Valentin Kargin

Born Jan 10 (23), 1907, in Ekaterinoslav, present-day Dnepropetrovsk; died Oct. 21, 1969, in Moscow. Soviet chemist; academician of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR (1953; corresponding member, 1946). Hero of Socialist Labor (1966).

Kargin graduated from Moscow University in 1930. He worked at the L. Ia. Karpov Institute of Physical Chemistry from 1930 to 1956, and at Moscow State University from 1956 until his death in 1969. Kargin was one of the founders of the Soviet school of polymer physical chemistry. His main works were devoted to the investigation of the formation mechanism of colloidal systems and, in particular, to the physical chemistry of macromolecular compounds. Kargin demonstrated that polymer solutions are thermodynamically reversible systems. He studied the laws governing the mechanical and thermomechani-cal properties of polymers and the link between the physico-chemical properties of polymer materials and their structure on the molecular and supermolecular levels; this research led to the discovery of efficient methods for carrying out structurochemical and physical modifications of plastics, rubbers, and chemical fibers. Kargin investigated the role of the structural properties of the reaction medium during the formation of macromolecules. In 1956 he founded the first university subdepartment of macromolecular compounds in the USSR at Moscow State University. Kargin was editor in chief of the journal Vysokomolekuliarnye soedineniia (Macromolecular Compounds; 1959–69). His works have found wide application in industry. Kargin was awarded the Lenin Prize (1962), the State Prize of the USSR (1943, 1947, 1950, 1969), three Orders of Lenin, two other orders, and several medals.