Jews still account for a high fraction of the leading scientists in the Soviet Union as indicated by the numbers of Jewish names among the lists of persons nominated for election to the Soviet Academy of Science, it was reported today in the New York Times.
While Jews constitute about 1.5 per cent of the population of the Soviet Union, well over 10 per cent of the persons nominated to full membership or corresponding membership in the Academy, appear to be Jewish. Academy membership is considered the highest mark of recognition of achievement among Soviet scientists.
Of the 103 persons nominated for election to full membership in the academy, 16 have Jewish names. Of the 438 persons nominated for election as corresponding members, 58 have Jewish names, the Times reported. The percentages of Jewish names among the nominees appear to be highest in the fields of chemistry, mathematics and physics and lowest in geology, biology and some of the humanities. While eight of the 32 persons nominated for full membership in the fields of mathematics and physics appear to be Jewish, none of the nine geologists or eight biologists appears to be a Jew.
Among the Jews nominated for full membership are two mathematicians, Izrail Moiseyevich Gelfand and Mark Grigorievich Krein. Among the physicists nominated are Beuzion Moiseyevich Vul, Vitaly Lazarevich Ginzburg, Gersh Itskovich Budker and Isaak Yakovlevich Pomeranchuk.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
