List of Russian scientists

Polymaths

Karl Ernst von Baer, polymath naturalist, formulated the geological Baer's law on river erosion and embryological Baer's laws, founder of the Russian Entomological Society, co-founder of the Russian Geographical Society
Alexander Borodin, chemist and composer, author of the famous opera Prince Igor, discovered Borodin reaction, co-discovered Aldol reaction
Alexander Chizhevsky, interdisciplinary scientist, biophysicist, philosopher and artist, founder of heliobiology and modern air ionification, Russian cosmist
Johann Gottlieb Georgi, naturalist, chemist, mineralogist, ethnographer and explorer, the first to describe omul fish of Baikal, published the first full-scale work on ethnography of indigenous peoples of Russia
Lvov
Mikhail Lomonosov, polymath scientist, artist and inventor; founder of the Moscow State University; proposed the law of conservation of matter; disproved the phlogiston theory; invented coaxial rotor and the first helicopter; invented the night vision telescope and off-axis reflecting telescope; discovered the atmosphere of Venus; suggested the organic origin of soil, peat, coal, petroleum and amber; pioneered the research of atmospheric electricity; coined the term physical chemistry; the first to record the freezing of mercury; co-developed Russian porcelain, re-discovered smalt and created a number of mosaics dedicated to Petrine era; author of an early account of Russian history and the first opponent of the Normanist theory; reformed Russian literary language by combining Old Church Slavonic with vernacular tongue in his early grammar; influenced Russian poetry through his odes
Nikolay Lvov, polymath artist, geologist, philologist and ethnographer, compiled the first major collection of Russian folk songs, adapted rammed earth technology for northern climate and built the Priory Palace in Gatchina, pioneered HVAC technology, invented carton-pierre
Alexander Middendorf, zoologist and explorer, discoverer of Putorana Plateau, founder of permafrost science, studied the influence of permafrost on living beings, coined the term radula, prominent hippologist and horse breeder
Pallas
Vladimir Obruchev, geologist, paleontologist, geographer and explorer of Siberia and Central Asia, author of the comprehensive Geology of Siberia and two popular science fiction novels, Plutonia and Sannikov Land
Peter Simon Pallas, polymath naturalist, geographer, ethnographer, philologist, explorer of European Russia and Siberia, discoverer of the first pallasite meteorite (Krasnojarsk) and multiple animals, including the Pallas's cat, Pallas's squirrel, and Pallas's gull
Yakov Perelman, a founder of popular science, author of many popular books, including the Physics Can Be Fun and Mathematics Can Be Fun
Nicholas Roerich, artist, writer, philosopher, archeologist, explorer of Central Asia, public figure, initiator of the international Roerich's Pact on the defense of cultural objects, author of over 7000 paintings
Pyotr Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky, geographer, geologist, entomologist, explorer of the Tian Shan Mountains, discoverer of the Peak Khan Tengri, for 40 years the head of the Russian Geographical Society, statistician, organiser of the first Russian Empire Census
Vasily Tatishchev, statesman, economist, geographer, ethnographer, philologist and historian, supervisor of the first instrumental mapping of Russia, coloniser of the Urals and Siberia, founder of Perm and Yekaterinburg, discovered and published Russkaya Pravda, Sudebnik of 1550 and the controversial Ioachim Chronicle, wrote the first full-scale account of Russian history, compiled the first encyclopedic dictionary of Russian language
Vladimir Vernadsky, philosopher and geologist, a founder of geochemistry, biogeochemistry and radiogeology, creator of noosphere theory, popularized the term biosphere, major Russian cosmist
Ivan Yefremov, paleontologist, philosopher, sci-fi and historical novelist, founder of taphonomy, author of The Land of Foam , Andromeda: A Space-Age Tale and Thais of Athens

Earth scientists

Dmitry Anuchin, anthropologist and geographer, coined the term anthroposphere, determined the location of the Volga river source
Karl Baer, naturalist, formulated the geological Baer's law on river erosion, co-founder of the Russian Geographical Society
Lev Berg, determined the depth of Central Asian lakes, including Balkhash and Issyk Kul, a head of the Soviet Geographical Society
Leonid Brekhovskikh, founder of modern acoustical oceanography, discovered the deep sound channel, the first to observe mesoscale ocean eddies
Ivan Chersky, paleontologist, geologist and explorer of Siberia, explained the origin of Lake Baikal, pioneered the geomorphological evolution theory
Pyotr Chikhachyov, early geographer and geologist of Central Asia, discovered Kuznetsk Coal Basin
Dokuchaev
Vasily Dokuchaev, founder of soil science, created the first soil classification, determined the five factors for soil formation
Alexander Fersman, a founder of geochemistry, discovered copper in Monchegorsk, apatites in Khibiny, sulfur in Central Asia
Boris Golitsyn, inventor of electromagnetic seismograph, the president of International Association of Seismology
Grigory Gamburtsev, major Soviet seismologist, invented a number of seismological methods and devices
Ivan Gubkin, founder of the Gubkin Russian State University of Oil and Gas
Köppen
Alexander Karpinsky, geologist and mineralogist, the first President of the Soviet Academy of Sciences
Alexander Keyserling, naturalist, a founder of Russian geology
Maria Klenova, a founder of marine geology, polar explorer
Wladimir Köppen, meteorologist, author of the commonly used Köppen climate classification
Stepan Krasheninnikov, geographer, the first Russian naturalist, made the first scientific description of Kamchatka
Alexander Kruber, founder of Russian karstology
Nikolai Kudryavtsev, author of modern abiogenic theory for origin of petroleum, coordinated oil and gas exploration in Siberia
Middendorf
Leonid Kulik, meteorite researcher, the first to study the Tunguska event
Mikhail Lomonosov, polymath, suggested the organic origin of soil, peat, coal, petroleum and amber; forerunner of the continental drift theory, pioneer researcher of atmospheric electricity
Alexander Middendorf, zoologist and explorer, founder of permafrost science, determined the southern border of permafrost
Pavel Molchanov, meteorologist, inventor of radiosonde
Ivan Mushketov, made the first geological map of Turkestan
Vladimir Obruchev, geologist and explorer, author of the comprehensive Geology of Siberia and two popular science fiction novels,
Obruchev
Plutonia and Sannikov Land
Mikhail Pomortsev, meteorologist, inventor of nephoscope
Farman Salmanov, discoverer of giant oil fields in West Siberia
Pyotr Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky, explorer of the Tian Shan Mountains, for 40 years the head of the Russian Geographical Society, prominent statistician and organiser of the first Russian Empire Census
Nikolay Shatsky, made a comprehensive tectonic map of North Eurasia, introduced Riphean and Baikalian geological stages
Pyotr Shirshov, polar explorer, founder of the Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, proved that there is life in high latitudes of the Arctic Ocean
Yuly Shokalsky, the first head of the Soviet Geographical Society, coined the term World Ocean
Aleksey Tillo, made the first correct hypsometric map of European Russia, coined the term Central Russian Upland, measured the lengths of main Russian rivers
Andrey Tikhonov, mathematician and inventor of magnetotellurics in geology
Vladimir Vernadsky, philosopher and geologist, a founder of geochemistry, biogeochemistry and radiogeology, creator of noosphere theory, popularized the term biosphere
Irina Pavlovna Zarutskaya, Soviet geomorphologist, cartographer, editor-in-chief of the map production department during the creation of the 1:2,500,000 scale Hypsometric Map of the USSR

