For forty years now, the outstanding Soviet scientist Mstislav Vsevolodovich Keldysh has not been with us. He passed away on June 24, 1978.
Mstislav Vsevolodovich was rightfully a luminary of domestic science, a well-known scientist in the country and the world in the field of applied mathematics and mechanics. He was one of the ideologists of the Soviet space program, a man who devoted his life to the development of Soviet science, and a prominent statesman. From 1961 to 1975, he was President of the USSR Academy of Sciences.
The famous Soviet scientist was born in Riga on February 10 (January 28, old style), 1911, in the family of an associate professor of the Riga Polytechnic Institute and a prominent civil engineer Vsevolod Mikhailovich Keldysh (in the future, an academician of architecture). Professor and Major General of the Engineering and Technical Service, he was considered the founder of the methodology for calculating building structures, later he would be called “the father of Russian reinforced concrete”. The mother of the future famous scientist, Maria Alexandrovna (nee Skvortsova), was a housewife.
Mstislav Keldysh's parents came from noble families, knew foreign languages, in particular German and French, loved music and art, played the piano. The family was large, it had seven children, while Mstislav was the fifth child. Parents devoted a lot of time to the upbringing and development of their children, worked with them.
After German troops approached Riga in 1915, the Keldysh family was evacuated to Moscow. Having safely survived the revolutionary events, in 1919-1923 they lived in Ivanovo, where the head of the family taught at the local polytechnic institute. In 1923 they returned to the capital again. In Moscow, Mstislav Keldysh studied at a special school with a construction bias (experimental demonstration school No. 7), in the summer he often went with his father to various construction sites, talked a lot and worked with ordinary handymen. At the same time, even while studying in grades 7-8, Keldysh began to show great abilities in mathematics, teachers noted the outstanding abilities of the young man in the field of exact sciences.
In 1927, he successfully graduated from school and was going to become a builder, continuing the path of his father, but he was not admitted to the civil engineering institute because of his age, at that time he was only 16 years old. Taking the advice of his older sister Lyudmila, who graduated from the Physics and Mathematics Faculty of Moscow State University, he entered the same faculty the same year. Since the spring of 1930, Mstislav Keldysh, simultaneously with his studies at the Lomonosov Moscow State University, worked as an assistant at the Electrical Machine Building Institute, and then also at the Machine Tool Institute.
In 1931, after graduating from Moscow State University, Keldysh was sent to the Zhukovsky Central Aerodynamic Institute (TsAGI). He worked at this institute until 1946. Having come a long way from an engineer to a senior engineer and team leader, he became the head of the dynamic strength department (this was in 1941). Since 1932, already working at TsAGI, Mstislav Keldysh also lectured at Moscow State University, doing a lot of teaching.
While working at TsAGI, Mstislav Keldysh did a lot for the development of Soviet aircraft construction. A number of important studies in the field of aerohydrodynamics were carried out under his direct supervision. As a TsAGI specialist, in the fall of 1934 he entered the postgraduate course (later supplemented by a two-year doctorate) at the Steklov Mathematical Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. In 1935 he successfully defended his dissertation, after which he was awarded the degree of candidate of physical and mathematical sciences, in 1937 - the degree of candidate of technical sciences and the title of professor in the specialty "aerodynamics". On February 26, 1938, Mstislav Vsevolodovich successfully defended his doctoral dissertation, becoming a doctor of physical and mathematical sciences. In the same year, he became a member of the Scientific and Technical Council of TsAGI, later becoming a member of the Scientific Council of this institute.
During the Great Patriotic War, Mstislav Vsevolodovich Keldysh worked at various Soviet aircraft factories, and, as the head of the dynamic strength department of TsAGI, supervised work on the problem of vibrations in aircraft construction. It should be noted that in the 1930s and 1940s, getting rid of the "flutter" (spontaneous vibration of the wing with an increase in the aircraft's flight speed) was one of the most pressing problems. Thanks to the work carried out by Keldysh together with his colleagues, a solution was found that allowed the development of high-speed aviation. For their work in this area, Mstislav Vsevolodovich Keldysh and Yevgeny Pavlovich Grossman were awarded the Stalin Prize of the II degree in 1942, and a year later Keldysh received his first Order of the Red Banner of Labor.
Simultaneously with his main work, even during the war years, Mstislav Vsevolodovich did not stop teaching at Moscow State University. From 1942 to 1953 Professor headed the Department of Thermodynamics at Moscow State University and taught a course in mathematical physics. Then, during the war years, on September 29, 1943, Mstislav Vsevolodovich was elected a corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Sciences for the Department of Physical and Mathematical Sciences. In 1946 he became a full member of the Academy, in 1953 a member of its Presidium, in 1960-61, vice-president, and since 1961 - president of the USSR Academy of Sciences.
At the same time, the significance of Mstislav Keldysh's research for the development of mathematics in our country and in the world was no less than his work in the field of aerodynamics and research in the interests of the aviation industry. His work on differential equations and approximation theory, functional analysis surprised many of his colleagues by the fact that he could formulate problems to be solved in a simple form. Keldysh was fluent in many of the branches of mathematical science, being able to find the most unexpected analogies, which contributed to the effective use of the existing mathematical apparatus, as well as the creation of new methods. The works of this Soviet scientist in mathematics and mechanics in the mid-1940s received not only recognition from colleagues, but also brought the scientist fame in the scientific world, including far beyond the borders of the Soviet Union.
