View source for Viktor Ambartsumian

{{Short description|Soviet Armenian astrophysicist (1908–1996)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name              = Viktor Ambartsumian
| native_name       = Վիկտոր Համբարձումյան
| image             = File:Viktor Ambartsumian (published 1968).png
| image_upright     = 1.1
| caption           = Ambartsumian in 1968
| birth_date        = {{OldStyleDate|18 September|1908|5 September}}
| birth_place       = Tiflis, [[Russian Empire]] <small>{{nowrap|(present-day [[Tbilisi]], [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]])}}</small>
| death_date        = {{death date and age|df=yes|1996|08|12|1908|09|18}}
| death_place       = [[Byurakan]], Armenia
| resting_place     = [[Byurakan Observatory]]
| citizenship       = Russian Empire<br/>Soviet Union<br/>Armenia
| fields            = [[Astrophysics]]
| workplaces        = [[Saint Petersburg State University|Leningrad State University]]<br />[[Pulkovo Observatory]]<br />[[Yerevan State University]]<br />[[Byurakan Observatory]]
| alma_mater        = [[Leningrad State University]]
| thesis_title      = None{{efn|Ambartsumian did not defend a doctoral thesis.{{sfn|Lynden-Bell|Gurzadyan|1998|p=25}} He was awarded a doctoral degree in 1935 based on his scientific work hitherto.<ref name="McCutcheonEnc"/>}}
| thesis_url        = 
| thesis_year       = 
| doctoral_advisor  = [[Aristarkh Belopolsky]]
| doctoral_students = [[Viktor Sobolev (scientist)|Viktor Sobolev]], [[Benjamin Markarian]], [[Grigor Gurzadyan]]
| known_for         = [[Stellar association]]
| awards            = [[USSR State Prize|Stalin prize]] <small>(1949,1950)</small><br/>[[Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society]] <small>(1960)</small><br />[[Bruce Medal]] <small>(1960)</small><br />[[Fellow of the Royal Society|ForMemRS]] <small>(1969)</small><br/>[[Lomonosov Gold Medal]] <small>(1971)</small><br />[[National Hero of Armenia]] <small>(1994)</small><br/>[[State Prize of the Russian Federation|State Prize of Russia]] <small>(1995)</small>
| spouse            = {{marriage|Vera Klochikhina|1930|1995|end=died}}
| children          = 4, including [[Rouben V. Ambartzumian|Rouben]]
| signature         = Ambartsumian signature.png
}}

'''Viktor Amazaspovich Ambartsumian'''{{efn|Ambartsumian is the most commonly accepted spelling of his last name in English. It comes from the Russified version of his Armenian last name, which, using the [[Romanization of Armenian|standard romanization]], is transliterated as '''Hambardzumyan''' (-'''ian'''). Less common spellings of his last name include '''Ambarzumian''' (used until the 1930s) and '''Ambartsumyan''' (commonly used in Soviet publications). }} ({{langx|ru|Виктор Амазаспович Амбарцумян}}; {{langx|hy|Վիկտոր Համազասպի Համբարձումյան}}, ''Viktor Hamazaspi Hambardzumyan''; {{OldStyleDate|18 September|1908|5 September}}{{spaced ndash}}12 August 1996) was a Soviet and Armenian [[astrophysicist]] and science administrator.<ref>{{cite news|first=Walter |last=Sullivan |author-link=Walter Sullivan (journalist) |title=NEW ERA AHEAD, ASTRONOMER SAYS; Photos of the Moon Cited at World Science Parley |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/08/26/archives/new-era-ahead-astronomer-says-photos-of-the-moon-cited-at-world.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=26 August 1964 |page=13|quote=The great Soviet Armenian astronomer, Viktor A. Ambartsumian...}}</ref> One of the 20th century's leading [[astronomer]]s, he is widely regarded as the founder of [[theoretical astrophysics]] in the Soviet Union.

Educated at [[Leningrad State University]] (LSU) and the [[Pulkovo Observatory]], Ambartsumian taught at LSU and founded the Soviet Union's first department of astrophysics there in 1934. He subsequently moved to [[Soviet Armenia]], where he founded the [[Byurakan Observatory]] in 1946. It became his institutional base for the decades to come and a major center of astronomical research. He also co-founded the [[Armenian Academy of Sciences]] and led it for almost half a century—the entire post-war period. One commentator noted that "science in Armenia was synonymous with the name Ambartsumian." In 1965 Ambartsumian founded the journal ''[[Astrophysics (journal)|Astrofizika]]'' and served as its editor for over 20 years.

Ambartsumian began retiring from the various positions he held only from the age of 80. He died at his house in Byurakan and was buried on the grounds of the observatory. He was awarded the title of [[National Hero of Armenia]] in 1994.