Biologists and paleontologists

Johann Friedrich Adam, discoverer of the Adams mammoth, the first complete woolly mammoth skeleton
Karl Baer, naturalist, founder of the Russian Entomological Society, formulated embryological Baer's laws
Jacques von Bedriaga, prominent herpetologist, described Bedriaga's rock lizard and Bedriaga's skink
Dmitry Belyayev, domesticated silver fox
Lev Berg, ichthyologist of Central Asia and European Russia
Nikolai Bernstein, neurophysiologist, coined the term biomechanics
Andrey Bolotov, major 18th-century agriculturist, discovered dichogamy, pioneered cross-pollination
Ivanovsky
August von Bongard, botanist of Alaska, discoverer of Sitka spruce and red alder
Alexander Bunge, major botanist of Siberia (especially Altai)
Mikhail Chailakhyan, researcher of flowering, described the florigen hormone
Sergei Chetverikov, pioneer of modern evolutionary synthesis
Alexander Chizhevsky, founder of heliobiology and modern air ionification
Zinaida Vissarionovna Ermol'eva, biochemist, independently synthesized penicillin during World War II.
Eduard Eversmann, biologist and explorer, pioneer researcher of flora and fauna of southern Russia
Andrey Famintsyn, plant physiologist, inventor of grow lamp, developer of symbiogenesis theory
Yuri Filipchenko, entomologist, coined the terms microevolution and macroevolution
Nikolay Gamaleya, microbiologist and pioneer of Russian vaccine research
Johann Georg Gmelin, first researcher of Siberian flora
Merezhkovsky
Grigory Grum-Grshimailo, zoologist and geographer, obtained two Przewalski's horses and more than 1000 bird specimens from his travels in Central Asia
Alexander Gurwitsch, originated the morphogenetic field theory and discovered the biophoton
Ilya Ivanov, researcher of artificial insemination and the interspecific hybridization of animals, involved in controversial attempts to create a human-ape hybrid
Dmitry Ivanovsky, discoverer of viruses
Georgii Karpechenko, inventor of rabbage (the first ever non-sterile hybrid obtained through crossbreeding)
Nikolai Koltsov, discoverer of cytoskeleton
Michurin
Vladimir Komarov, plant geographer, President of the Soviet Academy of Sciences, founder of the Komarov Botanical Institute
Alexander Kovalevsky, embryologist, major researcher of gastrulation
Boris Kozo-Polyansky, botanist, and evolutionary biologist. First to support the theory of symbiogenesis with Darwinian evolution, and first director of The B.M. Kozo-Polyansky Botanical Garden of Voronezh State University.
Trofim Lysenko, agronomist, developer of yarovization, infamous for lysenkoism
Evgeny Maleev, discoverer of Talarurus, Tarbosaurus, and Therizinosaurus
Carl Maximowicz, pioneer researcher of the Far Eastern flora
Ilya Mechnikov, pioneer researcher of immune system, probiotics and phagocytosis, coined the term gerontology, Nobel Prize in Medicine winner
Mikhail Menzbier, major ornithologist, discoverer of the Menzbier's marmot
Konstantin Merezhkovsky, major lichenologist, developer of symbiogenesis theory, a founder of endosymbiosis theory
Ivan Michurin, pomologist, selectionist and geneticist, practiced crossing of geographically distant plants, created hundreds of fruit cultivars
Schrenck
Alexander Middendorf, zoologist and explorer, studied the influence of permafrost on living beings, coined the term radula, prominent horse breeder
Victor Motschulsky, prominent coleopterologist (researcher of beetles)
Sergei Navashin, discovered double fertilization
Alexey Olovnikov, predicted existence of Telomerase, suggested the Telomere hypothesis of aging and the Telomere relations to cancer
Aleksandr Oparin, biologist and biochemist, proposed the "primordial soup" theory of life origin, showed that many food production processes are based on biocatalysis
Heinz Christian Pander, embryologist, discoverer of germ layers
Peter Simon Pallas, polymath naturalist and explorer, discoverer of multiple animals, including the Pallas's cat, Pallas's squirrel, and Pallas's gull
Ivan Pavlov, founder of modern physiology, the first to research classical conditioning, Nobel Prize in Medicine winner
Vladimir Pravdich-Neminsky, published the first EEG and the evoked potential of the mammalian brain
Nikolai Przhevalsky, explorer and naturalist, brought vast collections from Central Asia, discovered the only extant species of wild horse

