Gurvich, Lev Gavrilovich

Born Mar. 15 (27), 1871, in Poltava; died May 30, 1926, in Baku. Soviet specialist in petroleum chemistry.

After graduating from the University of Basel in 1896, Gurvich became a chemist at petroleum laboratories in Baku (1904) and St. Petersburg (1909). In 1920 he became director of the Central Chemical Laboratory of the Azneft’ Trust in Baku and professor at the University of Azerbaijan. In 1924 he became head of the petroleum laboratory at the Heat Engineering Institute in Moscow. Gurvich systematized and summarized the vast experimental data obtained both in Russia and abroad on the chemistry and physical chemistry of petroleum. His work served as a basis for the development of the techniques of refining petroleum products. His research promoted understanding of the formation and breakdown of emulsions (especially of those processes in the refining of petroleum products with alkaline solutions).