Nikolai Tsytovich

Born May 13 (26), 1900, in the village of Mkhinichi, Cherikov Raion, Mogilev Oblast. Soviet specialist in soil mechanics, geomechanics, foundation engineering, and engineering geology. Corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR (1943).

After his graduation from the Leningrad Institute for Civil Engineers (now the Leningrad Construction Engineering Institute) in 1927, Tsytovich took part in the building of large industrial and hydraulic engineering structures. Over a period beginning in 1930 he taught at a number of higher educational institutions in Leningrad. In 1943 he joined the staff of the Institute of Geocryology of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. In 1952 he was appointed head of the subdepartment of soil mechanics, beddings, and foundations of the V. V. Kuibyshev Moscow Construction Engineering Institute. From 1947 to 1953, Tsytovich was chairman of the Presidium of the Yakutsk Branch of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. In 1957 he was named president of the National Association of the USSR of the International Society for Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering.

Tsytovich’s main works deal with the development of the scientific principles of the construction of buildings and other structures on permanently frozen ground. His textbook for higher educational institutions Fundamentals of Soil Mechanics (1934) has been translated into English, Czech, Hungarian, Polish, Rumanian, Korean, Vietnamese, and several other languages.

Tsytovich received the State Prize of the USSR in 1950 and has been awarded two Orders of Lenin, four other orders, and various medals.