Sergei Beliavskii

Beliavskii, Sergei Ivanovich

 

Born Nov. 25 (Dec. 7) 1883, in St. Petersburg; died Oct. 13, 1953, in Leningrad. Soviet astronomer. Corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR (1939). Member of the CPSU from 1939.

Beliavskii graduated from the University of St. Petersburg in 1906. From 1909 to 1925 and in 1931–32 he headed the Simeiz division of the Pulkovo Observatory; from 1937 to 1944 he was the director of the Pulkovo Observatory. He was a specialist in astrophotometry, photography of planetoids, the study of variable stars, and photographic as-trometry. He discovered 37 planetoids (including Vlad-ilena), more than 250 variable stars, and one comet. He compiled the Catalog of Photographic Magnitudes of 2,777 Stars (1915) and the Astrographic Catalog of 11,322 Stars (1947). He was awarded the Badge of Honor and medals.