Anatoly Rozhdestvensky, discoverer of Aralosaurus and Probactrosaurus
Ivan Schmalhausen, developer of modern evolutionary synthesis
Leopold von Schrenck, ethnographer, zoologist, discovered the Amur sturgeon, Manchurian black water snake and Schrenck's bittern
Boris Schwanwitsch, entomologist, applied colour patterns of insect wings to military camouflage during World War II
Ivan Sechenov, founder of electrophysiology and neurophysiology
Georg Wilhelm Steller, naturalist, participant of Vitus Bering's voyages, discoverer of Steller's jay, Steller's eider,
Vavilov
extinct Steller's sea cow and multiple other animals
Lina Stern, pioneer researcher of blood–brain barrier and first female full member of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Armen Takhtajan, developer of Takhtajan system of flowering plant classification, major biogeographer
Kliment Timiryazev, plant physiologist and evolutionist, major researcher of chlorophyll
Nikolai Timofeeff-Ressovsky, major researcher of radiation genetics, population genetics, and microevolution
Lev Tsenkovsky, pioneer researcher of the ontogenesis of lower plants and animals
Mikhail Tsvet, inventor of chromatography
Nikolai Vavilov, botanist and geneticist,
Vinogradsky
gathered the world's largest collection of plant seeds, identified the centres of origin of main cultivated plants
Mikhail Voronin, major researcher of fungi and plant pathology
Sergey Vinogradsky, microbiologist, ecologist, and soil scientist, pioneered the biogeochemical cycle concept, discovered lithotrophy and chemosynthesis, invented the Winogradsky column for breeding of microorganisms
Ivan Yefremov, paleontologist, sci-fi author, founded taphonomy
Sergey Zimov, creator of the Pleistocene Park

Physicians and psychologists

Aleksandr Bakulev, prominent cardiovascular surgery developer
Vladimir Bekhterev, neuropathologist, founder of objective psychology, noted the role of the hippocampus in memory, major contributor to reflexology, studied the Bekhterev's Disease
Vladimir Betz, discovered Betz cells of primary motor cortex
Peter Borovsky, described the causative agent of Oriental sore
Sergey Botkin, major therapist and court physician
Nikolay Burdenko, major developer of neurosurgery
Konstantin Buteyko, developed the Buteyko method for the treatment of asthma and other breathing disorders
Mikhail Chumakov, co-discovered tick-borne encephalitis, co-developed oral polio vaccine
Livery Darkshevich, neurologist, described the nucleus of posterior commissure
Vladimir Demikhov, major pioneer of transplantology
Vladimir Filatov, ophthalmologist, corneal transplantation pioneer
Svyatoslav Fyodorov, inventor of radial keratotomy
Georgy Gause, inventor of gramicidin S and other antibiotics
Oleg Gazenko, founder of space medicine, selected and trained Laika, the first space dog
Vera Gedroitz, first female Professor of Surgery in the world
Ilya Gruzinov, found that vocal folds are the source of phonation
Waldemar Haffkine, invented the first vaccines against cholera and bubonic plague
Gavriil Ilizarov, invented Ilizarov apparatus, developed distraction osteogenesis
Nikolai Korotkov, invented auscultatory blood pressure measurement, pioneer of vascular surgery
Sergey Korsakov, studied the effects of alcoholism on the nervous system, described Korsakoff's syndrome, introduced paranoia concept
Aleksei Kozhevnikov, neurologist and psychiatrist, described the epilepsia partialis continua
Aleksey Leontyev, founder of activity theory in psychology
Peter Lesgaft, founder of the modern system of physical education in Russia
Alexander Luria, co-developer of activity theory and cultural-historical psychology, major researcher of aphasia
Ilya Mechnikov, pioneer researcher of immune system, probiotics and phagocytosis; coined the term gerontology, Nobel Prize in Medicine winner
Lazar Minor, neurologist, described Minor's disease
Pyotr Nikolsky, dermatologist, discoverer of Nikolsky's sign
Alexey Olovnikov, predicted existence of Telomerase, suggested the Telomere hypothesis of aging and the Telomere relations to cancer
Ivan Pavlov, founder of modern physiology, the first to research classical conditioning, influenced comparative psychology and behaviorism by his works on reflexes, Nobel Prize in Medicine winner
Nikolay Pirogov, pioneer of ether anaesthesia and modern field surgery, the first to perform anaesthesia in the field conditions, invented a number of surgical operations
Aza Rakhmanova, professor of diseases, AIDS expert
Leonid Rogozov, performed an appendectomy on himself during the 6th Soviet Antarctic Expedition, a famous case of self-surgery
Grigory Rossolimo, pioneer of child neuropsychology
Vladimir Roth, neuropathologist, described meralgia paraesthetica
Ivan Sechenov, founder of electrophysiology and neurophysiology, author of the classic work Reflexes of the Brain
Vladimir Serbsky, founder of forensic psychiatry in Russia
Nikolay Sklifosovskiy, prominent 19th-century field surgeon
Victor Skumin, the first to describe a previously unknown disease, now called Skumin syndrome^[1]
Lina Stern, pioneer researcher of blood–brain barrier
Fyodor Uglov, oldest practicing surgeon in history
Igor Ursov phthisiatrist, the inventor of intravenous intermittent bactericidal tuberculosis therapy
Alexander Varshavsky, researched ubiquitination, Wolf Prize in Medicine winner
Luka Voyno-Yasenetsky, founder of purulent surgery, saint
Lev Vygotsky, founder of cultural-historical psychology, major contributor to child development and psycholinguistics, introduced zone of proximal development and cultural mediation concepts
Josias Weitbrecht, first to describe the construction and function of intervertebral discs
Sergei Yudin, inventor of cadaveric blood transfusion
Bluma Zeigarnik, psychiatrist, discovered the Zeigarnik effect, founded experimental psychopathology

