewell ceremony and civil funeral service were held in Moscow in the House of Scientists named after Academician Alexandrov. The academician was buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery.

- Evgeny Velikhov is an outstanding person, a bright and extremely multifaceted personality. It is easier to say what he did not do than to list all his achievements. Any idea he came into contact with turned into a global project. In particular, thermonuclear fusion became a worldwide phenomenon thanks to his efforts. Also, the Internet and information technologies, which everyone uses now, are to a large extent his merit," Mikhail Kovalchuk, President of the Kurchatov Institute, noted at the farewell ceremony. Mikhail Kovalchuk.

He also said that Evgeny Velikhov is one of the founders of thermonuclear fusion. Since 1973 he has headed this direction as a scientific leader of all such research in our country. In addition, he made a significant contribution to the development and creation of tokamaks - thermonuclear reactors based on magnetic traps. Among other things, he initiated the international ITER project, a mega-installation for the development of thermonuclear energy on an industrial scale. Since 1992, for two decades he held various management positions in the project.

At the same time, Velikhov worked at the Kurchatov Institute for more than 60 years. Since 1989, he served as director, and then as president and honorary president of the institute. Mikhail Kovalchuk noted that it was largely due to his efforts that the Kurchatov Institute was able to adequately overcome the critical years of the 1990s and stay afloat as a leading research center.

Diverse interests

According to Mikhail Kovalchuk, in addition to fusion, Velikhov was involved in many other scientific fields, including laser systems, microelectronics, nanotechnology, network communications, and cognitive research. Due to his diverse interests, he was vice president of the USSR Academy of Sciences and the Russian Academy of Sciences from 1977 to 1996. From 2005 to 2014, he served as Secretary of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation and later became its Honorary Secretary.

- Evgeny Pavlovich was a bright man, from whom warmth and goodwill emanated. He generated ideas, many of which have already been realized, while others are yet to be implemented," said Assistant to the President of the Russian Federation Andrei Fursenko.

According to him, the great physicist belongs to the generation of people thanks to whom Russian science was preserved during the difficult period and is now entering a new stage of development.

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The ITER project, the first Internet connection in the Russian Federation and many other achievements were made possible thanks to the work of the scientist

President of the Russian Academy of Sciences Gennady Krasnikov noted the diligence with which Evgeny Velikhov defended the interests of scientists in the most difficult years - at the historical turning point, when the country was changing and science was not given due attention.

- As a bright original personality, he did his best, used his authority to prepare a solid scientific foundation for modern Russia during the turning point," he said.

According to him, Velikhov is an example of how one can faithfully serve science despite inconvenient circumstances.

Alexei Likhachev, head of the state corporation Rosatom, called on the great scientist to be immortalized in his speech. He emphasized that communication with Velikhov turned into wise mentoring. The academician was able not only to define horizons, but also to point out to science the directions of tomorrow. He also had the ability to promote and organize the implementation of these projects like a diplomat, negotiating with national leaders.

- Among other things, the scientist took an active part in the organization "Soviet Scientists in Defense of the World from the Nuclear Threat", which was able to show the scale of possible destruction as a result of nuclear war and prove that there will be no winners in it, - cited as an example of the problems of global scale, which directly dealt with Evgeny Velikhov, Director of the A.F. Ioffe Institute of Physics and Technology Sergei Ivanov.

He added that the academician made efforts to prevent the nuclear threat until the last days of his life.

At the same time, as Alexander Rodin, executive director of the Scientific and Technical Center for Environmental Monitoring and Ecology of the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, told Izvestia, Velikhov belonged to the category of people who were always ready to assume maximum responsibility and replace any fallen member of the team. In particular, it was said about him that after the Chernobyl accident, he would not leave his computer for 24 hours a day and grew thick stubble, not trusting junior colleagues with the most important calculations.