After the end of the Great Patriotic War, Mstislav Vsevolodovich Keldysh worked on the creation of Soviet missile systems and atomic weapons. In 1946, Keldysh was appointed head of the Jet Research Institute (NII-1 of the Ministry of Aviation Industry, today the Research Center (IC) named after M. V. Keldysh), which was engaged in solving applied problems of rocketry. From August 1950 to 1961, he was the scientific director of NII-1, the main direction of his activity was associated with the development of Soviet rocket technology. In 1951, Keldysh was one of the initiators of the creation of the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, located in the Moscow region in the city of Dolgoprudny. Here he lectured and was the head of one of the departments.
Mstislav Keldysh was directly involved in the work on the creation of the Soviet thermonuclear bomb. For this, in 1946, he organized a special settlement bureau at the Steklov Mathematical Institute. In 1956, for his participation in the creation of thermonuclear weapons, Mstislav Vsevolodovich was awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor, later he will become three times Hero of Socialist Labor (1956, 1961 and 1971). In the USSR, Mstislav Keldysh was one of the founders of the work on the creation of rocket and space systems and the study of the vastness of space, it is no coincidence that he entered the Council of Chief Designers, which was headed by Sergei Pavlovich Korolev.
Since the mid-1950s, he has been engaged in theoretical substantiation and research in the field of putting artificial bodies into near-earth orbit, and in the future - flights to the Moon and planets of the solar system. In 1954, together with S. Korolev, a letter was submitted to the government with a proposal to create an artificial Earth satellite (AES). Already on January 30, 1956, Mstislav Keldysh was appointed chairman of the special commission of the USSR Academy of Sciences on artificial earth satellites. The scientist was able to play a very important role in the creation of a carrier rocket in our country designed to launch satellites into orbit according to scientific programs (spacecraft of the "Cosmos" family). Supervised the "lunar" program, including flights to the natural satellite of the Earth of automatic Soviet stations "Luna". In addition, Keldysh took part in programs aimed at studying Venus by robotic space stations of the Venera family. Considering his contribution to space exploration, in 1960 he was appointed chairman of the established Interdepartmental Scientific and Technical Council for Space Research at the USSR Academy of Sciences.
Heading the Academy of Sciences from 1961 to 1975, Mstislav Vsevolodovich provided all-round support for the development of mathematical science and mechanics in our country, as well as the development of new areas of science, which included cybernetics, molecular biology, genetics and quantum electronics. In addition to his main work, the scientist was a member of various commissions on space problems. In particular, he was the chairman of the emergency commission, which was engaged in establishing the circumstances and reasons for the death of the crew of the Soyuz-11 spacecraft. Mstislav Keldysh made a huge contribution to the implementation of the first joint Soviet-American space flight within the framework of the Soyuz-Apollo program, as well as the development of flights within the Intercosmos program. In the last years of his life, Mstislav Vsevolodovich paid a lot of attention to the work on the creation of solar power plants located in orbit, this problem really fascinated him.
The scientist's merits were highly appreciated at home. Mstislav Vsevolodovich Keldysh was three times Hero of Socialist Labor, holder of seven Orders of Lenin, three Orders of the Red Banner of Labor, numerous orders and medals, including those of foreign states. He was elected a foreign member of 16 World Academies of Sciences, and was also an honorary doctorate from six universities.
The views and life position of Mstislav Keldysh are best illustrated by his parting words to Academician Ivan Petrovsky, whom the scientist blessed to be the rector of Moscow State University. He recommended that the newly made rector observe three rules in his work, which, most likely, were his main life principles: not to fight against evil, but to try to do good, good deeds; not to listen to complaints in the absence of those to whom they are complaining; not to promise anything to anyone, but if he promised, then to do it, even if the situation or circumstances worsened. In a conversation with Petrovsky, Keldysh tried to explain his rules in the most understandable way. In particular, he noted that one should not fight against evil, because in this struggle, evil will use all available means, and good will only use noble ones, so lose and suffer from this struggle. It is very useful not to listen to complaints about other people: the number of complainants immediately decreases, and when both sides come to you, the analysis of the situation is accelerated due to the absence of unreasonable claims from people towards each other. Finally, it is better to never promise and do what is asked of you than to promise, but not to do if circumstances interfere with you.
Mstislav Vsevolodovich Keldysh passed away on June 24, 1978. The urn with the ashes of the famous Soviet scientist was buried in the Kremlin wall on Red Square. According to the official version, the scientist died of a heart attack, his body was found in his "Volga" in the garage at the dacha in the village of academicians in Abramtsevo. At the same time, a version was circulated that the famous scientist committed suicide by poisoning himself with the exhaust gases of a car engine. Some note that at that time the professor was deeply depressed and was also seriously ill. Due to his illness, in 1975 he left the post of president of the USSR Academy of Sciences. Regardless of the reasons and circumstances of the death of the great scientist, his death became a truly grievous loss not only for the whole country, but also for domestic and world science. The scientist passed away relatively early, at that time he was 67 years old.
The memory of Mstislav Vsevolodovich Keldysh was immortalized by his descendants. Numerous streets and squares are named after him; in various cities of the country and the former Soviet Union, a lot of monuments have been erected to him, including in Riga, where he was born. And the Russian Academy of Sciences for outstanding scientific work in the field of applied mathematics and mechanics, as well as theoretical research in the field of space exploration is presenting today gold medals named after the outstanding Russian scientist Mstislav Vsevolodovich Keldysh.