Economists and sociologists

Alexander Chayanov, developed the consumption-labour-balance principle
Georges Gurvitch, major developer of sociology of knowledge and sociology of law
Leonid Kantorovich, mathematician and economist, founded linear programming, developed the theory of optimal allocation of resources, Nobel Prize in Economics winner
Nikolai Kondratiev, discoverer of the Kondratiev waves
Andrey Korotayev, historian and anthropologist, a founder of cliodynamics, a prominent developer of social cycle theory
Gleb Krzhizhanovsky, developer of GOELRO plan, the first Chief of Gosplan
Simon Kuznets, discovered the Kuznets swings, built the Kuznets curve, disproved the Absolute Income Hypothesis, Nobel Prize in Economics winner
Sorokin
Evsei Liberman, laid the scientific support for the Soviet Kosygin reform (initiated by Alexei Kosygin) in economy
Wassily Leontief, developed input-output analysis and the Leontief paradox, Nobel Prize in Economics winner
Vasily Nemchinov, created the mathematical basis for the Soviet central planning
Grigory Orlov, founder of the Free Economic Society
Pitirim Sorokin, sociologist, prominent developer of the social cycle theory
Eugen Slutsky, statistician and economist, developed the Slutsky equation
Stanislav Strumilin, pioneer of the planned economy, developed the first five-year plans

Historians and archaeologists

Friedrich von Adelung, historian and museologist, researched the European accounts of the Time of Troubles
Valery Alekseyev, anthropologist, proposed Homo rudolfensis
Mikhail Artamonov, historian and archaeologist, founder of modern Khazar studies, excavated a great number of Scythian and Khazar kurgans and settlements, including the fortress of Sarkel
Artemiy Artsikhovsky, archaeologist, discoverer of birch bark documents in Novgorod
Vasily Bartold, turkologist, the "Gibbon of Turkestan", an archaeologist of Samarcand
Konstantin Bestuzhev-Ryumin, 19th-century historian and paleographer, founder of the Bestuzhev Courses for women
Danilevsky
Nikita Bichurin, a founder of Sinology, published many documents on Chinese and Mongolian history, opened the first Chinese-language school in Russia
Nikolay Danilevsky, ethnologist, philosopher and historian, a founder of Eurasianism, the first to present an account of history as a series of distinct civilisations
Igor Diakonov, historian and linguist, a prominent researcher of Sumer and Assyria
Boris Farmakovsky, archaeologist of Ancient Greek colony Olbia
Vladimir Golenishchev, egyptologist, excavated Wadi Hammamat, discovered over 6,000 antiquities, including the Moscow Mathematical Papyrus, the Story of Wenamun, and various Fayum portraits
Karamzin
Timofey Granovsky, a founder of mediaeval studies in Russia, disproved the historicity of Vineta
Boris Grekov, prominent researcher of Kievan Rus' and Golden Horde
Lev Gumilev, historian and ethnologist, prominent researcher of ancient Central Asian peoples, related ethnogenesis and biosphere, influenced the rise of Neo-Eurasianism
Boris Hessen, physicist who brought externalism into modern historiography of science
Dmitry Ilovaysky, major 19th-century anti-Normanist
Pyotr Kafarov, prominent sinologist, discovered many invaluable manuscripts, including The Secret History of the Mongols
Nikolai Karamzin, sentimentalist writer and historian, author of the 12-volume History of the Russian State, the principal early 19th-century account of national history
Vasily Klyuchevsky, dominated Russian historiography at the turn of the 20th century, shifted focus from politics and society to geography and economy
Alexander Kazhdan, Byzantinist, editor of the Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium
Nikodim Kondakov, prominent researcher of Byzantine art
Müller
Andrey Korotayev, historian and anthropologist, a founder of cliodynamics, a prominent developer of social cycle theory
Mykola Kostomarov, historian, folklorist and romantic writer, researched the differences between Great Russia and Little Russia and the history of Ukraine
Pyotr Kozlov, explorer of Central Asia, discoverer of the ancient Tangut city of Khara-Khoto and Xiongnu royal burials at Noin-Ula
Platon Levshin, president of the Most Holy Synod during the Age of Enlightenment, author of the first systematic course of the history of Russian Orthodox Church
Nikolay Likhachyov, the first and foremost Russian sigillographer, prominent also in a number of other auxiliary historical disciplines
