Ignatev, Aleksandr Mikhailovich

Born Nov 1 (13), 1879; died Mar. 27, 1936. Soviet inventor.

Ignat’ev entered St. Petersburg University in 1901, subsequently dropping out and then returning in 1911. He took part in the Revolution of 1905–07. In 1908 he went abroad on assignment from the Central Committee of the RSDLP. In 1914, while serving in the army, he designed an orginal aiming device for shooting at airborne targets. From 1920 to 1925 he headed the Soviet trade mission in Finland, and from 1925 to 1929 he headed the trade mission in Berlin. In 1926 he invented a self- sharpening cutting tool, the working part of which consisted of several metal layers of differing hardness. The tool was patented in the USSR and a number of foreign countries. He designed a welding press and a sheet-welding machine that enabled the welding of strips or plates of varying thickness. Ignat’ev also had other inventions to his credit.