Valerian Nikolaevich Mikhailovskii

Born July 26 (Aug. 7), 1866; died Sept. 2 (15), 1913, in Alushta; buried in St. Petersburg. Russian artillery expert; major general (1913).

After graduating from the Mikhail Artillery Academy in 1891, Mikhailovskii worked at the St. Petersburg Artillery Plant. Together with the Russian artillery expert V. D. Turov, he de-signed a commander’s transformer-goniometer (adopted by the army in 1909), which made it much easier to compute the initial data for artillery fire; he also designed a commander’s aiming circle. These new instruments made it possible scientifically to solve the basic technical problems of fire from covered positions and of fire direction. Mikhailovskii also designed an instrument for testing sighting panoramas, a star gauge for measuring the bore of guns precisely and quickly, and other instruments.