Bach, Natalia Alekseevna

Natalia Alekseevna Bach was born in Geneva in the family of A.N. Bach on May 2, 1895 . As a child, she studied in the violin class of the music school at the Geneva Conservatory and in the “Russian School” in Geneva, founded by I.I. Fidler, then she entered the second (ninth) class of the Geneva male real gymnasium, after which she received a matriculation certificate in 1912, which gave her the right to enter the university without entrance exams. In 1913-1916 she attended a student group for Russian students under the direction of A.M. Chernyavsky, where she studied higher mathematics and theoretical physics, in 1914 she entered the chemical department of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics at the University of Geneva . In 1918 she moved to Lausanne to work on a dissertation on colloid chemistry on the flocculating ability of various ions in colloidal solutions, ^[1] after which she graduated from the University in 1920, receiving a Doctor of Science in Chemistry as a major discipline in physics and math as optional. ^[2]

In 1920, she arrived in Moscow, where she was enrolled as a laboratory assistant of the 1st category at the Central Chemical Laboratory of the Supreme Economic Council (transformed into the Chemical Institute named after L.Ya. Karpov, and later into the Scientific and Physical-Chemical Institute named after L.Ya. Karpov ) , where subsequently worked as a junior chemist, chemist, senior chemist, deputy head of the laboratory, first in the laboratory A.N. Bach on the action of enzymes and poisoning of catalysts, then in the laboratories of N.A. Izgaryshev and A.N. Frumkin . In 1927 she moved to the department of surface phenomena NIFHI im. L.Ya. Karpova , headed by A.N. Frumkin .

In 1935, the Higher Attestation Commission approved Natalia Alekseevna Bach to the degree of candidate of chemical sciences without public defense of a thesis, after which in 1936 Bach was appointed deputy head of the surface phenomena department of the NIHI im. L.Ya. Karpova . In 1937 she was approved as a member of the Scientific Council of the NIFHI im. L.Ya. Karpova .

In 1938 she became a member of the editorial board of the journal "Acta physicochimica URSS".

In 1941 she was transferred to the Colloid Electrochemical Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR (KEIN) (later renamed the Institute of Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry named after A.N. Frumkin), where she was appointed deputy head of the laboratory of electrode processes, and in the same year she was approved as a member of the Academic Council of the institute.

During the war years, she was engaged in special defense tasks related to the development of combustible mixtures for bottle throwers, for which in 1944 she was awarded the Presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences with a cash prize. In May 1943 she became a member of the Academic Commission for Assisting Stalingrad.

In the same 1943, by the decision of the Higher Attestation Commission, Natalia Alekseevna Bach was awarded the degree of Doctor of Chemical Sciences on the basis of defense at the NIHI im. L.Ya. Karpova dissertation "Electrokinetic phenomena and the structure of the double layer."

In 1946, by the decision of the Higher Attestation Commission, she was approved in the academic rank of professor in the specialty "Physical Chemistry", after which she was appointed head of the laboratory and deputy head of the department of the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the USSR Academy of Sciences (until 1945 - KEIN).

In 1950 she was awarded the Prize of the Council of Ministers of the USSR.

In 1950, she was approved as a professor at Moscow State University. MV Lomonosov , after which in the same year she began to give a course of lectures on radiation chemistry at the Faculty of Chemistry. In 1954 she was appointed head of the laboratory of radiation chemistry at the Department of Electrochemistry of the Faculty of Chemistry.

In 1958 she was transferred to the staff of the Institute of Electrochemistry of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR (IELAN) as the head of the laboratory of radiation chemistry.

In 1961, she was approved as a member of the Scientific Council of the USSR Academy of Sciences on the complex problem of Radiobiology, in 1963 she became a member of the organizing committee of the Symposium on elementary processes of high-energy chemistry in Mozhzhinka ( Moscow Region ). In 1965, the first pulsed radiolysis unit in the USSR was constructed in her laboratory of radiation chemistry, the creation of which was of great importance for studying the most important laws of primary radiation-chemical processes, the nature and physicochemical properties of the main short-lived particles. In 1966, N.A. Bach was awarded the title of Honored Worker of Science and Technology of the RSFSR for his merits in the field of physical chemistry and many years of pedagogical activity.

After the founding of the journal High-Chemistry of Chemistry in 1967, one of the creators of which N. Bach was, became part of his editorial board and continued to work until his death. In 1968 she became co-editor of the international journal "International Journal for Radiation Physics and Chemistry". In the same year, she was appointed chairman of the section of radiation chemistry of the Scientific Council of the USSR Academy of Sciences on high energy chemistry, and also became a member of the commission on applied radiation chemistry at the State Committee for Science and Technology of the Council of Ministers of the USSR .

In 1972, she was transferred to the post of senior research fellow with the duties of head of the IELAN Laboratory of Radiation Chemistry on a voluntary basis. In 1974, she was appointed head of radiation chemistry at the Scientific Council on High Energy Chemistry at the Department of General and Technical Chemistry of the USSR Academy of Sciences.

