About Georgy Flyorov
Georgy Nikolayevich Flerov, also spelled Flyorov (Russian: Георгий Николаевич Флёров, IPA: [ɡʲɪˈorɡʲɪj nʲɪkɐˈlajɪvʲɪtɕ ˈflʲɵrəf]; 2 March 1913 – 19 November 1990), was a Soviet physicist who is known for his discovery of spontaneous fission and his important contribution towards crystallography and material science, for which, he was honored with many awards. In addition, he is also known for his letter directed to Joseph Stalin, during the midst of World War II, to start a program of nuclear weapons in the Soviet Union. In 2012, element 114 was named flerovium after the research laboratory at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research bearing his name. == Biography == Flerov was born on 2 March 1913 in Rostov-on-Don in Russia. His grandfather was a priest in the Russian Orthodox Church—his mother was Jewish. After finishing schooling in 1929, he was trained as a mechanic and later as an electrician, first working as a technician at the Kirov Plant. In 1933–34, he was able to attend the Leningrad Polytechnic Institute (now known as the Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University), and earned a specialist degree from the Polytechnic Institute in physics under Abram Ioffe's group in 1939. He found employment at the Ioffe Institute (then known as LFTI) and worked under Igor Kurchatov. Initially he worked with Mikhail Rusinov in fission applications in 1939 but discovered spontaneous fission in 1940 with Konstantin Petrzhak in 1940.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.