Aleksey Lobanov-Rostovsky, statesman, published the major Russian Genealogical Book
Nestor
Mikhail Lomonosov, polymath scientist and artist, the first opponent of the Normanist theory, published an early account of Russian history
Boris Marshak, excavated the Sogdian ruins at Panjakent
Friedrich Martens, legal historian, drafted the Martens Clause of the Hague Peace Conference
Vladimir Minorsky, prominent historian of Persia
Gerhardt Friedrich Müller, co-founder of the Russian Academy of Sciences, explorer and the first academic historian of Siberia, a founder of ethnography, author of the first academic account of Russian history, put forth the Normanist theory
Aleksei Musin-Pushkin, prominent collector of ancient Russian manuscripts, discovered The Tale of Igor's Campaign
Nestor the Chronicler, author of the Primary Chronicle (the first East Slavic chronicle) and several hagiographies, saint
Dimitri Obolensky, Byzantine commonwealth researcher
Proskuryakova
Alexey Okladnikov, prominent historian and archaeologist of Siberia and Mongolia
Sergey Oldenburg, a founder of Russian Indology and the Academic Institute of Oriental Studies
George Ostrogorsky, preeminent 20th-century Byzantinist
Avraamy Palitsyn, 17th-century historian of the Time of Troubles
Evgeny Pashukanis, legal historian, wrote The General Theory of Law and Marxism
Boris Piotrovsky, prominent researcher of Urartu, Scythia, and Nubia, long-term director of the Hermitage Museum
Mikhail Piotrovsky, orientalist, current director of the Hermitage Museum
Mikhail Pogodin, leading mid-19th-century Russian historian, proponent of the Normanist theory
Boris Polevoy, major historian of the Russian Far East
Mikhail Pokrovsky, Marxist historian prominent in the 1920s
Natalia Polosmak, archaeologist of Pazyryk burials, discoverer of Ice Maiden mummy
Alexander Polovtsov, statesman, historian and Maecenas, founder of the Russian Historian Society
Tatyana Proskuryakova, Mayanist scholar and archaeologist, deciphered the ancient Maya script
Semyon Remezov, cartographer and the first historian of Siberia, author of the Remezov Chronicle
Mikhail Rostovtsev, archeologist and economist, the first to thoroughly examine the social and economic systems of the Ancient World, excavated Dura-Europos
Solovyov
Nicholas Roerich, painter, archeologist, and public figure, explorer of Central Asia, initiator of the international Roerich's Pact on protection of historical monuments
Sergei Rudenko, discoverer of Scythian Pazyryk burials
Boris Rybakov, historian and chief Soviet archaeologist for 40 years, primary opponent of the Normanist theory
Dmitry Samokvasov, Black Grave discoverer
Viktor Sarianidi, discoverer of the Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex and the Bactrian Gold in Central Asia
Mikhail Shcherbatov, a man of Russian Enlightenment, conservative historian
Sergey Solovyov, principal Russian 19th-century historian, author of the 29-volume History of Russia
Vasily Struve, orientalist and historian of the Ancient World, put forth the Marxist theory of five socio-economic formations that dominated the Soviet education
Tatishchev
Yevgeny Tarle, author of the famous studies on Napoleon's invasion of Russia and on the Crimean War
Vasily Tatischev, statesman, geographer and historian, discovered and published Russkaya Pravda, Sudebnik of 1550 and the controversial Ioachim Chronicle, wrote the first full-scale account of Russian history
Mikhail Tikhomirov, leading specialist in medieval Russian paleography, published the Complete Collection of Russian Chronicles
Boris Turayev, author of the first full-scale History of Ancient East
Peter Turchin, population biologist and historian, coined the term cliodynamics
Fyodor Uspensky, Byzantinist, researcher of the Trapezuntine Empire
Aleksey Uvarov, founder of the first Russian archaeological society, discovered over 750 ancient kurgans
Vasily Vasilievsky, prominent 19th-century Byzantinist
Alexander Vasiliev, author of a comprehensive History of the Byzantine Empire
Nikolay Veselovsky, the first to excavate Afrasiab (the oldest part of Samarkand), as well as the Solokha and Maikop kurgans in Southern Russia
Nikolai Yadrintsev, discoverer of Genghis Khan's capital Karakorum and the Orkhon script of ancient Türks
Valentin Yanin, primary researcher of ancient birch bark documents
Gennady Zdanovich, discoverer of Sintashta culture settlement Arkaim

