Bashir Rameev
Soviet inventor and founder of Soviet electronic computing.
Bashir Iskandarovich Rameev was a Soviet inventor and scientist, one of the founders of Soviet computing. He authored 23 patents, including the first patent in the field of electronic computers officially registered in the USSR—a patent for the Automatic Electronic Digital Machine (1948). His inventions paved the way for the development of electronic computing as a new field in Soviet science and for the formation of a supporting industry.
Quick Facts
- Birth Date
- 1918-05-01
- Birth Place
- Baymak, Orsky Uyezd, Orenburg Governorate, Russian SFSR
- Death Date
- 1994-05-16
- Death Place
- Moscow, Russia
- Field
- Computer scientist
- Known For
- First USSR patent in electronic computing · Strela computer · Ural computer series
- Awards
- Stalin Prize
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
Rameev's mother died when he was two. In 1938 his father was targeted by the Soviets and perished in labor camps during Stalinist purges, branding Rameev as a son of 'the enemy of the people'. He faced systematic discrimination, including university expulsion and job rejections, until World War II. Despite impeccable service in the Soviet Army during the war, discrimination continued upon his return. He wrote to Joseph Stalin for help but was told by a bureaucrat 'to live quietly and to not write again'. At age 29, he realized he had to do something extraordinary for his country to prove he and his family were not enemies of the people. In 1935, at age 17, he became the youngest member of the Union of Inventors of the USSR.
Reader's Guide
Rameev's central ideas for the electronic computer included storing programs in memory, using binary code, utilizing external devices, and deploying electronic circuits and semiconductor diodes. He suggested that intermediate computation data be automatically printed on punched tape and sent into the arithmetic device for processing, a concept usually referred to as the Von Neumann architecture. His invention of diode-matrix control circuits was used to build the first serially manufactured Soviet mainframe, Strela (1954). Though initially not widespread due to large dimensions and high power consumption, the concept became viable with the development of large-scale integrated circuits. Strela computers carried out calculations in nuclear physics, rocketry and space research, including calculating Sputnik's orbit trajectory. For Strela, Rameev and his team received the Stalin Prize of first degree. Between 1956 and 1969, he designed and oversaw manufacturing of 14 different computers, including the multi-purpose Ural series and specialized machines 'Weather', 'Crystal', 'Granite', and 'Coordinate'. The Ural family existed more than 15 years and had good chances to be a cornerstone of future Russian computer engineering.
Did You Know?
- Rameev authored the first patent for an electronic computer officially registered in the USSR, for the Automatic Electronic Digital Machine (1948).
- He invented diode-matrix control circuits used in the first serially manufactured Soviet mainframe, Strela (1954).
- One Strela computer was used to calculate the orbit trajectory of the Sputnik satellite.
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