Nikita Nikolaevich Melnikov,
Candidate of Historical Sciences, Institute of History and Archaeology of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academia of Sciences, Yekaterinburg, Russia, e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Sergey Vasilievich Kaftanov and the Management of Soviet Science during the Great Patriotic War
DOI: 10.31518/2618-9100-2025-2-10
In the early days of the Great Patriotic War, Sergey Vasilievich Kaftanov became the commissioner of the State Defense Committee for the Coordination and Strengthening of scientific work in the field of chemistry and headed the Scientific and Technical Council of the largest chemists and chemical technologists. Until the end of 1942, S.V. Kaftanov did not give up trying to spread his influence throughout Soviet science and lead all scientific research in the country. Famous scientists of the USSR were often involved in this process. However, the country’s top leadership strongly rejected these initiatives. At the beginning of 1943, S.V. Kaftanov received a new direction of his activity − overseeing the atomic project. Interestingly, there is a strong tradition in Russian historical literature to consider S.V. Kaftanov the leader of all Soviet science during the war period. Although this directly contradicts the facts. As a result of the work of the Commissioner and the Council, during the first year and a half of the military conflict, the research topics of chemical institutes and laboratories of higher educational institutions were largely reoriented to developments related to strengthening the country’s defense capability. Many projects implemented during this period have been successfully completed and put into production. All this suggests that S.V. Kaftanov, as an authorized representative of the State Defense Committee, actively participated in various projects and had a significant impact on the development of Soviet science and industry during the war.
Publishing: 28/04/2025
The article has been received by the editor on 13/03/2025
How to cite: Melnikov N.N. Sergey Vasilievich Kaftanov and the Management of Soviet Science during the Great Patriotic War // Historical Courier, 2025, No. 2 (40), pp. 132–140. [Available online: http://istkurier.ru/data/2025/ISTKURIER-2025-2-10.pdf]
Links: Issue 2 2025
Keywords: The Great Patriotic War; S.V. Kaftanov; science; chemistry