Linguists and ethnographers

Vasily Abaev, prominent researcher of Iranian languages
Alexander Afanasyev, leading Russian folklorist, recorded and published over 600 Russian fairy tales, by far the largest folktale collection by any one man in the world
Ivan Baudouin de Courtenay, co-inventor of the concept of phoneme and the systematic treatment of alternations, pioneer of synchronic analysis and mathematical linguistics
Vladimir Bogoraz, researcher of Chukchi people, founder of the Institute of the Peoples of the North
Otto von Böhtlingk, prominent Indologist and Sanskrit grammarian
Fyodor Buslaev, philologist and folklorist, representative of the Mythological school of comparative literature
Dahl
Vladimir Dahl, greatest Russian language lexicographer of the 19th century, folklorist and turkologist, author of the Explanatory Dictionary of the Live Great Russian language
Johann Gottlieb Georgi, explorer, published the first full-scale work on ethnography of indigenous peoples of Russia
Dmitry Gerasimov, medieval translator, diplomat and philologist, correspondent of European Renaissance scholars
Vladislav Illich-Svitych, founder of Nostratic linguistics
Vyacheslav Ivanov, founder of glottalic theory of Indo-European consonantism
Roman Jakobson, literary theorist and preeminent linguist of the 20th century, a founder of phonology, made numerous contributions to Slavic linguistics, author of Jackobson's Communication Model
Wilhelm Junker, explorer and ethnographer of Equatorial Africa, studied the Zande people from Niam-Niam
Kafarov
Pyotr Kafarov, prominent sinologist, developed the cyrillization of Chinese, discovered and published many invaluable manuscripts, including The Secret History of the Mongols
Yuri Knorozov, linguist, epigrapher and ethnographer, deciphered the ancient Maya script, proposed a decipherment for the Indus script
Evdokia Kozhevnikova, ethnologist whose writings on the Svan language were rediscovered in the 2010s
Nikolay Krushevsky, co-inventor of the concept of phoneme and the systematic treatment of alternations
Gerasim Lebedev, pioneer of Indology, introduced Bengali script typing to Europe, founded the first European-style drama theater in India
Dmitry Likhachov, major 20th-century expert on Old East Slavic language and literature
Miklukho-Maklai
Mikhail Lomonosov, polymath scientist and artist, wrote a grammar that reformed Russian literary language by combining Old Church Slavonic with vernacular tongue
Juri Lotman, prominent literary scholar and semiotician
Nikolay Lvov, polymath artist and scientist, compiled the first significant collection of Russian folk songs, published epic bylinas
Richard Maack, naturalist and ethnographer of Siberia
Sergey Malov, turkologist, classified the Turkic alphabets, deciphered ancient Orkhon script
Nicholas Marr, put forth a pseudo-linguistic Japhetic theory on the origin of language
Igor Melchuk, structural linguist, author of Meaning-Text Theory
Nicholai Miklukho-Maklai, anthropologist who lived and traveled among the natives of Papua New Guinea and Pacific islands, prominent anti-racist
Gerhardt Friedrich Müller, explorer and historian, a founder of ethnography
Semyon Novgorodov, Yakut politician and linguist, creator of written Yakut language (Sakha scripts)
Sergei Ozhegov, author of the most widely used explanatory dictionary of Russian language
Trubetzkoy
Stephan of Perm, 14th-century missionary, converted Komi Permyaks to Christianity and invented the Old Permic script
Yevgeny Polivanov, linguist, orientalist and polyglot, developed the cyrillization of Japanese
Nicholas Poppe, prominent Altaic languages researcher
Grigory Potanin, explorer of Central Asia, the first to research Salar people
Vladimir Propp, formalist scholar, major researcher of folk tales and mythology
Tatyana Proskuryakova, Mayanist scholar and archaeologist, deciphered the ancient Maya script
George de Roerich, major 20th-century Tibetologist
Franz Anton Schiefner, prominent tibetologist, Finnic and Caucasus languages researcher
Isaac Jacob Schmidt, the first researcher of Mongolian
Zaliznyak
Leopold von Schrenck, naturalist and ethnographer, coined the term Paleo-Asiatic peoples, the first director of the Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography
Aleksey Shakhmatov, a founder of textology, prepared major 20th-century reforms of Russian orthography, pioneered the systematic research of Old Russian and medieval Russian literature
Lev Shcherba, phonetist and phonologist, author of the phrase "glokaya kuzdra"
Fyodor Shcherbatskoy, Indologist, initiated the scholarly study of Buddhist philosophy in the West
Ivan Snegiryov, early collector of Russian proverbs and researcher of lubok prints
Izmail Sreznevsky, leading 19th-century Slavist, published Codex Zographensis, Codex Marianus and Kiev Fragments
Zamenhof
Sergei Starostin, prominent supporter of Altaic languages theory, proposed Dené–Caucasian languages macrofamily, reconstructed a number of Eurasian proto-languages
Stepan Stoichev (1891 – 1944), philologist, specialist in literary criticism, Head of Nizhniy Novgorod Pedagogical Institute^[2]
Vasily Tatischev, geographer, ethnographer and historian, compiled the first encyclopedic dictionary of Russian
Tenevil, Chukchi reindeer herder who created a writing system for the Chukchi language
Nikolai Trubetzkoy, principal developer of phonology and inventor of morphophonology, defined phoneme, a founder of the Prague School of structural linguistics
Dmitry Ushakov, author of the academic Explanatory Dictionary of the Russian Language
Max Vasmer, leading Indo-European, Finno-Ugric and Turkic etymologist, author of the Etymological dictionary of the Russian language
Viktor Vinogradov, linguist and philologist, founder of the Russian Language Institute
Alexander Vostokov, coined the term Old Church Slavonic, discovered Ostromir Gospel (the most ancient East Slavic book), pioneer researcher of the Russian grammar
Andrey Zaliznyak, author of the comprehensive systematic description of Russian inflection, prominent researcher of the Old Novgorod dialect and birch bark documents, proved the authenticity of the Tale of Igor's Campaign
L. L. Zamenhof, inventor of Esperanto, the most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language

