Ludwik MIRZOYan (1923-1999)

 

Ludwik V. Mirzoyan is one of the beneficents of the Armenian astronomy whose whole life and scientific activity were devoted to the Byurakan Observatory and to the development of Armenian astronomy. His scientific, pedagogical, editorial, scientific-organizational and scientific-administrative works are colossal and invaluable. Mirzoyan has always been beside V. A. Ambartsumian and played one of the main roles in the formation and prosperity of the Byurakan Observatory, in the acquisition of the great scientific fame.

 

Ludwik Mirzoyan was born on May 1, 1923 in Yerevan. In 1942-1945 he took part in the Great Patriotic War. In 1947 Mirzoyan graduated from the faculty of physics-mathematics of the Yerevan State University and started working at the Byurakan Observatory. In 1948-1950 he was at the post-graduate studies at the Byurakan Observatory. In 1948 L. Mirzoyan published his first scientific paper. In 1949 he lectured at the Yerevan State University. In 1951 Mirzoyan became a candidate of sciences of physics and mathematics. In 1953-1959 Mirzoyan was the Scientific Secretary of the Byurakan Observatory; in 1953 he became a member of the Scientific Council. In 1958 he was elected a member of the International Astronomical Union and of its professional commissions. In 1956-1986 he was the Deputy Director of the Byurakan Observatory; since 1965 he was the Head of the Scientific Department on physics of stars and nebulae. In 1968 he was awarded a doctorate of the sciences of physics and mathematics, in 1970 he got a professorship. In 1970 he was elected a member of the Astronomical Council of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, in 1970 as an associate member of the International Academy of Astronautics. In 1970-1975 he was an advising member of the Astrophysical Institute of Paris. In 1974 he became an Honored Scientist of the Armenian SSR. In 1974 Mirzoyan was awarded an Order of Labor Red Flag, a title of an Honored Scientist of the Armenian Republic. In 1974-1987 he was a member of the Editorial Council of the Soviet Republic of Armenia and the Chairman of the scientific-branch council on astronomy, in 1976-1998 a member and the Deputy Chair of the Specialized Council at the Byurakan Observatory, since 1986 he was a Principal Scientist of the Byurakan Observatory and a Head of a thematic group. In 1986 L. Mirzoyan became a Corresponding Member of the Academy of Sciences of the Armenian SSR. In 1965-1988 he was the Deputy Editor-in-Chief and in 1988-1998 he was the Editor-in-Chief of the all-union journal "Astrofizika". In 1990 he became a member of the European Astronomical Society; in 1996 he was an academician of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia. Mirzoyan was a member of the presidium of the society "Knowledge", the President of the science-methodological council on Astronomy and Cosmonautics.

 

L. Mirzoyan's main scientific results are the proposing of a new method of determination of interstellar selective absorption, the working out of the method of "synthetic" stellar association and the demonstration of the expansion of OB-association, the determination of the value of A constant of the Galactic rotation, the investigation of the problem of K effect, the discovery and the investigations of hundreds of flare stars in Orion and Pleiades and in other systems and in Solar neighborhood, the spectrophotometric investigation of unusual objects, such as V1057 Cyg, FG Sge, RW Aur and SS Cyg, the investigation of Shahbazian compact groups of compact galaxies, etc.

 

Altogether, Mirzoyan has 271 scientific publications, including 171 scientific papers (128 of them in scientific journals and 43 of them in proceedings of conferences), 15 books and booklets, 65 popular scientific articles and information materials. If we add the organization of a number of conferences, the editing of the journal "Astrofizika", 20 books and the proceedings of conferences, the teaching at the Yerevan State University, the training of a dozen of academic personnel (including foreign scientists) to all above mentioned, Mirzoyan's great merit in Armenian astronomy becomes clear.

 

The distinguished scientist passed away on July 20, 1999 in Yerevan.

 

In connection with the international year of astronomy (IYA-2009) the Armenian Astronomical Society and the Byurakan Observatory established Mirzoyan Prize to be awarded to the scientists with greater merit in the Armenian astronomy.