==Background==
Ambartsumian was born in [[Tiflis]] on {{OldStyleDate|18 September|1908|5 September}},<ref name="McCutcheonAIP"/> to [[Armenians|Armenian]] parents Hripsime Khakhanian (1885–1972){{sfn|Parsamian|2008|p=89}} and [[:hy:Համազասպ Համբարձումյան|Hamazasp Hambardzumyan]] (1880–1966).{{sfn|Shakhbazyan|2011|p=293}}{{sfn|Brutian|2008|p=100}} Hripsime's father was an [[Armenian Apostolic Church|Armenian Apostolic]] priest from [[Tskhinvali]],{{sfn|Shakhbazyan|2011|pp=76-78}} while Hamazasp hailed from [[Vardenis]] (Basargechar).{{sfn|Shakhbazyan|2011|p=41}} His ancestors had moved from [[Diyadin]], what is now Turkey, to the southern shores of [[Lake Sevan]] in 1830, in the aftermath of the [[Russo-Turkish War (1828–29)|Russo-Turkish War]].{{sfn|Shakhbazyan|2011|p=46-50}}{{sfn|Brutian|2008|p=100}} Hamazasp{{efn|Amazasp in Russian}} was an educated man of letters who studied law at [[Saint Petersburg University]].{{sfn|Shakhbazyan|2011|p=41}}<ref name="McCutcheonAIP"/> He was also a writer and translator and notably translated [[Homer]]'s ''[[Iliad]]'' into Armenian from [[Classical Greek]].<ref name="McCutcheonAIP"/>{{sfn|Brutian|2008|p=100}} In 1912 he co-founded the Caucasian Society of Armenian Writers, which lasted until 1921.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Hacikyan|first1=Agop Jack|author-link1=Agop Jack Hacikyan|last2=Basmajian|first2=Gabriel|last3=Franchuk|first3=Edward S.|last4=Ouzounian|first4=Nourhan|title=The Heritage of Armenian Literature: From the eighteenth century to modern times|year=2005|publisher=Wayne State University Press|location=Detroit|isbn=9780814332214|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=GmtPLvnrc38C&dq=tumanian+caucasus+armenian+writers+1912&pg=PA622 622]}}</ref> Ambartsumian was the secretary, while [[Hovhannes Tumanyan]], the famed poet, served as its president.{{sfn|Brutian|2008|p=100}} Ambartsumian knew Tumanyan personally. In 1922, after the 14-year-old boy described [[Sirius]] to him, Tumanyan wrote a [[:hy:s:Սիրիուսի_հրաժեշտը|short poem]] about the star.<ref>{{cite web |title=Սիրիուսի հրաժեշտը |url=https://toumanian.am/arm/tumanyan/creations/siriusi-hrajeshty |website=toumanian.am |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230220170510/http://toumanian.am/arm/tumanyan/creations/siriusi-hrajeshty |archive-date=20 February 2023 |language=hy}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Մեր արխիվը [Our archives] |url=https://www.1tv.am/hy/video/%D5%84%D5%A5%D6%80-%D5%A1%D6%80%D5%AD%D5%AB%D5%BE%D5%A8/111516 |website=1tv.am |publisher=[[Public TV of Armenia]] |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220802100825/https://www.1tv.am/hy/video/%D5%84%D5%A5%D6%80-%D5%A1%D6%80%D5%AD%D5%AB%D5%BE%D5%A8/111516 |archive-date=2 August 2022 |language=hy |date=15 December 2018 |access-date=13 September 2024 |url-status=live }}; [https://archive.org/details/viktor-ambartsumian-on-hovhannes-tumanyan excerpt] <!-- [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/fEyQWxlrbq4 alternative archived]--></ref>

Ambartsumian's parents married in 1904.{{sfn|Shakhbazyan|2011|p=78}} He had a brother, Levon, and sister, Gohar.{{sfn|Shakhbazyan|2011|p=85}} Levon, a [[geophysics]] student, died at 23-24 while on an expedition in the [[Urals]].<ref name="Sobolev96"/><ref name="McCutcheonAIP"/> [[:hy:Գոհար Համբարձումյան|Gohar]] (1907–1979) was a mathematician and Chair of Probability Theory and Mathematical Statistics at [[Yerevan State University]] towards the end of her life.<ref>{{cite web |title=Գոհար Համբարձումյան |url=http://ysu.am/persons/hy/Gohar-Hambardzumyan |website=ysu.am |publisher=[[Yerevan State University]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191203202755/http://ysu.am/persons/hy/Gohar-Hambardzumyan |archive-date=3 December 2019 |language=hy}}</ref>

