Vladimir Kuzmich (Kozmich) Zworykin was born on July 17, 1888, in the city of Murom.
In 1906, having graduated with honors from a real school, Vladimir Zworykin entered Saint Petersburg University, but soon transferred to the electrical engineering faculty of the Petersburg Technological Institute (now Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University). A turning point in Zworykin’s scientific career was his involvement in 1910 in the experiments of Professor B. L. Rozing on “long-distance vision.” Zworykin became Rozing’s assistant and enthusiastically engaged in the research process. In 1912, Vladimir graduated from the institute with honors and went on an internship in Europe: in 1912–1913 he worked in Paul Langevin’s laboratory in Paris, where he studied X-rays, and in 1913–1914 attended a physics course at the Charlottenburg University in Berlin.
In 1914, with the outbreak of World War I, Zworykin returned to Russia and served as an officer in wireless telegraph units operating on the Northwestern (later Western) Front. Then he was appointed to the Petrograd Officer Electrical Engineering School (now the S. M. Budyonny Military Academy of Communications).
In 1917, V. K. Zworykin emigrated from Russia, first to London, and then in 1919 to the USA. At first, he had to settle for bookkeeping work at the Russian embassy, but in 1920 he managed to get a job in the radio tube department of the Westinghouse Electric Corporation in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania – from this moment began the story of the outstanding scientist and inventor.
In 1923, Zworykin filed a patent for an electronic-type television system, and in July 1925 – for the invention of a color television system. In September 1925, he demonstrated a prototype television set to the company’s management, but the owners of Westinghouse showed no interest in the invention. A great stroke of luck for the Russian inventor was a meeting in January 1929 with David Sarnoff, vice president of RCA (Radio Corporation of America) – also an emigrant from Russia. Heading the electronics laboratory of RCA, Zworykin continued work in his previous field, improving his invention. In April 1929, he made the kinescope – a vacuum television receiving tube, and in October 1931 created the iconoscope – a transmitting tube.
In 1932, a television transmitter installed on the Empire State Building broadcast television programs to New York and its surroundings, and soon the first television set with a 5-inch screen diagonal went into mass production. The era of television began.
Other areas of Zworykin’s scientific and inventive activity included the creation of electro-optical devices – high-speed fax, scanning electron microscope, night vision devices, apparatus for radio control of artillery fire accuracy, microscope for studying chemical reactions in the body, and so on; in total, he received about 120 patents.
In the 1930s, Zworykin visited the Soviet Union several times as an RCA representative. He gave a report titled “Television Using Cathode Ray Tubes” and demonstrated the capabilities of his invention. In 1935, an agreement was signed between the People’s Commissariat of Electrical Industry and RCA for the development of electronic television in the USSR.
The scientist passed away on July 29, 1982, on his 94th birthday.
Zworykin’s contribution to the development of science and technology was recognized with 29 prestigious international awards. He was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, awarded the French Legion of Honor and the Italian Order of Merit, and his portrait is displayed in the National Hall of Fame of the USA.
V. K. Zworykin died on July 29, 1982; his body was cremated, and his ashes were scattered over Taunton Lakes (USA). His wife is buried in Princeton Cemetery, and his name is also inscribed on her tombstone.
Sources:
https://www.prlib.ru/Great_Russia/outstanding_scientists_XX/Zvorykin