Mathematicians

Georgy Adelson-Velsky, inventor of AVL tree algorithm, developer of Kaissa, the first world computer chess champion
Aleksandr Aleksandrov, developer of CAT(k) space and Alexandrov's uniqueness theorem in geometry
Pavel Alexandrov, author of the Alexandroff compactification and the Alexandrov topology
Dmitri Anosov, developed Anosov diffeomorphism
Vladimir Arnold, an author of the Kolmogorov–Arnold–Moser theorem in dynamical systems, solved Hilbert's 13th problem, raised the ADE classification and Arnold's rouble problems
Sergey Bernstein, developed the Bernstein polynomial, Bernstein's theorem on monotone functions and Bernstein inequalities in probability theory
Nikolay Bogolyubov, mathematician and theoretical physicist, author of the edge-of-the-wedge theorem, Krylov–Bogolyubov theorem, describing function and multiple important contributions to quantum mechanics
Chebyshev
Sergey Chaplygin, author of Chaplygin's equation, important in aerodynamics and notion of Chaplygin gas
Nikolai Chebotaryov, author of Chebotarev's density theorem
Pafnuti Chebyshev, prominent tutor and founding father of Russian mathematics, contributed to probability, statistics and number theory, author of the Chebyshev's inequality, Chebyshev distance, Chebyshev function, Chebyshev equation
Boris Delaunay, inventor of Delaunay triangulation, organised the first Soviet Student Olympiad in mathematics
Vladimir Drinfeld, mathematician and theoretical physicist, introduced quantum groups and ADHM construction, Fields Medal winner
Eugene Dynkin, developed Dynkin diagram, Doob–Dynkin lemma and Dynkin system in algebra and probability
Leonhard Euler, preeminent 18th-century mathematician, arguably the greatest of all time, made important discoveries in mathematical analysis,
Euler
graph theory and number theory, introduced much of the modern mathematical terminology and notation (mathematical function, Euler's number, Euler diagram)
Anatoly Fomenko, topologist and chronologist, put forth a controversial theory of the New Chronology
Evgraf Fedorov, mathematician and crystallographer, identified Periodic graph in geometry, the first to catalogue all of the 230 space groups of crystals
Boris Galerkin, developed the Galerkin method in numerical analysis
Israel Gelfand, major contributor to numerous areas of mathematics, including group theory, representation theory and linear algebra, author of the Gelfand representation, Gelfand pair, Gelfand triple, integral geometry
Alexander Gelfond, author of Gelfond's theorem, provided means to obtain infinite number of transcendentals, including Gelfond–Schneider constant and Gelfond's constant, Wolf Prize in Mathematics winner
Sergei Godunov, developed Godunov's theorem and Godunov's scheme in differential equations
Valery Goppa, inventor of Goppa codes, and algebraic geometry codes in the field of algebraic geometry
Gromov
Mikhail Gromov, a prominent developer of geometric group theory, inventor of homotopy principle, introduced Gromov's compactness theorems, Gromov norm, Gromov product, Wolf Prize winner
Leonid Kantorovich, mathematician and economist, founded linear programming, introduced the Kantorovich inequality and Kantorovich metric, developed the theory of optimal allocation of resources, Nobel Prize in Economics winner
Anatoly Karatsuba, developed the Karatsuba algorithm (the first fast multiplication algorithm)
Leonid Khachiyan, developed the Ellipsoid algorithm for linear programming
Aleksandr Khinchin, developed the Pollaczek-Khinchine formula, Wiener–Khinchin theorem and Khinchin inequality in probability theory
Kovalevskaya
Andrey Kolmogorov, a preeminent 20th-century mathematician, Wolf Prize winner; multiple contributions to mathematics include: probability axioms, Chapman–Kolmogorov equation and Kolmogorov extension theorem in probability; Kolmogorov complexity
Maxim Kontsevich, author of the Kontsevich integral and Kontsevich quantization formula, Fields Medal winner
Vladimir Kotelnikov, a pioneer in information theory, an author of fundamental sampling theorem
Sofia Kovalevskaya, the first woman professor in Northern Europe and Russia, the first female professor of mathematics, discovered the Kovalevskaya top
Mikhail Kravchuk, developed the Kravchuk polynomials and Kravchuk matrix
Mark Krein, developed the Tannaka–Krein duality, Krein–Milman theorem and Krein space, Wolf Prize winner
Alexander Kronrod, developer of Gauss–Kronrod quadrature formula and Kaissa, the first world computer chess champion
Nikolay Krylov, author of the edge-of-the-wedge theorem, Krylov–Bogolyubov theorem and describing function
Lobachevsky
Aleksandr Kurosh, author of the Kurosh subgroup theorem and Kurosh problem in group theory
Olga Ladyzhenskaya, made major contributions to solution of Hilbert's 19th problem and important Navier–Stokes equations
Evgeny Landis, inventor of AVL tree algorithm
Vladimir Levenshtein, developed the Levenshtein automaton, Levenshtein coding and Levenshtein distance
Leonid Levin, IT scientist, developed the Cook-Levin theorem
Yuri Linnik, developed Linnik's theorem in analytic number theory
Nikolai Lobachevsky, a Copernicus of Geometry who created the first non-Euclidean geometry (Lobachevskian or hyperbolic geometry)
Nikolai Lusin, developed Luzin's theorem, Luzin spaces and Luzin sets in descriptive set theory
Aleksandr Lyapunov, founder of stability theory, author of the Lyapunov's central limit theorem, Lyapunov equation, Lyapunov fractal, Lyapunov time
Leonty Magnitsky, a director of the Moscow School of Mathematics and Navigation, author of the principal Russian 18th-century textbook in mathematics
Anatoly Maltsev, researched decidability of various algebraic groups,
Lyapunov
developed the Malcev algebra
Yuri Manin, author of the Gauss–Manin connection in algebraic geometry, Manin-Mumford conjecture and Manin obstruction in diophantine geometry
Grigory Margulis, worked on lattices in Lie groups, Wolf Prize and Fields Medal winner
Andrey Markov, Sr., invented the Markov chains, proved Markov brothers' inequality, author of the hidden Markov model, Markov number, Markov property, Markov's inequality, Markov processes, Markov random field, Markov algorithm
Andrey Markov, Jr., author of Markov's principle and Markov's rule in logics
Yuri Matiyasevich, author of Matiyasevich's theorem in set theory, provided negative solution for Hilbert's tenth problem
Alexander Mikhailov, coined the term Informatics