==Education==
Ambartsumian developed an early interest in mathematics and was able to multiply by the age of 4. His interest in astronomy began with reading a Russian translation of a book by [[Ormsby M. Mitchel]] at 11. By his own account, he considered himself an astronomer by the age of 12.<ref name="McCutcheonAIP"/> Between 1917 and 1924 he studied at Tiflis [[Gymnasium (school)|gymnasium]]s #3 and #4 where schooling was done in both Russian and Armenian. In 1921 he transferred to gymnasium #4 to study under Nikolay Ignatievich Sudakov, a Moscow-educated astronomer, whom Ambartsumian called a "very serious teacher of astronomy." Ambartsumian worked with Sudakov at the school observatory the latter had built.<ref name="McCutcheonAIP"/> At school, Ambartsumian wrote several papers on astronomy{{sfn|Shakhbazyan|2011|pp=96-97}} and delivered lectures on the origin of the [[Solar System]] and [[extraterrestrial life]] at "first in school and then in the various clubs and houses of culture" beginning at 12–13.<ref name="McCutcheonAIP"/> In 1924 Ambartsumian delivered a lecture at [[Yerevan State University]] about the [[theory of relativity]]. He also met [[Ashot Hovhannisyan]] and [[Alexander Miasnikian]], Armenia's communist leaders.{{sfn|Brutian|2008|p=101}}

In 1924 Ambartsumian moved to Leningrad, where he began attending the [[Herzen Pedagogical Institute]]. Shakhbazyan suggests that his non-peasant, non-proletarian background prevented him from entering [[Leningrad State University]] (LSU).{{sfn|Shakhbazyan|2011|p=293}} However, Ambartsumian explained in an interview that by the time he arrived in August, LSU's admissions were already closed. To avoid losing a year, he opted to study in the physics and mathematics department of the pedagogical institute.<ref name="McCutcheonAIP"/> After one year, he transferred to LSU's physics and mathematics department.<ref name="Sobolev96"/>{{sfn|Shakhbazyan|2011|p=293}}<ref name="RASBio"/> At university, Ambartsumian was interested in both astronomy and mathematics. "I loved mathematics, but at the same time I felt that my profession would be astronomy. Mathematics was like a hobby, but I did complete the full mathematics curriculum. Thus you could say that I graduated with a major in mathematics, but in fact it is recorded that I graduated as an astronomer," he said in an interview in 1987.<ref name="McCutcheonAIP"/> At LSU among his professors were the physicist [[Orest Khvolson]] and mathematician [[Vladimir Smirnov (mathematician)|Vladimir Smirnov]]. He studied alongside other major Soviet scientists such as [[Lev Landau]], [[Sergei Sobolev]], [[Sergey Khristianovich]] and [[George Gamow]].<ref name="Sobolev96"/> In 1926 he published the first of his 16 scholarly papers as a student.<ref name="RASBio"/><ref name="Sobolev96"/> He graduated in 1928, although he received his diploma only fifty years later—in 1978.<ref name="McCutcheonAIP"/> His undergraduate thesis was "devoted to a study of radiative transfer radiative equilibrium."<ref name="McCutcheonAIP"/> He completed his postgraduate<ref name="Blaauw97"/>{{sfn|Lynden-Bell|Gurzadyan|1998|p=24}} studies at the [[Pulkovo Observatory]] under [[Aristarkh Belopolsky]] between 1928 and 1931.<ref name="RASBio"/>{{sfn|Shakhbazyan|2011|p=293}}<ref name="Uspekhi1969"/>

==Career==

=== Leningrad ===
After completing his postgraduate studies in 1931, Ambartsumian began working at the Pulkovo Observatory and teaching part-time at LSU.<ref name="McCutcheonAIP"/>{{sfn|Lynden-Bell|Gurzadyan|1998|p=25}} In 1931 Ambartsumian began reading the first course on theoretical astrophysics in the Soviet Union.<ref name="Sobolev96"/> He also served as Pulkovo's scientific secretary in 1931–32, which involved mostly administrative work.<ref name="McCutcheonAIP"/><ref name="McCutcheonEnc"/> Ambartsumian later characterized Pulkovo as being a "very old institution, and for this reason there were certain elements of ossification and stagnation. Nevertheless, this was the best qualified astronomical institution in the Soviet Union."<ref name="McCutcheonAIP"/>

In 1934 Ambartsumian was fired by Pulkovo director [[Boris Gerasimovich]] for alleged "laziness." Gerasimovich viewed Ambartsumian and other young astrophysicists as "undisciplined and in too much of a rush to publish untested theories and poorly documented research." Gerasimovich himself had a "tendency to non-cooperativeness."{{sfn|McCutcheon|1991|p=102}} Gerasimovich was not taken seriously by them. When in 1934 [[Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar]] visited Leningrad, he was told by Ambartsumian, "Look here, here is a set of papers by Gerasimovich. I turn to an arbitrary paper and to an arbitrary line. I am sure you will find a mistake."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wali |first1=Kameshwar C. |author-link1=Kameshwar C. Wali |title=Chandra: A Biography of S. Chandrasekhar |date=1991 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=9780226870557 |page=[https://archive.org/details/chandrabiography0000wali/page/117 <!-- quote=Ambartsumian. --> 117]}}</ref> Chandrasekhar stated in 1977 that during his visit in 1934 Ambartsumian "was very free and very open. He was extremely critical of his seniors."<ref name="Chandrasekhar77"/>

