Volodymyr Chelomei

On June 30, it was 110 years since the birth of the world-renowned scientist, rocket and space technology designer, and academician Volodymyr Chelomei, who had Ukrainian roots.

He was born in 1914 in the Polish city of Siedlce, which was then part of the Russian Empire. His parents, Mykola and Yevhenia, were teachers at a public school. After the outbreak of World War I, the family moved to Poltava, the hometown of Volodymyr's mother. In 1926, they moved again, this time to Kyiv. Here, Volodymyr graduated from Labor School No. 45 and enrolled in the 2nd Mechanical Vocational School, which was soon reformed into the Kyiv Automotive Technical School. After becoming a certified specialist in 1932, he began working as a designer at the Institute of Radiation Energy.

However, Chelomei did not stay long in this job. That same year, he enrolled in the Kyiv Mechanical Engineering Institute in the aviation faculty, which was later transformed into the Kyiv Aviation Institute (KAI, now NAU) the following year. During his student years, Volodymyr not only studied but also engaged in scientific and methodological work and gained practical experience in the field of aircraft engine design. He graduated from KAI with honors. From 1937, he worked at the Institute of Mathematics of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR, simultaneously studying in a postgraduate program, and defended his candidate's dissertation within two years.

In September 1939, Chelomei became a senior lecturer in the Department of Theoretical Mechanics at KAI. He lectured on mechanics and aircraft engine theory to students and quickly earned a high reputation not only as a lecturer but also as a scientist. The following year, he was admitted to a special doctoral program at the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. At the age of 26, he was the youngest among his colleagues to be accepted there. He defended his doctoral dissertation on June 1, 1941. However, three weeks later, Germany invaded the Soviet Union, and in the chaos of war, the young scientist could not receive the appropriate documents. In the post-war period, he had to defend his doctorate again.

Volodymyr Chelomei no longer worked in Ukraine. In the summer of 1941, he was appointed head of the jet engine group at the Central Institute of Aviation Motor Building in Moscow. Among other things, he worked on the pulsejet engine for aircraft.

Starting in 1944, Chelomei worked on the development of cruise and later ballistic missiles. He is best known as the head of OKB-52, which in 1966 was renamed the Central Design Bureau of Machine Building. Under his leadership, the intercontinental ballistic missile UR-100 and the heavy space launch vehicle "Proton" were developed.

The academician Chelomei did not forget his homeland or his native Ukrainian language. He regularly visited Kyiv, his Alma Mater, where he met with teachers and students.

Volodymyr Mykolayovych Chelomei's life path ended on December 8, 1984.