This is a list of inventors from the Russian Federation, Soviet Union, Russian Empire, Tsardom of Russia and Grand Duchy of Moscow, including both ethnic Russians and people of other ethnicities.
This list also includes those who were born in Russia or its predecessor states but later emigrated, and those who were born elsewhere but immigrated to the country or worked there for a considerable time, (producing inventions on Russian soil).
For Russian inventions in chronological order, see the Timeline of Russian inventions and technology records.
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| Vladimir Chelomey (1914–1984) | first space station (Salyut 1), further space stations of Salyut series, Proton rocket (the most used heavy lift launch system)[36] | ||||||
| Pavel Cherenkov (1904–1990) | Cherenkov detector[37] | ||||||
| Evgeniy Chertovsky (1902–?)  Russian Federation | pressure suit[38] | ||||||
| Alexander Chizhevsky (1897–1964) | air ionizer (Chizhevsky's chandelier)[39] | ||||||
| Andrey Chokhov (c. 1545–1629) Grand Duchy of Moscow Tsardom of Russia | Tsar Cannon, the largest bombard by caliber but inoperative[40] |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vasily Degtyaryov (1880–1949) | first self-loading carbine, Degtyaryov-series firearms, co-developer of Fedorov Avtomat (the first self-loading rifle)[41] | < | -- --> | ||||
| Akinfiy Demidov (1678–1745) Tsardom of Russia | co-developer of rebar, cast iron cupola, lightning rod (all found in the Leaning Tower of Nevyansk)[42] | ||||||
| Yuri Denisyuk (1927–2006) Russian Federation | 3D holography[43] | ||||||
| Aleksandr Dianin (1851–1918) | Bisphenol A, Dianin's compound[44] | ||||||
| Mikhail Dolivo-Dobrovolsky (1862–1919) (Poland, Germany) | three-phase electric power (first 3-phase hydroelectric power plant, 3-phase electrical generator, 3-phase motor and 3-phase transformer)[45] | ||||||
| Nikolay Dollezhal (1899–2000) Russian Federation | AM-1 reactor for the first nuclear power plant and other RBMK-type reactors, pressurized water reactor (VVER)[46] | ||||||
| Alexey Dushkin (1904–1977) | deep column station[47] |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ivan Elmanov | first monorail (the so-called "Road on Pillars" near Moscow, with horse-drawn carriages)[48] |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peter Carl Fabergé (1846–1920) | Fabergé Eggs[49] | ||||||
| Nicolas Florine (1891–1972)  Belgium(born in Georgia) | first tandem rotor helicopter to fly freely[50] | ||||||
| Ivan Fyodorov (c. 1510–1583) Grand Duchy of Moscow Tsardom of Russia Poland-Lithuania | invented multibarreled mortar, introduced printing in Russia[51] | ||||||
| Svyatoslav Fyodorov (1927–2000) Russian Federation | radial keratotomy[52] | ||||||
| Vladimir Fyodorov (1874–1966) | Fedorov Avtomat (first self-loading battle rifle, arguably the first assault rifle)[53] |
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| Waldemar Haffkine (1860–1930)  Switzerland | developed and used first vaccines against cholera and bubonic plague[69] [70] |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gavriil Ilizarov (1921–1992) Russian Federation | Ilizarov apparatus, external fixation, distraction osteogenesis[71] [72] | ||||||
| Sergey Ilyushin (1894–1977) | Il-series fighter aircraft, including Ilyushin Il-2 bomber (the most produced military aircraft in history)[73] | ||||||
| Aleksei Isaev (1908–1971) (second left on photo) | first rocket-powered fighter aircraft, BI-1 (together with Bereznyak) | ||||||
| Isidore Grand Duchy of Moscow | Russian vodka[74] | ||||||
| Vladislav Ivanov (1936–2007) Russian Federation | Pioneer of Magnetic resonance imaging[75] [76] [77] |
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| Boris Jacobi (1801–1874) | electrotyping (an application of electroplating to typography), electric boat[78] |
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| Dmitry Lachinov (1842–1902) | mercury pump, economizer for electricity consumption, electrical insulation tester, optical dynamometer, photometer, electrolyser[96] | ||||||
| Semyon Lavochkin (1900–1960) | La-series aircraft, the first operational surface-to-air missile S-25 Berkut | ||||||
