Kolotyrkin, Iakov Mikhailovich

Born Nov. 1 (14), 1910, in the village of Zanino, in what is now Iartsevo Raion, Smolensk Oblast. Soviet physical chemist. Academician of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR (1970; corresponding member, 1966). Member of the CPSU since 1940.

Kolotyrkin graduated from the department of chemistry at Moscow State University in 1937. He began working as a researcher at the L. Ia. Karpov Institute of Physical Chemistry, subsequently becoming head of the laboratory of electrochemistry and metal corrosion (1956). From 1948 to 1951 he served as the institute’s director and again beginning in 1957. His major scientific works have been devoted to the study of corrosion and passivity of metals in electrolytes. Kolotyrkin has conducted fundamental investigations in the electrochemical kinetics of corrosion processes, which were later extended to the behavior of metals in the passive state. He developed the electrochemical theory of passivity and of a number of cases of its deviation. He also conducted scientific and engineering development work on anodic protection of metals from corrosion and the industrial application of this method. Kolotyrkin has been awarded the Order of Lenin, two other orders, and various medals.