Vasilii Korshak

Born Dec. 27, 1908 (Jan. 9, 1909), in the village of Vysokoe, now in Chernigov Oblast. Soviet chemist. Corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR (1953). Member of the CPSU since 1940. A graduate of the D. I. Mendeleev Moscow Institute of Chemical Technology (1931). Student of P. P. Shorygin.

Korshak’s principal works are devoted to polycondensation, primarily the study of mechanisms characterizing equilibrium and nonequilibrium polycondensation. He discovered new reactions of polymer synthesis: polyrecombination, polytransarylation, and polycyclocondensation. Korshak developed methods for synthesizing a number of thermostable polymers: polypyrazoles, polybenzimidazoles, polyimides, and polyphenylenes, among others. He also discovered a third allotropic form of carbon—carbine. Korshak is the author of 16 monographs on polymer chemistry. He has been editor in chief of the journal Vysokomolekuliarnye soedineniia since 1972. A recipient of the State Prize of the USSR (1949 and 1951), he has been awarded five orders and various medals.