Ivan Nikolov Stranski | |
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Иван Николов Странски | |
 Stranski in 1940 | |
| Born | (1897-01-02)2 January 1897 (N.S.) |
| Died | 19 June 1979(1979-06-19) (aged 82) |
| Resting place | Waldfriedhof Dahlem,Berlin, Germany |
| Other names | Iwan Nikolow Stranski (German) |
| Citizenship | Kingdom of Bulgaria and laterFederal Republic of Germany |
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| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Physical Chemistry,Crystal growth |
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| Thesis | Beiträge zur Röntgenspektralanalyse (1925) |
| Doctoral advisor | Paul Günther |
Ivan Nikolov Stranski (Bulgarian:Иван Николов Странски;German:Iwan Nikolow Stranski; 2 January [O.S. 21 December ] 1897 – 19 June 1979) was aBulgarian and later aGermanphysical chemist who is considered the father ofcrystal growth research.[1][2][3]
He was the founder of the Bulgarian school of physical chemistry, heading the departments of physical chemistry atSofia University and later atTechnische Hochschule Berlin (todayTechnische Universität Berlin), of which he was alsorector.[3][4] TheStranski–Krastanov growth andKossel–Stranski model are some of Stranski's contributions which bear his name.
Ivan Stranski was born on 21 December 1896O.S. (2 January 1897N.S.) inSofia, the capital of thePrincipality of Bulgaria, the third child of Nikola Stranski (1854 - 1910), pharmacist to theroyal court, and his wife Maria Krohn, aBaltic German.[3][5] Ever since his childhood he suffered from bonetuberculosis, an incurable disease at the time. Stranski finished the First Sofia High School for Boys. Seeking ways to fight the illness, Stranski decided to study medicine, though he returned to Bulgaria disappointed after a year of studies inVienna. He graduated from Sofia University in 1922, majoring in chemistry, and went to theFriedrich Wilhelm University ofBerlin for further studies. There, in 1925, he acquired hisDr. phil. under Paul Günther with a dissertation onX-ray spectroscopy.[5]
Following his doctoral studies, Stranski joined Sofia University's newly established Department of Physical Chemistry of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics in 1925 as areader, becoming the first reader of physical chemistry in the country. By 1929, he was promoted toassociate professor and by 1937 he was aregular professor at Sofia University. Stranski attracted prominent scientists such asRostislaw Kaischew andLyubomir Krastanov to the department.[6]
In 1930, Ivan Stranski received aRockefeller scholarship and along withKaischew was invited to Technische Hochschule Berlin, where he collaborated with prominent physical chemistMax Volmer.[5] The 1930s saw the publishing of several important articles which Stranski co-authored withKaischew andKrastanov, such as the 1939 discovery ofStranski–Krastanov growth. In 1935–1936 he was head of department at the Ural Institute of Physics and Mechanics inSverdlovsk in theSoviet Union. In 1941, Stranski was invited byWalther Kossel to conduct research inTechnische Hochschule Breslau. He put forth his kinetic theory of crystal growth, which became known as theKossel–Stranski model—Kossel independently proposed the same model.[5]
With the advance of theRed Army, Stranski returned to Berlin to work at theKaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry. AsNazi Germany surrendered, Volmer was taken by force to theSoviet Union and Stranski took his place as the director of studies at Technische Hochschule Berlin's Department of Physical Chemistry. Despite the heavy damage caused byAllied bombing, not without Stranski's assistance the Technische Hochschule Berlin, then renamedTechnische Universität Berlin was among the few that opened for the 1945 academic year.[6] In 1948–1949, Stranski was the dean of the Faculty of General and Engineering Sciences. In 1951–1953, Stranski was rector of the university;[7] he had also previously held the position of vice rector. In 1953, he became deputy director of theFritz Haber Institute. Until 1963, Stranski taught at theFree University of Berlin.[5]
After theBulgarian coup d'état of 1944 and the installment of acommunist government, Stranski was accused of links to the preceding pro-fascist régime and removed from the department that he established. It was not until the 1960s that he was re-accepted as a foreign member of theBulgarian Academy of Sciences and he would only return to Bulgaria fromWest Berlin in 1967. He died in Sofia in 1979, but was buried in Berlin.
In 1965, Stranski was nominated for theNobel Prize in Chemistry byGeorg-Maria Schwab, one of the few Bulgarians to be nominated for a Nobel in the sciences.[8][3]
Throughout his life, he was honoured with awards such as theGerman Chemical Society'sAugust Wilhelm von Hofmann Silver Medal (1939), the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Cyril and Methodius Prize for Science (1940), the Great Cross of Merit of West Germany'sOrder of Merit, as well as honorary doctorates from theUniversity of Breslau (1940) and the Free University of Berlin (1954). Stranski was also member of theGöttingen Academy of Sciences (1939),Royal Society of Arts and Sciences in Gothenburg (1940),Bavarian Academy of Sciences (1959),New York Academy of Sciences, and theGerman Academy of Sciences Leopoldina (1966).[6]
Two modern institutes bear his name: the Stranski Laboratory for Physical und Theoretical Chemistry (Stranski-Laboratorium für Physikalische und Theoretische Chemie; calledIwan N.-Stranski-Institut from 1967 to 2001) of Technische Universität Berlin, and the Stranski Institute of Metallurgy (I.-N.-Stranski-Institut für Metallurgie) inOberhausen.[5]
In 1957, a new mineral mineral, CuZn2(AsO4)2, was discovered byKarl Hugo Strunz. In 1960, he named it after Stranski,stranskiit [de],[9] in recognition of Stranski's role as "father of crystal growth research".[10][11][12][13]
A street in Sofia is also named after Ivan Stranski.
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