Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers

2014 Edition
| Editors: Thomas Hockey, Virginia Trimble, Thomas R. Williams, Katherine Bracher, Richard A. Jarrell, Jordan D. MarchéII, JoAnn Palmeri, Daniel W. E. Green

Masevich, Alla Genrikhovna

Reference work entry
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-9917-7_9357
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BornTbilisi (Georgia), 9 October 1918

DiedMoscow, Russia, 6 May 2008

Alla Masevich was the first Soviet astrophysicist to take serious interest in calculations of stellar structure and evolution, completing a thesis on evolution of stars away from and down the main sequence due to mass loss. She was, however, undoubtedly best known as a science administrator, public servant, teacher, and ambassador for Soviet astronomy.

Masevich was born in the short-lived self-governing Democratic Republic of Georgia of Georgian and Polish ancestry, belonging to an upper-class wealthy family. Despite the many troubles of her siblings with Soviet authorities, she had time to get an excellent education, including learning four foreign languages, in the very remarkable location of Elenendorf: a small commune of German colonists (wine makers) in Azerbaijan. Later on, the fluent knowledge of foreign languages became a special hallmark of this handsome lady who demonstrated great skills of a diplomat; at...

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Selected References

  1. Boyarchuk, A. A. (1998). “Welcoming address of the SOC chairman.” In Modern problems of stellar evolution. Proceedings of the international conference in honor of Professor A. G. Massevitch’s 80th birthday, held in Zvenigorod, Russia, 13–15 October 1998. pp. vi–vii.Google Scholar
  2. Levine, I. R. (1959). “The 10 most influential women in Russia,” Ladies’ home journal, 76, April: 72–73.Google Scholar
  3. Lovell, Sir Bernard (1963). “The erudite shepherdess of home-made moons: Alla Massevich, the Soviet astronomer,” Saturday review, 46, Sept. 7: 44–46.Google Scholar
  4. Masevich, A. G. (1961). “Evolution of Stars Decreasing in Mass”, Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series A, Mathematical and Physical Sciences, 260, Issue 1301, pp. 183–189.Google Scholar
  5. Masevich, A. G. (2007). Zvezdy i sputniki v moei zhizni (Stars and sputniks in my life). – Moscow: Russkaya kniga. 72 p. (In Russian).Google Scholar
  6. Masevich, A. G., A.V.Tutukov (1988). Stellar evolution:Theory and observations. – Moscow: Nauka, 280 p. (In Russian).Google Scholar

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© Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Vavilov Institute for History of Science & Technology, Russian Academy of SciencesMoscowRussia