Mark Naimark, author of the Gelfand–Naimark theorem and Naimark's problem
Pyotr Novikov, solved the word problem for groups and Burnside's problem
Sergei Novikov, worked on algebraic topology and soliton theory, developed Adams–Novikov spectral sequence and Novikov conjecture, Wolf Prize and Fields Medal winner
Andrei Okounkov, infinite symmetric groups and Hilbert scheme researcher, Fields Medal winner
Mikhail Ostrogradsky, mathematician and physicist, author of divergence theorem and partial fractions in integration
Grigori Perelman, made landmark contributions to Riemannian geometry and topology, proved Geometrization conjecture
Sobolev
and Poincaré conjecture, won a Fields medal and the first Clay Millennium Prize Problems Award (declined both)
Lev Pontryagin, blind mathematician, developed Pontryagin duality and Pontryagin classes in topology, and Pontryagin's minimum principle in optimal control
Yury Prokhorov, author of the Lévy–Prokhorov metric and Prokhorov's theorem in probability
Alexander Razborov, mathematician and computational theorist who won the Nevanlinna Prize in 1990 and the Gödel Prize for contributions to computer sciences
Lev Schnirelmann, developed the Lusternik–Schnirelmann category in topology and Schnirelmann density of numbers
Moses Schönfinkel, inventor of combinatory logic
Yakov Sinai, developed the Kolmogorov–Sinai entropy and Sinai billiard, Wolf Prize and Abel Prize winner
Eugen Slutsky, statistician and economist, developed the Slutsky equation and Slutsky's theorem
Stanislav Smirnov, prominent researcher of triangular lattice, Fields Medalist
Sergei Sobolev, introduced the Sobolev spaces and mathematical distributions, co-developer of the first ternary computer Setun
Vladimir Steklov, mathematician and physicist, founder of Steklov Institute of Mathematics, proved theorems on generalized Fourier series
Jakow Trachtenberg, developed the Trachtenberg system of mental calculation
Boris Trakhtenbrot, proved the Gap theorem, developed Trakhtenbrot's theorem
Valentin Turchin, inventor of Refal programming language, introduced metasystem transition and supercompilation
Andrey Tikhonov, author of Tikhonov space and Tikhonov's theorem (central in general topology), the Tikhonov regularization of ill-posed problems, invented magnetotellurics
Pavel Urysohn, developed the metrization theorems, Urysohn's Lemma and Fréchet–Urysohn space in topology
Nicolay Vasilyev, inventor of non-Aristotelian logic, the forerunner of paraconsistent and multi-valued logics
Ivan Vinogradov, developed Vinogradov's theorem and Pólya–Vinogradov inequality in analytic number theory
Vladimir Voevodsky, introduced a homotopy theory for schemes and modern motivic cohomology, Fields Medalist
Georgy Voronoy, invented the Voronoi diagram
Dmitry Yegorov, author of Egorov's Theorem in mathematical analysis
Efim Zelmanov, solved the restricted Burnside problem, Fields Medal winner

Astronomers and cosmologists

Viktor Ambartsumian, one of the founders of theoretical astrophysics, discoverer of stellar associations, founder of Byurakan Observatory in Armenia
Vladimir Belinski, an author of the BKL singularity model of the Universe evolution
Aristarkh Belopolsky, invented a spectrograph based on the Doppler effect, among the first photographers of stellar spectra
Fyodor Bredikhin, developed the theory of comet tails, meteors and meteor showers, a director of the Pulkovo Observatory
Jacob Bruce, statesman, naturalist and astronomer, founder of the first observatory in Russia (in the Sukharev Tower)
Lyudmila Chernykh, astronomer, discovered 268 asteroids
Friedmann
Nikolai Chernykh, astronomer, discovered 537 asteroids and 2 comets
Aleksandr Chudakov, co-discoverer of the Earth's radiation belt
Alexander Friedmann, mathematician and cosmologist, discovered the expanding-universe solution to the general relativity field equations, an author of the FLRW metric of Universe
George Gamow, theoretical physicist and cosmologist, discovered alpha decay via quantum tunneling and Gamow factor in stellar nucleosynthesis, introduced the Big Bang nucleosynthesis theory, predicted cosmic microwave background
Matvey Gusev, the first to prove the non-sphericity of the Moon, pioneer of photography in astronomy
Nikolai Kardashev, astrophysicist, inventor of Kardashev scale for ranking the space civilizations
Isaak Khalatnikov, an author of the BKL singularity model of the Universe evolution
Marian Kowalski, the first to measure the rotation of the Milky Way
Feodosy Krasovsky, astronomer and geodesist, measured the Krasovsky ellipsoid, a coordinate system used in the USSR and the post-Soviet states
Anders Johan Lexell, astronomer and mathematician, researcher of celestial mechanics and comet astronomy, proved that Uranus is a planet rather than a comet
Evgeny Lifshitz, an author of the BKL singularity model of the Universe's evolution
Andrei Linde, created the Universe chaotic inflation theory
F.W. Struve
Mikhail Lomonosov polymath, inventor of the off-axis reflecting telescope, discoverer of the atmosphere of Venus
Dmitri Dmitrievich Maksutov, inventor of the Maksutov telescope
Igor Novikov, theoretical astrophysicist and cosmologist, formulated the Novikov self-consistency principle in the theory of time travel
Viktor Safronov, astronomer and cosmologist, author of the planetesimal hypothesis of planet formation
Grigory Shayn, astronomer and astrophysicist, the first director of the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory, co-developed a method for measurement of stellar rotation

Iosif Shklovsky, astronomer and astrophysicist, author of several discoveries in the fields of radio astronomy and cosmic rays, extraterrestrial life researcher
Friedrich Wilhelm Struve, astronomer and geodesist, founder and the first director of the Pulkovo Observatory, prominent researcher and discoverer of new double stars, initiated the construction of 2,820 km long Struve Geodetic Arc, progenitor of the Struve family of astronomers
Otto Lyudvigovich Struve, astronomer and astrophysicist, co-developed a method for measurement of stellar rotation, directed several observatories in the US
Otto Wilhelm von Struve, astronomer, director of the Pulkovo Observatory, discovered over 500 double stars
Rashid Sunyaev, astrophysicist, co-predicted the Sunyaev–Zel'dovich effect of CMB distortion
George Volkoff, predicted the existence of neutron stars
Boris Vorontsov-Velyaminov, discovered the absorption of light by interstellar dust, author of the Morphological Catalogue of Galaxies
Ivan Yarkovsky, discovered the YORP and Yarkovsky effects of meteoroids or asteroids
Aleksandr Zaitsev, coined the term Messaging to Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence, conducted the first intercontinental radar astronomy experiment, transmitted the Cosmic Calls
Yakov Zel'dovich, physicist, astrophysicist and cosmologist, the first to suggest that accretion discs around massive black holes are responsible for the quasar radiation, co-predicted the Sunyaev–Zel'dovich effect of CMB distortion
Felix Ziegel, Soviet researcher, Doctor of Science and docent of Cosmology at the Moscow Aviation Institute, author of more than 40 popular books on astronomy and space exploration, generally regarded as a founder of Russian ufology