| Nikolai Lebedenko | Tsar Tank, the largest armored vehicle in history[97] | ||||||
| Sergei Lebedev (1874–1934) | commercially viable synthetic rubber | ||||||
| Lisitsyns, Ivan Fyodorovich and his brother Nazar Fyodorovich | Russian samovar[98] | ||||||
| Alexander Lodygin (1847–1923)  United States | electrical filament, incandescent light bulb with tungsten filament | ||||||
| Mikhail Lomonosov (1711–1765) Tsardom of Russia | night vision telescope, off-axis reflecting telescope, coaxial rotor, original Russian hard-paste porcelain (together with Dmitry Vinogradov), re-discovery of smalt[99] | ||||||
| Yury Lomonosov (1876–1952)  United Kingdom | first successful mainline diesel locomotive[100] | ||||||
| Aleksandr Loran (1849 – after 1911) | fire fighting foam, foam extinguisher[101] | ||||||
| Oleg Losev (1903–1942) | light-emitting diode, crystadine | ||||||
| Gleb Lozino-Lozinskiy (1909–2001) Russian Federation | Buran (spacecraft), Spiral project[102] [103] | ||||||
| Arkhip Lyulka (1908–1984) | first double jet turbofan engine, other Soviet aircraft engines[104] |
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Aleksandr Makarov (born 1966) Russian Federation Germany | orbitrap[105] | ||||||
| Stepan Makarov (1849–1904) | Icebreaker Yermak, the first true icebreaker able to ride over and crush pack ice | ||||||
| Nestor Makhno (1888–1934)  France(Ukraine) | tachanka | ||||||
| Victor Makeev (1924–1985) | first intercontinental submarine-launched ballistic missile | ||||||
| Dmitri Maksutov (1896–1964) | Maksutov telescope | ||||||
| Sergey Malyutin (1859–1937) (self-portrait) | matryoshka doll (together with craftsman Vasily Zvyozdochkin)[106] | ||||||
| Boris Mamyrin (1919–2007) Russian Federation | reflectron (ion mirror)[107] | ||||||
| Ilya Mechnikov (1845–1916) France | probiotics | ||||||
| Dmitri Mendeleev (1834–1907) | Periodic table, a type of pycnometer, pyrocollodion, co-developer of Icebreaker Yermak, also credited with determining the ideal vodka proof as 38% (later rounded to 40%)[108] | ||||||
| Artem Mikoyan (1905–1970) (Armenia) (right on photo) | MiG-series fighter aircraft, including world's most produced jet aircraft MiG-15 and most produced supersonic aircraft MiG-21 (together with Mikhail Gurevich) | ||||||
| Alexander Mikulin (1895–1985) | Mikulin AM-34 and other Soviet aircraft engines, co-developer of the Tsar Tank[109] | ||||||
| Mikhail Mil (1909–1970) | Mi-series helicopter aircraft, including Mil Mi-8 (the world's most-produced helicopter) and Mil Mi-12 (the world's largest helicopter) | ||||||
| Pavel Molchanov (1893–1941) | radiosonde | ||||||
| Alexander Morozov (1904–1979) | T-54/55 (the most produced tank in history), co-developer of T-34[110] [111] | ||||||
| Sergei Mosin (1849–1902) | Mosin–Nagant rifle, one of the most produced ever | ||||||
| Motorins, Ivan Feodorovich (1660s – 1735) and his son Mikhail Ivanovich (?–1750) Tsardom of Russia | Tsar Bell, the largest bell in the world | ||||||
| Vera Mukhina (1889–1953) | welded sculpture[112] | ||||||
| Yevgeny Murzin (1914–1970) | ANS synthesizer |
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| Alexander Nadiradze (1914–1987) (born in Georgia) | First meteorological missile "M1-Meteo". First mobile ICBM (RT-21 Temp 2S), also RSD-10 Pioneer and (RT-2PM Topol)[113] | ||||||
| Andrey Nartov (1683–1756) Tsardom of Russia | first lathe with a mechanic cutting tool-supporting carriage and a set of gears, fast-fire battery on a rotating disc, screw mechanism for changing the artillery fire angle, gauge-boring lathe for cannon-making, early telescopic sight[114] [115] [116] | ||||||
| Sergey Nepobedimiy (1921–2014) Russian Federation | first supersonic anti-tank guided missile Sturm, other Soviet rocket weaponry[117] | ||||||
| Nikolai Nikitin (1907–1973) | prestressed concrete with wire ropes structure (Ostankino Tower, The Motherland Calls), Nikitin-Travush 4000 project (precursor to X-Seed 4000) | ||||||
| Ludvig Nobel (1831–1888)  Sweden | first successful oil tanker[118] | ||||||
| Konstantin Novoselov (born 1974) Russian Federation United Kingdom | graphene (youngest Nobel Laureate since 1973)[119] |
