Ivan Stranski
Encyclopedia
Ivan Nikolov Stranski was a Bulgaria
n physical chemist
. The founder of the Bulgarian school of physical chemistry, Stranski is considered the father of crystal growth
research. Stranski headed the departments of physical chemistry at Sofia University
and the Technical University of Berlin
, of which he was also rector
. The Stranski-Krastanov growth
and the Kossel-Stranski model have been named after Ivan Stranski.
, the capital of the Principality of Bulgaria
, as the third child of Nikola Stranski, pharmacist to the royal court, and his wife Maria Krohn, a Baltic German. Ever since his childhood he suffered from bone tuberculosis
, 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 in Vienna
. He graduated from Sofia University in 1922, majoring in chemistry, and acquired a doctor's degree in Berlin
under Paul Günther with a dissertation on X-ray spectroscopy
. In 1925, Stranski joined Sofia University's newly established Department of Physical Chemistry of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics as a reader, becoming the first reader of physical chemistry in the country. By 1929, he was promoted to associate professor and by 1937 he was a regular professor at Sofia University. Stranski attracted prominent scientists such as Rostislav Kaishev and Lyubomir Krastanov to the department.
In 1930, Ivan Stranski received a Rockefeller scholarship
and along with Kaishev was invited to the Technical University of Berlin, where he collaborated with prominent physical chemist Max Volmer
. The 1930s saw the publishing of several important articles which Stranski co-authored with Kaishev and Krastanov, such as the 1939 discovery of Stranski-Krastanov growth. In 1935-36 he was head of department at the Ural Institute of Physics and Mechanics in Sverdlovsk
in the Soviet Union
. In 1941, Stranski was invited by Walther Kossel
to conduct research in Breslau. He put forth his kinetic theory of crystal growth, which became known as the Kossel-Stranski model – Kossel independently proposed the same model.
With the advance of the Red Army
, Stranski returned to Berlin to work at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry. As Nazi Germany
surrendered, Volmer was taken by force to the Soviet Union
and Stranski took his place as the director of studies at the Technical University of Berlin's Department of Physical Chemistry. Despite the heavy damage caused by Allied bombing, not without Stranski's assistance the Technical University was among the few that opened for the 1945 academic year. In 1948–1949, Stranski was the dean of the Faculty of General and Engineering Sciences. In 1951–1953, Stranski was rector of the university; he also held the position of vice rector. In 1953, he became deputy director of the Fritz Haber Institute
. Until 1963, Stranski taught at the Free University of Berlin
.
After the Bulgarian coup d'état of 1944
and the installment of a communist
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 the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
and he would only return to Bulgaria from West Berlin
in 1967. He died in Sofia in 1979, but was buried in Berlin.
Ivan Stranski was a member of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences
(1939), Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities
(1959), New York Academy of Sciences
, the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina and the Swedish Academy of Sciences. Two modern institutes bear his name: the Stranski Laboratory for Physical und Theoretical Chemistry of the Technical University of Berlin (Iwan N.-Stranski-Institut from 1967 to 2001), and the I. N.-Stranski-Institut of Metallurgy
in Oberhausen
.
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
n physical chemist
Physical chemistry
Physical chemistry is the study of macroscopic, atomic, subatomic, and particulate phenomena in chemical systems in terms of physical laws and concepts...
. The founder of the Bulgarian school of physical chemistry, Stranski is considered the father of crystal growth
Crystal growth
A crystal is a solid material whose constituent atoms, molecules, or ions are arranged in an orderly repeating pattern extending in all three spatial dimensions. Crystal growth is a major stage of a crystallization process, and consists in the addition of new atoms, ions, or polymer strings into...
research. Stranski headed the departments of physical chemistry at Sofia University
Sofia University
The St. Clement of Ohrid University of Sofia or Sofia University is the oldest higher education institution in Bulgaria, founded on 1 October 1888...
and the Technical University of Berlin
Technical University of Berlin
The Technische Universität Berlin is a research university located in Berlin, Germany. Translating the name into English is discouraged by the university, however paraphrasing as Berlin Institute of Technology is recommended by the university if necessary .The TU Berlin was founded...
, of which he was also rector
Rector
The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...
. The Stranski-Krastanov growth
Stranski-Krastanov growth
Stranski–Krastanov growth is one of the three primary modes by which thin films grow epitaxially at a crystal surface or interface...
and the Kossel-Stranski model have been named after Ivan Stranski.
Biography
Ivan Stranski was born in SofiaSofia
Sofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 12th largest city in the European Union with a population of 1.27 million people. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of Mount Vitosha and approximately at the centre of the Balkan Peninsula.Prehistoric settlements were excavated...
, the capital of the Principality of Bulgaria
Principality of Bulgaria
The Principality of Bulgaria was a self-governing entity created as a vassal of the Ottoman Empire by the Treaty of Berlin in 1878. The preliminary treaty of San Stefano between the Russian Empire and the Porte , on March 3, had originally proposed a significantly larger Bulgarian territory: its...
, as the third child of Nikola Stranski, pharmacist to the royal court, and his wife Maria Krohn, a Baltic German. Ever since his childhood he suffered from bone tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
, 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 in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
. He graduated from Sofia University in 1922, majoring in chemistry, and acquired a doctor's degree in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
under Paul Günther with a dissertation on X-ray spectroscopy
X-ray spectroscopy
X-ray spectroscopy is a gathering name for several spectroscopic techniques for characterization of materials by using x-ray excitation.-Characteristic X-ray Spectroscopy:...
