RITVERC JSCAugust 10, 1939 – May 03, 2024
Boris Ivanovich Rogozev was born on August 10, 1939 in the village of Yakushevka, Molodotudsky district, Kalinin (now Tver) region. During the Second World War and until the mid-50s, the family lived in Yakutsk, where Boris’s father, Ivan Aleksandrovich, worked as a pilot in a local aviation squadron.
There, Boris graduated from school with distinction and together with his mother Tatyana Dmitrievna arrived in Leningrad (St. Petersburg) to enter the Leningrad Polytechnic Institute (now Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University). He successfully passed the exams and entered the Faculty of Physics and Mechanics, specialising in nuclear physics. The “young” branch of physics attracted him with its romance and a wide field of opportunities for scientific activity.
Apart from studying, his university years were filled with hobbies, including various sports, music (especially jazz), classical literature and tourism. So, one day he took a rowing boat trip to Valaam island with his fellow students. They bought an old leaky vessel from local residents and repaired it themselves. Despite the harsh and unpredictable nature of Ladoga lake, they managed to complete the planned route, sail to the island and return back.
After graduating from the institute, the young physicist ended up in the Isotope Department of the Radium Institute, where he became interested in the recently discovered Mössbauer effect, defended his Ph.D. thesis and devoted next years to Mössbauer spectroscopy.
Boris Rogozev actively participated in the department’s projects on the development of isotope technologies in addition to scientific activities, both in the production of radionuclides and in the design of sealed sources. Boris Rogozev became the head of the laboratory soon and actively developed the department’s subjects, studying issues related to the production of radionuclides and gamma sources necessary for Mössbauer spectroscopy, such as Co-57 and Sn-119m.
At that time, there was close cooperation and exchange of experience with Berlin institutions within the framework of Comecon (Council for Mutual Economic Assistance). During participation in joint projects Boris Rogozev became friends with German scientists - physicists and engineers. Later, in the early 90s, they supported the idea of creating a commercial enterprise on the basis of the Radium Institute and became co-founders of the RITVERC company.
A new page in the life of Boris Rogozev opened along with the creation of the RITVERC company, since he also became one of the company’s founders and was chosen as the director general of the new enterprise. So, the physicist became the head of a commercial company, and he combined his studies in science with management tasks that appeared in a rapidly growing enterprise over the next 16 years.
Changes came to RITVERC at the end of the 2000s: the company had to leave its “native nest”, built in the Isotope Department of the Radium Institute, and move to another territory to start everything almost from scratch. Boris Rogozev left the post of the general manager and remained in charge of research and development work in the company. At the same time, he exercised strategic management of the company, being elected chairman of the board of directors. The company demonstrated rapid growth year after year thanks to the wise general management and the ebullient energy of Boris Rogozev shown in the development of new products.
Three years ago, Boris Rogozev was overtaken by oncology. He fought the disease until the very end, while devoting most of his time to work. The last working day when he finally left RITVERC was just over a month before his death.
Having devoted his life to the work, Boris Rogozev left a bright mark on Mössbauer spectroscopy and the radioisotope industry. He gave life to our company and determined the vector of its development for many years.
Photos from the life of Boris Ivanovich: disk.yandex.ru, photos.google.com or vk.com.