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| Theophil Wilgodt Odhner (1845–1903) Sweden | the Odhner Arithmometer (a mechanical pinwheel calculator) | ||||||
| Lucien Olivier (1838–1883) (Belgian or French origin) | Russian salad (Olivier salad) |
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| Leonid Ramzin (1887–1948) | straight-flow boiler (Ramzin boiler)[126] | ||||||
| Peter I of Russia (Romanov) (1672–1725) Tsardom of Russia | decimal currency, yacht club, sounding line with separating plummet (sounding weight probe)[127] [128] [129] | ||||||
| Ida Rosenthal (1886–1973) United States(born in Belarus, Jewish descent) | modern brassiere (Maidenform), the standard of cup sizes, nursing bra, full-figured bra, the first seamed uplift bra (all with her husband William)[130] [131] [132] | ||||||
| Boris Rosing (1869–1933) | CRT television (first TV system using cathode ray tube on the receiving side)[133] [134] | ||||||
| Eugene Roshal (born 1972) Russian Federation | FAR file manager, RAR file format, WinRAR file archiver[135] |
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| Andrey Ternovskiy (born 1992) Russian Federation | creator of Chatroulette, the first random webcam chat website | ||||||
| Léon Theremin (1896–1993) United States Russian Federation | theremin, burglar alarm, terpsitone, Rhythmicon (first drum machine), The Thing (listening device) | ||||||
| Andrey Tikhonov (1906–1993) Russian Federation | magnetotellurics | ||||||
| Mikhail Tikhonravov (1900–1974) | co-developer of Sputnik 1 (the first artificial satellite) together with Korolyov and Keldysh, designer of further Sputniks | ||||||
| Gavriil Tikhov (1875–1960) | feathering spectrograph | ||||||
| Fedor Tokarev (1871–1968) | TT-33 semiautomatic handgun and SVT-40 self-loading rifle (main Soviet guns of World War II) | ||||||
| Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, (1857–1935) | spaceflight (theory principles that led to numerous inventions, derived the Tsiolkovsky rocket equation) | ||||||
| Mikhail Tsvet (1872–1919) | chromatography (specifically adsorption chromatography, the first chromatography method) | ||||||
| Alexei Tupolev (1925–2001) Russian Federation | the Tupolev Tu-144 (first supersonic passenger jet) | ||||||
| Andrei Tupolev (1888–1972) | turboprop powered long-range airliner (Tupolev Tu-114), turboprop strategic bomber (Tupolev Tu-95) |
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| Vladimir Utkin (1923–2000) Russian Federation | railcar-launched ICBM (RT-23 Molodets), other Soviet rockets[152] |
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| Vladimir Vakhmistrov (1897–1972) | first bomber with a parasite aircraft (Zveno project) | ||||||
| Viktor Vasnetsov (1848–1926) | budenovka military hat | < | -- Deleted image removed: --> | ||||
| Vladimir Veksler (1907–1966) | synchrophasotron, co-inventor of synchrotron[153] |
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| Paul Walden (1863–1957) Germany(born in Latvia, Baltic German descent) | Walden inversion, Ethylammonium nitrate (the first room temperature ionic liquid) |
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| Pavel Yablochkov (1847–1894) | Yablochkov candle (first commercially viable electric carbon arc lamp) | ||||||
| Alexander Yakovlev (1906–1989) | Yak-series aircraft, including Yakovlev Yak-40 (the first regional jet) | ||||||
| Vladimir Yourkevitch (1885–1964) France United States | modern ship hull design | ||||||
| Sergei Yudin (1891–1954) | cadaveric blood transfusion and other medical operations[154] |
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| Ludwik Łazarz Zamenhof (1859–1917) (Poland) | Esperanto language | ||||||
| Yevgeny Zavoisky (1907–1976) | EPR spectroscopy, co-developer of NMR spectroscopy[155] | ||||||
| Nikolay Zelinsky (1861–1953) | the first effective filtering activated charcoal gas mask in the world | ||||||
| Nikolai Zhukovsky (1847–1921) | an early wind tunnel, co-developer of the Tsar Tank[156] | ||||||
| Vladimir Zvorykin (1889–1982) United States | pioneer of television technology Iconoscope, kinescope | ||||||
| Vasily Zvyozdochkin (1876–1956) | matryoshka doll (together with painter Sergey Malyutin)[157] |
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