J. Electroanal. Chem., 74 (1976) 1--2 © Elsevier Sequoia S.A., Lausanne - - Pr in ted in The Ne ther lands

ACADEMICIAN ALEXANDER NAUMOVICH FRUMKIN

By the time this note is published most of our readers will know that the father of modern electrochemistry, Alexander Frumkin, died in Tula on 27th May 1976 in his eighty-first year. To the end of his life this remarkable man was in full possession of his faculties, carrying out his multifarious duties with an energy and insight that astonished many of his younger colleagues who would have emulated him had they known how.

There is no need to recapitulate here all the many achievements of an un- usually long and fruitful scientific life. The special issues of this Journal in

Frumkin 's honour on his seventieth birthday (Volume 10) and eightieth birth- day (Volume 65) contain much of this information, together with lists of his published works. They also show the respect in which he was held by his col- leagues and friends throughout the world.

It is difficult to imagine electrochemistry wi thout Frumkin. He was the centre of any meeting he at tended because of the clarity of his thought, the vast range of his knowledge and his sense of proport ion in the scientific problems involved. The picture reproduced here shows him in action at a meeting at Nov6 M~sto na Morav~ (Czechoslovakia) in June 1974.

I feel particularly fortunate that I had the oppor tuni ty of knowing him person~ly over a period of twenty years. Before I first met him at the 4th All- Union Congress of Electrochemistry in Moscow in 1956 his stature was clear- ly evident in his published papers which illuminated a subject where muddle tended to predominate. Younger electrochemists will find it difficult to ap- preciate the state of the subject at that time, though some idea can be gained by reading Disc. Faraday Soc., Volume 1 (1947). Gradually the subject has be- come rationally organised and much of this order is due to Frumkin 's insight and inspiration.

It is unfor tunate that his last years were clouded by the problem of Levich's application for an exit visa. For more than twenty years they had worked to- gether as close personal friends and scientific colleagues. The scientific fruit of this collaboration remains a major part of the achievement of bo th men.

Frumkin was an enthusiastic traveller both in his own large country and abroad. In his early life he worked in Germany, Switzerland, France and the United States. However, in the thirties and forties such activities were severely restricted and it was only towards the end of the fifties that he was able to re- sume them. He visited among others the USA, Japan, England, and on his last trip abroad to France in December 1975 he was able to visit Strasbourg where 63 years before he had started scientific research. On his travels his main inter- ests were architecture and mountains. During my last meeting with him in September 1975 he organised a trip from Alma Ata high into the Tien Shan range, driving in a police car.

His interests in science and literature were wide, and even in his last years he rarely tired of vigorous discussion on any of his many enthusiasms.

Frumkin was married three times: to Vera Inber the poetess, to A. Obrucheva who worked beside him in electrochemistry, and to E. Perevalova (who works in the Insti tute of Organo-Element Compounds and is a Professor in Moscow University), who survives him. Sadly this great man had no children, but his scientific progeny are innumerable and they all regret his passing.

Roger Parsons August 1976