SACRED LEGACY ARCHIVES™

Leonid Sedov

1907-11-01 – 1999-09-05

Life & Legacy

Leonid Ivanovich Sedov (Russian: Леонид Иванович Седов; 14 November 1907, Rostov-on-Don – 5 September 1999, Moscow) was a Russian physicist who worked as an engineer in the former Soviet space program.
In 1930 Sedov graduated from the Moscow State University, where he had been a student of Sergey Chaplygin, with the degree of Doctor of Physics and Mathematical Sciences. He later became a professor at the university.
During World War II, he devised the so-called Sedov Similarity Solution for a blast wave, now called Taylor–von Neumann–Sedov blast wave after three scientists who did that independently. In 1947 he was awarded the Chaplygin Prize.
He was the first chairman of the USSR Space Exploration program and broke first news of its existence in 1955. He was president of the International Astronautical Federation (IAF) from 1959 to 1961. Until recently, it had been thought that Sedov was the principal engineer behind the Soviet Sputnik project.

Occupation & Career

physicist, university teacher, inventor

Education

Lomonosov Moscow State University; Rostov State University

Accomplishments, Inventions & Publications

Order of the Badge of Honour; Order of the Red Banner of Labour; Order of Lenin; honorary doctor of the University of Poitiers; Hero of Socialist Labour; Commander of the Legion of Honour; Allan D. Emil Memorial Award; Yuri A. Gagarin Gold Medal; Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 4th class; Stalin Prize; Knight of the Legion of Honour; Jubilee Medal "In Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin"; Medal "For Valiant Labour in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945"; Medal "In Commemoration of the 850th Anniversary of Moscow"; VDNKh gold medal; Medal "In Commemoration of the 800th Anniversary of Moscow"; Medal VDNKh; Mikhail Lomonosov Award; Lyapunov Prize; Stalin Prize, 2nd degree; Similarity and Dimensional Methods in Mechanics

Legacy Highlights

Honors & Awards

Allan D. Emil Memorial Award · Commander of the Legion of Honour · Hero of Socialist Labour · honorary doctor of the University of Poitiers · Jubilee Medal "In Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin" · Knight of the Legion of Honour · Lyapunov Prize · Medal "For Valiant Labour in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945" · Medal "In Commemoration of the 800th Anniversary of Moscow" · Medal "In Commemoration of the 850th Anniversary of Moscow" · Medal VDNKh · Mikhail Lomonosov Award · Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 4th class · Order of Lenin · Order of the Badge of Honour · Order of the Red Banner of Labour · Stalin Prize · Stalin Prize, 2nd degree · VDNKh gold medal · Yuri A. Gagarin Gold Medal

Employer

Baranov Central Institute of Aviation Motor Development · Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute · Keldysh Research Center · Lomonosov Moscow State University · Military Institute of Engineering Forces of the Armed Forces Academy · Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology · Moscow Institute of Thermal Technology · Steklov Institute of Mathematics

Organizations & Memberships

Academy of Sciences of the USSR · American Academy of Arts and Sciences · French Academy of Sciences · German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina · Russian Academy of Sciences · Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts