Yuri Vasilyevich Kondratyuk

Yuri Vasilyevich Kondratyuk (real name — Alexander Ignatyevich Shargey) was a Soviet scientist, one of the founders of astronautics. He was born on June 9 (21), 1897 in Poltava. In 1916 Kondratyuk enrolled at the Petrograd Polytechnic Institute, but was soon drafted into the army and served on the Turkish front until March 1918.

After the October Revolution he was mobilized into the White Army, from which he deserted. Attempting to leave the country after Kiev was captured by the Red Army, Kondratyuk was detained and returned. With the help of his stepmother, Elena Petrovna Giberman, he obtained documents in the name of Yuri Vasilyevich Kondratyuk, a native of Lutsk born in 1900 — under this name he lived for the rest of his life.

In the 1920s Kondratyuk developed a number of important devices for space technology. Among his inventions were a four-stage rocket and a combustion chamber with a special arrangement of injectors. He also researched the use of solar energy in spacecraft. During the Great Patriotic War Kondratyuk took part in the people's militia and continued scientific research in military technology. In 1942, while defending a bridgehead, the Soviet scientist was mortally wounded and died.