. In 1925, Stranski joined Sofia University's newly established Department of Physical Chemistry of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics as a reader, becoming the first reader of physical chemistry in the country. By 1929, he was promoted to associate professor and by 1937 he was a regular professor at Sofia University. Stranski attracted prominent scientists such as Rostislav Kaishev and Lyubomir Krastanov to the department.
In 1930, Ivan Stranski received a Rockefeller scholarship
Rockefeller Foundation
The Rockefeller Foundation is a prominent philanthropic organization and private foundation based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The preeminent institution established by the six-generation Rockefeller family, it was founded by John D. Rockefeller , along with his son John D. Rockefeller, Jr...
and along with Kaishev was invited to the Technical University of Berlin, where he collaborated with prominent physical chemist Max Volmer
Max Volmer
Max Volmer was a German physical chemist, who made important contributions in electrochemistry, in particular on electrode kinetics. He co-developed the Butler–Volmer equation. Volmer held the chair and directorship of the Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry Institute of the Technische...
. The 1930s saw the publishing of several important articles which Stranski co-authored with Kaishev and Krastanov, such as the 1939 discovery of Stranski-Krastanov growth. In 1935-36 he was head of department at the Ural Institute of Physics and Mechanics in Sverdlovsk
Yekaterinburg
Yekaterinburg is a major city in the central part of Russia, the administrative center of Sverdlovsk Oblast. Situated on the eastern side of the Ural mountain range, it is the main industrial and cultural center of the Urals Federal District with a population of 1,350,136 , making it Russia's...
in the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. In 1941, Stranski was invited by Walther Kossel
Walther Kossel
Walther Ludwig Julius Kossel was a German physicist known for his theory of the chemical bond , Sommerfeld–Kossel displacement law of atomic spectra, the Kossel-Stranski model for crystal growth, and the Kossel effect...
to conduct research in Breslau. He put forth his kinetic theory of crystal growth, which became known as the Kossel-Stranski model – Kossel independently proposed the same model.
With the advance of the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
, Stranski returned to Berlin to work at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry. As Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
surrendered, Volmer was taken by force to the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
and Stranski took his place as the director of studies at the Technical University of Berlin's Department of Physical Chemistry. Despite the heavy damage caused by Allied bombing, not without Stranski's assistance the Technical University was among the few that opened for the 1945 academic year. In 1948–1949, Stranski was the dean of the Faculty of General and Engineering Sciences. In 1951–1953, Stranski was rector of the university; he also held the position of vice rector. In 1953, he became deputy director of the Fritz Haber Institute
Fritz Haber Institute of the MPG
The Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society is a science research institute located at the heart of the academic district of Dahlem, in Berlin, Germany....
. Until 1963, Stranski taught at the Free University of Berlin
Free University of Berlin
Freie Universität Berlin is one of the leading and most prestigious research universities in Germany and continental Europe. It distinguishes itself through its modern and international character. It is the largest of the four universities in Berlin. Research at the university is focused on the...
.
After the Bulgarian coup d'état of 1944
Bulgarian coup d'état of 1944
The Bulgarian coup d'état of 1944, also known as the 9 September coup d'état and called in pre-1989 Bulgaria the National Uprising of 9 September or the Socialist Revolution of 9 September was a change in the Kingdom of Bulgaria's administration and government carried out on the eve of 9 September...
and the installment of a communist
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
government, Stranski was accused of links to the preceding pro-fascist
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
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 the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
The Bulgarian Academy of Sciences is the National Academy of Bulgaria, established in 1869. The Academy is autonomous and has a Society of Academicians, Correspondent Members and Foreign Members...
and he would only return to Bulgaria from West Berlin
West Berlin
West Berlin was a political exclave that existed between 1949 and 1990. It comprised the western regions of Berlin, which were bordered by East Berlin and parts of East Germany. West Berlin consisted of the American, British, and French occupation sectors, which had been established in 1945...
in 1967. He died in Sofia in 1979, but was buried in Berlin.
Ivan Stranski was a member of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences
Göttingen Academy of Sciences
The Göttingen Academy of Sciences is the second oldest of the seven academies of sciences in Germany. It has the task of promoting research under its own auspices and in collaboration with academics in and outside Germany...
(1939), Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities
Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities
The Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities is an independent public institution, located in Munich. It appoints scholars whose research has contributed considerably to the increase of knowledge within their subject...
(1959), New York Academy of Sciences
New York Academy of Sciences
The New York Academy of Sciences is the third oldest scientific society in the United States. An independent, non-profit organization with more than members in 140 countries, the Academy’s mission is to advance understanding of science and technology...
, the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina and the Swedish Academy of Sciences. Two modern institutes bear his name: the Stranski Laboratory for Physical und Theoretical Chemistry of the Technical University of Berlin (Iwan N.-Stranski-Institut from 1967 to 2001), and the I. N.-Stranski-Institut of Metallurgy
Metallurgy
Metallurgy is a domain of materials science that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their intermetallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are called alloys. It is also the technology of metals: the way in which science is applied to their practical use...
in Oberhausen
Oberhausen
Oberhausen is a city on the river Emscher in the Ruhr Area, Germany, located between Duisburg and Essen . The city hosts the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen and its Gasometer Oberhausen is an anchor point of the European Route of Industrial Heritage. It is also well known for the...
.