In the foyer of the main building of Voronezh State University, on the second floor, on March 21, an exhibition dedicated to the founder of the Voronezh School of Electrochemistry, head of the Department of Physical Chemistry of Voronezh State University in 1956–1979, professor of the Faculty of Chemistry Anatoly Yakovlevich Shatalov (1913–1985) opened. This February was the 110th anniversary of Anatoly Yakovlevich.
The exhibition was opened by employees of the VSU Museum and Exhibition Centre, Anzhelika Makarova and Alexandra Stepynina, who thanked their colleagues for the preparation and creation of the exhibition, in particular, Olga Bobreshova and Anna Parshina, teachers of the VSU Chemistry Department.
VSU Vice-Rector for Research, Innovations, and Digitising, Oleg Kozaderov, talked about the atmosphere of sincerity that Professor Shatalov passed on to subsequent generations of students and teachers, and this atmosphere continues at VSU today. Oleg Alexandrovich recalled the 90th anniversary that the Department of Physical Chemistry celebrated last year and that Anatoly Yakovlevich has been the head of this department for more than 20 years.
The meeting brought together members of the family of A.Ya. Shatalova, his colleagues, students, including professors Alexander Vvedensky and Tamara Kravchenko, who remembered the professional and human qualities of Anatoly Yakovlevich who had magnificent talents as a scientist, graphic artist, was knowledgeable about art, and had a wonderful sense of humour. All this was demonstrated by the exhibits: Shatalov’s graphic works, his notes, excerpts from scientific works, photographs…
Lyudmila Vladimirova, Chair of the Trade Union Committee of VSU, recalled how she worked on her Ph.D. thesis under the guidance of two legends of the university, the chemists Yakov Ugai and Anatoly Shatalov.
“... and then, before the defence, when Anatoly Yakovlevich read my work, he found an error in the calculations (but there was no error - I double-checked and told him about it) and he apologized for his mistake. I very clearly felt that this was not just a scientist but great human being. We retained mutual respect for each other for the rest of our lives,” summed up Lyudmila Nikolaevna.
Professor Olga Bobreshova recalled how the 100th anniversary of A.Ya. Shatalov was celebrated ten years ago. Then, upon the house in which Anatoly Yakovlevich lived, a memorial plaque was placed (the creator of the plaque is an honoured art worker of the Russian Federation, Yuri Astapchenko). At the current meeting, Olga Vladimirovna introduced the descendants of Anatoly Yakovlevich, including his great-grandchildren and great-great-grandson.
The rector's councillor Vladimir Listengarten, noted that A.Ya. Shatalov was a significant figure of the post-war university, belonging to the elite that determined the requirements and standards for scientific and educational work (for some time Anatoly Yakovlevich was vice-rector at VSU). Vladimir Semenovich recalled an episode from his life, how in the nineties he, together with the rector of the university, Vladimir Vasilyevich Gusev at this time, had a chance to visit a ship that was wrought using the Shatalov method.
“Ordinary people have two main dates, their date of birth and date of death. University people also have two of main dates, but the second one is the date when their work at the university started,” concluded Vladimir Semyonovich.
