Nikolái Nikoláyevich Semiónov, discovered a method for measuring the magnetic field of the atomic nucleus

15 April 1896, Saratov (Russian Empire) - 25 September 1986, Moscow (present-day Russia)

Studied physics, chemistry, and mathematics at the University of St. Petersburg and, in 1920, began to direct the laboratory of electronic phenomena at the Leningrad Polytechnic Institute.

In 1931, he became director of the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the USSR Academy of Sciences and, from 1943, professor at the Institute of Physical Chemistry of Moscow University.

Initially interested in the study of molecular physics and electronic phenomena, in 1922, together with Pyotr Kapitsa, he discovered a method for measuring the magnetic field of an atomic nucleus, which was later improved by Otto Stern and Walther Gerlach.

In 1925, together with Yákov Frénkel, he studied the kinetics of condensation and adsorption of vapours. In 1927, he studied the ionisation of gases and electron chemistry, and a year later, together with Valdímir Fok, he created the theory of the broken discharge of dielectrics.

He later devoted himself to chemical kinetics with major contributions throughout his career and to the field of chemical chain reactions.

He received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1956, together with the English chemist Cyril Norman Hinshelwood, for their research into the mechanism of chemical reactions.

Among his main publications are ‘Chemical Kinetic and Chain Reactions’ (1934) and ‘Some Problems of Chemical Kinetics and Reactivity’ (1954).

He was a member of several chemical societies in various countries and received honorary doctorates from several universities. In addition, he received five insignia of the Order of Lenin, the Red Badge of Labour, and the Lomonosov Gold Medal (1969).