Norair Sisakian

Norair Sisakian
Born	January 12, 1907(1907-01-12) Ashtarak
Died	March 12, 1966(1966-03-12) (aged 59) Moscow
Occupation	biochemist
Children	Alexey Sisakian

Norair Martirosovich Sisakian (Sissakian) (Russian: Норайр Мартиросович Сисакян, January 12, 1907, Ashtarak - March 12, 1966, Moscow) was a Soviet Armenian biochemist, academic, one of the founders of space biology,^[1][2] an outstanding organizer of science, a member of the Pugwash movement. He was a Member of the Presidium of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, a member of the Armenian Academy of Sciences, the Vice-President of the International Academy of Astronautics, the Chairman of the Committee on Bioastronautics of the International Astronautics Federation. State Prize of the USSR in 1952. In 1964 he was unanimously elected as a President of the 21st session of the UNESCO General Conference.

Sisakian finished the Yerevan State University and then the Moscow Agricultural Academy in 1932. From 1935 he worked in the Moscow Institute of biochemics after A. N. Bach. Professor of the Moscow State University. During his life Sisakian created fourteen laboratories and the Puschin center of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

He is well-known for his concept on chloroplasts as poly-functional cell structures. He greatly contributed to the Soviet space program.^[2]

A crater on the Far side of the Moon was named in his honor.^[3] In 2001 the "Academician Norair Martirosovich Sissakian" book was released by the Russian publishing house "Nauka". A school and a prospect in Yerevan are named after him. A museum of Sisakian was opened in his hometown Ashtarak, Armenia.^[4]

In 2007 Sisakian's name was added to the List of notable dates of UNESCO.^[5]

His son, Alexei Sisakian (1944–2010), was a well-known physicist, academic of the Russian Academy of Sciences and Armenian Academy of Sciences, the Vice-president of "Dubna" International University, director of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna, Russia.^[6]

Books

• (in Russian) Norair Martirosovich Sisakian, Moscow, 1967 (Series on Biochemics)

References

1. ^ Sissakian's biography
2. ^ ^{a b} Sisakian at Peoples.Ru
3. ^ Great Soviet Encyclopedia article on Norair Sisakian
4. ^ Museum in Armenia accessed 2 January 2007
5. ^ UNESCO decision regarding the anniversary accessed 2 January 2007
6. ^ Alexei Sisakian's bio (in Russian)

External links

• Sissakian's biography
• Sisakian in Great Soviet Encyclopedia (in Russian)
• Works by or about Norair Sisakian in libraries (WorldCat catalog)

Persondata
Name	Sisakian, Norair
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1907-01-12
Place of birth	Ashtarak
Date of death	1966-03-12
Place of death	Moscow