Inna Nikolaevna Leman-Balanovskaja
Leman-Balanovskaya Inna Nikolaevna | |
|---|---|
 I. N. Lehman-Balanovskaya around 1906 (center) | |
| Born | 30 June 1881 |
| Died | April 1945 (aged 63–64) |
| Burial place | Tashkent |
| Education | Bestuzhev Courses |
| Occupation | Senior researcher at the Pulkovo Observatory |
Inna Nikolaevna Leman-Balanovskaja (Russian: И́нна Никола́евна Ле́ман-Балано́вская; 30 June 1881 – April, 1945)[1] was a Russian astronomer and astrophysicist. She grew up in Saint Petersburg and graduated high school in 1899. She graduated from the University of Göttingen in 1910 with a PhD. She was arrested in 1935 under fabricated charges, and served five years in a hard labor camp. She died in 1945 whilst traveling to Crimea after contracting Typhus.
Early life and education
Leman-Balanovskaja was born in Pavlovsk, Saint Petersburg[1] (formerly known as Slutsk until 1944) to a noble family. Her father was a high ranking employee of a Russian government ministry.[2] She graduated from high school in 1899 and was enrolled in the Physics and Mathematics Department of the Higher Women's Bestuzhev Courses. She worked as a mathematician for the State Hydrological Institute in Saint Petersburg, and occasionally attended astronomy classes at Sorbonne University in Paris.[3] She moved to a city in Germany known as Göttingen to study astrophysics in 1906, and graduated with a Doctor of Philosophy in 1910 from the University of Göttingen under her professor Karl Schwarzschild.[4]
Arrest
In the 1930s, she had worked at the Pulkovo Observatory,[5] a facility targeted between 1936–1937 by the Soviet government at the time.[6] She was arrested on 7 September 1935 under crimes of the Pulkovo case,[5] a fabricated collection of charges that associated her and dozens of other scientists with Trotskyist-Zinovievist, a Russian-designated terrorist organization.[6] She was sentenced two days later to five years in a labor camp in Siberia (Siblag NKVD), where she resided until her release in 1943.[5]
Death and legacy
Leman-Balanovskaja had made plans to travel to Crimea in 1945, but had to stop in Tashkent, Uzbekistan after she had contracted typhus. She died from her illness and was buried nearby.[3]
An asteroid (848 Inna) was named after her to recognize her contributions to the field.[7]
Works
Leman-Balanovskaja had produced several papers, books and translations throughout her career, some of which being:
- Ueber die systematische Bewegung der Sterne (Dissertation), Göttingen, 1911.
- Ueber die relative Intensitätsäinderung einiger Linien im Spectrum von δ Cephei, 1913 (Izv. GAO, vol. 5, no. 59).
- Ueber die relative Intensitätsäinderung der Linien im Spectrum von δ Cephei und S Gemin., 1914 (Izv. Acad. Sciences).
- Recherches sur les elements de l'orbite de l'étoile Polaire d'aprés des spectrogrammes prizes à Poulcovo, 1914. Izv. GAO, No. 65.
- On the spectrum of Nova Cygni, 1920. Collection of articles, GAO, Petrograd.
- On the spectrum of Nova Aquilae (1918–1924), Petrograd, Izv. GAO. v.9.
- The position of comet 1919 III (Comet Brorsen-Metkoff 1847 V, independently discovered by Selivanov) during its secondary appearance on August 1, 1919). Collection of articles, GAO, No. 1, 1920.
- Die vorläufige Elemente des Verändlichen XY Cassiopeiae, Astronom. Nachrichten, 1925.
- Ueber die Elemente des Spectraldoppelsterns α Geminorum (Izvestia of the State Administrative District, 1925).
- Ueber die Scheinbare Verteilung des Sterne des Spectraltypen M und K5 (1928, Astronom. Nachrichten).
- Die Eigenbewegungen der Sterne im offenen Sternhaufen NGC 6885 und in seiner Umgebung (Izvestia of the State Administrative District, 1930).
- Catalog der photographischen Grossen der Sterne der Potsdam. Photometrischen Durchmusterung in der Zone + 57°.5 — + 77°.5. 1932, Bulletin de l'Observatoire à Poulcovo.
- Photographic Light Curves of the Variable VW and UZ Cassiopeiae (Poulc. Circ., 1932).
- New variable stars in Perseus. (Poulc. Circul., 1934).
- Nine new variables in Taurus. (Poulc. Circul., 1936), No. 16.
- Investigation of a dark nebula near ξ Persei, Izv. GAO No. 118, 1935.
- Translation of the book by H. Shapley and H. Curtis "The Dimensions of the Universe", Pg., 1924.
References
- ^ a b "Леман-Балановская Инна Николаевна" [Leman-Balanovskaya, Inna Nikolaevna]. Бессмертный барак (in Russian). Archived from the original on 20 January 2026. Retrieved 20 January 2026.
- ^ "Мартиролог - Леман-Балановская Инна Николаевна - Мемориальный Музей" [Martyrology - Inna Nikolaevna Leman-Balanovskaya - Memorial Museum]. nkvd.tomsk.ru (in Russian). Archived from the original on 3 May 2019. Retrieved 20 January 2026.
- ^ a b "БАЛАНОВСКАЯ (ЛЕМАН) Инна Николаевна | ЦентрАзия" [BALANOVSKAYA (LEMAN) Inna Nikolaevna | CentralAsia]. centrasia.org (in Russian). Archived from the original on 27 January 2025. Retrieved 20 January 2026.
- ^ "И. Н. ЛЕМАН-БАЛАНОВСКАЯ (1881-1945)" [I. N. LEMAN-BALANOVSKAYA (1881-1945)]. nkvd.tomsk.ru.
- ^ a b c "Леман-Балановская Инна Николаевна - Электронный архив Фонда Иофе" [Leman-Balanovskaya Inna Nikolaevna - Electronic archive of the Iofe Foundation]. arch2.iofe.center (in Russian). Archived from the original on 10 August 2025. Retrieved 20 January 2026.
- ^ a b "Pulkovo case (1936-1937) - Iofe Foundation Electronic Archive". arch2.iofe.center. Archived from the original on 20 January 2026. Retrieved 20 January 2026.
- ^ Schmadel, Lutz D. (2007). "(848) Inna". Dictionary of Minor Planet Names. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 77. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-29925-7_849. ISBN 978-3-540-00238-3.