Kotelnikov Vladimir Alexandrovich: biography

Prominent scientist and academician Vladimir Kotelnikov became the pioneer and the founder of domestic cryptography. During the Great Patriotic War, together with his colleagues, he created several unique apparatuses, through which secret information and instructions were delivered.

early years

Outstanding scientist and engineer Kotelnikov Vladimir Aleksandrovich was born in Kazan. He was born on September 6, 1908. The boy belonged to a hereditary family of professors - his father and grandfather worked at a local university. It is not surprising that with such relatives, little Volodya already learned to read and write by the age of 6, and also mastered the basics of algebra, arithmetic and geography.

School years of the child fell to the period of the First World War and the Civil War. Because of this the Kotelnikov family constantly moved from place to place. Vladimir was educated at home, and at school he studied only the last three classes. The troubles of the war years did not break the interest in science in him. The teenager was carried away by radio engineering. This hobby determined his entire future life.

Education

In 1926, Vladimir entered the Bauman Moscow City Technical University. Studying at this university was accompanied by a visit to the courses at the Physics and Mathematics Faculty of Moscow State University. During the stay of Kotelnikov in the MVTU, the Moscow Power Engineering Institute, which the young man graduated from, was separated from its structure.

Prestigious education allowed him to become an engineer at the Red Army Scientific Research Institute of Communications. Then Kotelnikov Vladimir Alexandrovich enrolled in the graduate school of the Moscow Power Engineering Institute, while simultaneously working as the chief engineer and head of the laboratory in the research institute.

Important discovery

The career of the young scientist made a rapid breakthrough when, in 1933, he summarized the interpolation theorem of functions, discovered by English researchers Whittaker. She explained the absence of data loss when using a continuous signal. The formula, proved by Kotelnikov, was of exceptional importance for the future of technology. This discovery became the basis of information theory, as well as its coding and processing, digital messaging systems, etc. At about the same time as Kotelnikov, a similar breakthrough was achieved in the studies by the American Claude Shannon, which made the theorem known as Whittaker-Kotelnikov Shannon.

The fundamental nature of the discovery became clear not immediately. According to his unique materials, Kotelnikov Vladimir Aleksandrovich wrote a detailed report, but he was not accepted by the editorial board of the scientific all-union journal "Electricity." The publication stated that the material of the researcher is of no value to the engineers of the USSR.

Continuation of career

And yet, at the age of 30, the Soviet scientist Kotelnikov Vladimir became the candidate of technical sciences of the USSR. He received a degree even without defending his dissertation. Soon, in 1941, the engineer formulated several key principles on which the future stable system of classification of signals should have been built.

Kotelnikov's theses were revolutionary. The key innovation was the conversion of old analog signals to digital ones. It was assumed that the equipment for such operations would work according to the sampling theorem. As in the case of his theoretical research, the scientist once again outstripped his time. The technique, which he predicted, appeared only after the Great Patriotic War.

On secret enterprises

In the late 30-ies Kotelnikov Vladimir Alexandrovich began to lead the laboratory to create multi-channel radio communications equipment. With its help, a short-wave line was established between Moscow and Khabarovsk. Together with Kotelnikov, outstanding inventors Alexander Mints, Konstantin Yegorov and others worked on this project. Also, the scientist directed two laboratories, in which technologies were developed for classifying telephone and telegraph information. The team, working at these facilities, was completed at the expense of engineers who had recently graduated from the Institute of Communications.

During the Great Patriotic War, Soviet specialists managed to move from obsolete information encryption systems to a new synchronous, linear classification of radio and telephone conversations. A huge contribution to this success made Kotelnikov Vladimir Alexandrovich. The biography of the scientist seemed to the country's leadership worthy to entrust him with an important task. The inventor began to solve the problem of state importance - the creation of a device for encryption of speech signals, resistant to decoding by the enemy. After the German attack on the USSR, such equipment became vital.

"Sable" and "Snegir"

The unique equipment was ordered by the department responsible for the government high-frequency (HF) communication. In 1938 the model "Sable-I" was developed and passed the first tests. The equipment was produced at the Krasnaya Zarya plant in Leningrad. When the Northern capital was in blockade, the company was evacuated to Ufa. There, a new plant No. 697 was created, which belonged to the People's Commissariat of the Electrical Industry of the USSR.

