Evgeny Konstantinovich Vasil'ev (1922-1999)

Evgeny Konstantinovich Vasil'ev, prominent scientist, X-ray physicist, senior colleague of the Inst. of the Earth Crust of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IEC SB RAS), a member of the Siberian Branch of the RAS, and a Doctor of Philosophy died on March 5, 1999 at the age 76.

He was born on September 8, 1922 in the village Zhigalovo, Irkutsk, Russia and began his study at the physical and mathematical faculty of Irkutsk State U. (ISU) in 1940. His education was interrupted by the Second World War, when he served in the Red Army. After the war he graduated from the ISU with honors in 1949 and he worked at the Irkutsk Inst. of rare metals (1949-1950), the East Siberian Geological Inst. of the RAS, which was renamed the Inst. of the Earth Crust in 1962. From 1955 until his death, Vasil'ev worked in the IEC SB RAS. In 1965 he completed his Ph.D. thesis: "Application of the mathematical statistics methods to X-ray diffraction study of an isomorphic series of olivines and garnets".

Studying minerals at the diamond provinces in Yakutia, his highly productive group discovered and characterized new minerals, including florensovite, olekminskite, azoproite, tazheranite, zemkorite, and odintsovite. Rapid X-ray diffraction methods for mineral identification were developed under his direction were the first conducted in East Siberia. He also developed protocols for X-ray powder diffraction data analysis in Russia. Vasil'ev is an author and a co-author of more than 150 scientific works including 6 monographs and his book "Qualitative X-ray phase analyze".

He was on the faculty of the Irkutsk State U., a member of the Commission of X-ray diffraction analysis, the Russian Mineralogical Society, the working group on crystal structure and mineralogical databases of KODATA, the editorial board of the "Powder Diffraction", organizing committees of many national and international conferences. and significant contributor to the ICDD. 

Vasil'ev was well organized, highly productive, diligent, inquisitive, generous and caring. He will be remembered as a scientist, a remarkable person and our colleague.