In 1975, N.A. Bach was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, and the following year, simultaneously with her retirement, she was enlisted as a senior research fellow and consultant at the Department of Radiation Chemistry.

In 1979, she died from a repeated heart attack in her eighty-fifth year of life. She was buried at the Novodevichy cemetery .

Electrochemistry and colloid chemistry

The final dissertation of Natalia Alekseevna Bach at the University of Geneva was devoted to the study of the flocculating ability of ions in colloidal solutions.

In the first works of Natalia Alekseevna Bach in the newly formed Central Chemical Laboratory of the Supreme Economic Council , the effects of enzymes and catalyst poisoning mechanisms were studied, as well as the development of methods for producing hydrosulfite and its derivatives. But already in 1927, she began to study electrokinetic processes, during which a relationship was established between the colloidal and electrochemical behavior of various systems, and hydrogen platinum sols with a positive and negative electric charge were obtained. In parallel with research in the field of electrochemistry, Natalia Alekseevna Bach studied the activation mechanisms of coal and the oxidation of high-temperature graphite. ^[3] After in 1934, at the 6th Physico-Chemical Conference of the NIPHI, her report "On the dependence of the stability of coal suspensions on a gas charge" was presented.

In 1938-1940, she took part in studies on the mechanism of action of graphite and soot in the Leklansche cell and on the special structure of soot required for electrochemical processes, as well as conditions for the production of soot for cells were determined, which helped replace industrial soot for imported Leklansche elements with domestic.

In 1943 she defended her thesis "Electrokinetic phenomena and the structure of a double layer", after which she was awarded the degree of Doctor of Chemical Sciences.

Radiation Chemistry

After the war, Natalia Alekseevna Bach began research in a new direction, after called radiation chemistry . Under her leadership, the first studies of the chemical effect of ionizing radiation in the USSR were begun, and the processes of radiolysis of aqueous solutions, individual organic compounds, and high molecular weight compounds were studied. For aqueous solutions of oxygen-containing anions, the laws of radiation transformations were studied, and the mechanism of the formation of molecular radiolysis products was established. Work on the radiolysis of organic compounds also helped to elucidate the basic laws of radiation transformations, in addition, the nature of the action of ionizing radiation in various temperature ranges was established, and work was done on radiation-technical modification of polymers. Later, based on the results of these studies, new independent sections of radiation chemistry were based: radiation chemistry of water and aqueous solutions, radiation oxidation and radiolysis of organic compounds. ^[four]

In 1954, Moscow State University at the Department of Electrochemistry of the Faculty of Chemistry created a laboratory of radiation chemistry, the head of which was appointed Natalia Alekseevna Bach. Later in 1965, under her leadership, the first pulsed radiolysis unit in the USSR was designed in the laboratory of radiation chemistry at the Institute of Electrochemistry of the USSR Academy of Sciences, which helped to study the basic laws of primary radiation-chemical processes, as well as the nature and physicochemical properties of the main short-lived particles.

In 1950, she began to give the first (and at that time the only) lecture course in radiation chemistry at the Faculty of Chemistry of Moscow State University. ^[five]

• 1944 - "Cash prize and warrant for model shoes for successful production work in 1943/44.", Issued by order of the director of KEIN.
• 1944 - "The monetary prize for the successful work and initiative shown in the performance of special defense missions", awarded by the Presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences.
• 1945 - Order of the Red Star.
• 1946 - Medal "For Valiant Labor in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945."
• 1948 - Medal "In memory of the 800th anniversary of Moscow."
• 1950 - Prize of the Council of Ministers of the USSR.
• 1951 - Order of the Badge of Honor for the successful completion of a special task of the government.
• 1954 - Order of Lenin for length of service and excellent work.
• 1966 - the title of Honored Worker of Science and Technology of the RSFSR for works in the field of physical chemistry and many years of fruitful pedagogical activity
• 1970 - Medal "For Valiant Labor to Commemorate the Centenary of the Birth of V.I. Lenin."
• 1975 - Order of the Red Banner of Labor.
• 1978 - Medal "Veteran of Labor".

• Father - Alexei Nikolaevich Bach (1857-1946), Soviet biochemist and plant physiologist , academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences .
• Mother - Alexandra Alexandrovna Cherven-Vodali (1867-1950), doctor.
• Sister - Irina Alekseevna Bach (1901-1991), Doctor of Historical Sciences. ^[2]

• On May 13, 1985, the first scientific readings in memory of Professor N. A. were held at the Chemistry Department of Moscow State University. Bach (Bach readings). Subsequently, they are held annually in May.
• In May 1995, a meeting on radiation chemistry was held in IELAN, dedicated to the 100th birthday of Natalia Alekseevna Bach.
• N.A. Bach is devoted to an article in Moscow Pravda dated July 8, 2014. ^[6]