At the same time, a part of the laboratory was transported to Ufa, the head of which was Kotelnikov Vladimir Aleksandrovich. The scientist, despite the war, continued to develop an encryptor, which was of great importance for the defense of the country. In Ufa, the Kotelnikov group joined forces with the engineers of the Krasnaya Zarya plant. In 1942 a sample "Sable-P" was developed. This model was intended for secret short-wave radio telephony. At that time, Sobol-P became the most technically sophisticated equipment for encrypting information. The device has twice converted electrical speech signals. This was done with the help of time delays of signal sections and ring inversion of its spectrum. The development made it possible to rearrange segments of speech. The generated shifrograms were unreadable for the enemy.

The model was studied by a special state commission. She found that Sable-P allows you to safely conduct secret negotiations. It is interesting that part of the mechanical nodes for the equipment (including magnetic drums) were not made in Ufa, but in besieged Leningrad. Valuable details were delivered through the front line with the help of aviation.

Together with "Sable" during the war, portable security equipment SAU-16 ("Snegir") was developed. This device looked like a suitcase. During his trips he was used by front commanders and representatives of the Stavka in places where there was no HF communication.

"Neva"

Apparatus "Sable-P" was first used in the field at the end of 1942. Then the model encrypted secret radiotelephone negotiations between Moscow and Tbilisi, replacing the German-tainted connection with the leadership of the Transcaucasian Front. The device helped GHQ for several months, until a new line was built along the Caspian coast. After a successful baptism of fire, the Sobol-P apparatus got into the headquarters of all fronts. At GHQ they decided to use this model for the transfer of top secret orders and reports.

But "Sable-P" was not the only novelty, to which Kotelnikov Vladimir put his hand. The achievements of the scientist in the 1940s became even more significant after the invention of the "Owl" and "Neva". These devices were designed to encrypt messages on wire channels. They were based on a complex coding scheme, which had no analogues abroad. "Neva" was used for communication between Moscow, the 1-st Belorussian and the 2-nd Belorussian fronts. In addition, this technique has found its application during the international conferences of the Allies in the second half of the war (Tehran, Yalta and Potsdam conferences). Finally, the "Neva" was used in negotiations between the Kremlin and the capitals of various European powers when signing the capitulation of Germany.

After the war

After the Victory the team of engineers, who worked in Ufa, was disbanded. Specialists of the "Red Dawn" returned to Leningrad. The other half of the inventors and scientists went to Moscow, including the MPEI. Kotelnikov Vladimir Aleksandrovich also stayed on to work there. Photo scientist never got into the newspaper. Working on secret assignments, he could not count on the public exposure of his activities. Nevertheless, after the war, Vladimir Kotelnikov headed the institute's department "Theoretical Foundations of Radio Engineering". He led it for more than 36 years.

But this public part of the activity faded against the background of work in the famous Marfinsky sharashka. This unofficial name became widely known, was consolidated due to the books of the writer and Nobel laureate Alexander Solzhenitsyn, who also worked there. Formally, it was a special laboratory number 8, created by order of the Soviet government. In the state sharashki there were 490 people. All of them developed secret telephony, new equipment for encryption of information, etc. Part of the staff consisted of imprisoned scientists and inventors.

Academician

In 1953, the scientist became an academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences. If anyone among the specialists in encrypting communications deserved this title, then it surely was Vladimir Kotelnikov. Photos and models of his inventions are now in numerous museums, whose expositions are devoted to this topic. The academician directed the laboratories that created the devices commissioned by the Ministry of Defense and the KGB. In addition, he headed the commission that controlled the quality of new inventions of other engineers.

In the 1950s and 1960s, Vladimir Kotelnikov became the initiator and inspiration for the creation of such devices as Liana, Landysh, Almaz, Sever-M, Bulava, Lotus-B, etc. From 1954 to 1988 Academician was a director at the Institute of Radio Engineering and Electronics of the USSR Academy of Sciences.

Last years

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, despite the venerable age, Kotelnikov Vladimir continued his active work. Date of birth (September 6, 1908) and many services to the country were not for him an excuse to stop and rest on his laurels.

In 1992, thanks to the academician, the Academy of Cryptography of Russia was established. In 2003, Vladimir Kotelnikov was awarded the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, I degree. The scientist received him for his many years of activity and outstanding contribution to the development of Soviet and Russian science. Academician died on February 11, 2005. He was buried at the Kuntsevo Cemetery in Moscow.