Palatnik Lev Samiylovych: On the Occasion of the 140th Anniversary of NTU "KhPI"
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The book exhibition "Palatnik Lev Samiylovych: On the Occasion of the 140th Anniversary of NTU 'KhPI'", dedicated to the memory of an outstanding polytechnic scientist, was presented in April 2025 at the Scientific and Technical Library (Library, Subscription Department No. 1, Room 45).
Lev Samiylovych Palatnik (April 26, 1909 – June 4, 1994) was an outstanding physicist and scientist. He was the founder of the scientific school of thin film physics and thin-film materials science, and an Honored Worker of Science and Technology of Ukraine. His name is inscribed in golden letters in the history of NTU "KhPI." It is included in the biographical directory of the 5000 most prominent scientists of the world (1990). In 1986, L. S. Palatnik was awarded the State Prize of Ukraine in Science and Technology for his research on size effects in condensed systems.
Lev Samiylovych was born on April 26, 1909, in Poltava. After graduating from the Poltava Industrial-Technical School, he aspired to become a pianist and conductor. He successfully passed the audition for the Kyiv Conservatory. However, despite the open path to his dream, the 19-year-old chose science.
In 1935, he graduated from the Department of Physical Chemistry of Kharkiv State University (KhSU). Even during his studies — in 1934 — he headed the X-ray laboratory of the Kharkiv Electromechanical Plant under the supervision of B. Ya. Pines. In 1938, he defended his Candidate of Sciences dissertation.
During World War II, he was evacuated with the plant and became head of the Central Factory Laboratory of KhEMZ in Prokopyevsk, Kemerovo Region. In 1944, he returned from evacuation and led the laboratory until his transfer in 1947 to Kharkiv State University, where in 1952 he defended his doctoral dissertation. Lev Samiylovych worked at KhSU until 1953.
In 1953, NTU "KhPI" Rector M. F. Semko invited him to head the Department of Metal Physics at the Engineering and Physics Faculty.
Palatnik loved working with young people. He was an excellent lecturer and an organizer of creative educational processes. Talented young employees, graduate students, and students always gathered around him.
From 1961, Lev Samiylovych fully dedicated his life to Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute. His years at KhPI became the pinnacle of his scientific career. During this period, he published his major works in the field of thin-film physics and thin-film materials science
His greatest pride, of course, was his students, among whom were 20 Doctors of Sciences and about 90 Candidates of Sciences. Together with them, many effects in the field of thin films and nanostructures were discovered. Discovery No. 245 (1981) in the field of bulk semiconductors was officially registered. He obtained 60 inventor’s certificates and published about 700 articles. He ranked among the top ten thin-film physicists by citation index. Student scientific seminars in the specialty, first initiated by him, became an integral part of the "phys-tech system."
Lev Samiylovych passed away on June 4, 1994.
On April 23, 1999, a memorial plaque was installed on the rectorate building of NTU "KhPI" (sculptor S. A. Gurbanov).
We invite everyone interested to familiarize themselves with the works of Lev Samiylovych Palatnik at the Scientific and Technical Library (Library, Subscription Department No. 1, Room 45).