After leaving Pulkovo, Ambartsumian founded the first department of astrophysics in the Soviet Union at Leningrad State University in 1934.<ref name="physicstoday"/><ref name="RASBio"/><ref name="McCutcheonAIP"/><ref name="Sobolev96"/> In 1934 he was named professor at LSU and in 1935 he was named doctor of physical-mathematical sciences without having to defend a thesis{{sfn|Lynden-Bell|Gurzadyan|1998|p=25}}{{sfn|Parsamian|2008|p=90}}<ref name="YSUbio"/> "based on his scientific work through that date."<ref name="McCutcheonEnc"/> He headed the department until 1946{{sfn|Shakhbazyan|2011|p=293}} or 1947.<ref name="RASBio"/><ref name="Sobolev96"/>

Between 1939 and 1941 Ambartsumian was the director of the [[:ru:Астрономическая обсерватория Санкт-Петербургского университета|Astronomical Observatory of LSU]]. He was simultaneously [[prorector]] (deputy president) of the university.<ref name="RASBio"/> Among his graduate students were [[Viktor Sobolev (scientist)|Viktor Sobolev]],<ref name="McCutcheonEnc"/> [[Benjamin Markarian]],<ref name="McCutcheonAIP"/> [[Grigor Gurzadyan]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Grigor Gurzadyan (1922-2002) |url=https://www.aras.am/FamousAstronomers/gurzadyan.html |website=aras.am |publisher=Armenian Astronomical Society |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191220140747/https://www.aras.am/FamousAstronomers/gurzadyan.html |archive-date=20 December 2019}}</ref> and others. Ambartsumian considered Sobolev his "most brilliant graduate student."<ref name="McCutcheonAIP"/>

;Stalin's purges
Many of Ambartsumian's colleagues and friends suffered during the [[Great Purge]] under [[Stalin]], most notably [[Nikolai Aleksandrovich Kozyrev]] (1908–83), with whom he became close friends in the mid-1920s.<ref name="McCutcheonAIP"/> Kozyrev was sentenced to ten years in a [[Gulag|forced-labor camp]], but survived the repressions. Others such as [[Matvei Petrovich Bronstein]] and Pulkovo director [[Boris Gerasimovich]] did not survive. Ambartsumian's relations with Kozyrev were "strained for the remainder of his life." McCutcheon notes that while in the West some have questioned Ambartsumian's possible role in the terror, "there is no hard evidence to suggest that he was guilty of anything more serious than surviving at a time when others did not."<ref name="McCutcheonEnc"/>

;World War II
Ambartsumian led the evacuation of part of the faculty of Leningrad State University to [[Yelabuga|Elabuga]], [[Tatarstan]] in 1941, after the [[Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union]]. There a branch of LSU operated under Ambartsumian's leadership until 1944.<ref name="RASBio"/><ref name="McCutcheonEnc"/><ref name="Sobolev96"/> He served as the [[Dean (education)|dean]] of the branch.<ref name="Uspekhi1969"/>

===Armenia===
In 1943{{sfn|Brutian|2008|p=102}}<ref name="Uspekhi1969"/> Ambartsumian moved with his family to [[Yerevan]], [[Soviet Armenia]], where he lived until the end of his life.{{sfn|Brutian|2008|p=102}} In the same year, he co-founded the Armenian Academy of Sciences along with scientists and scholars [[Joseph Orbeli|Hovsep Orbeli]], [[Hrachia Acharian]], [[Artem Alikhanian]], [[Abram Alikhanov]], [[Manuk Abeghian]] and others.<ref name="sciacad"/> He served as vice president of the academy until 1947 and as president from 1947 to 1993.<ref name="Sobolev96"/>

Since 1943 Ambartsumian served as director of the Yerevan Astronomical Observatory.{{sfn|Parsamian|2008|p=91}} The small observatory was affiliated with Yerevan State University. Ambartsumian had secured a nine-inch telescope from Leningrad for the observatory. Ambartsumian said that before the war "this observatory did not rise significantly above the level of amateur variable star observations. During the war they also carried out photographic observations of variable stars using a small camera."<ref name="McCutcheonAIP"/> In 1945–1946 Ambartsumian founded the department of astrophysics at [[Yerevan State University]] (YSU).<ref name="YSUChair"/><ref name="YSUbio"/> He was named professor of astrophysics at YSU in 1947.<ref name="Blaauw97"/> He served as chair of the department until 1994.<ref name="YSUChair"/>{{efn|The departments of astrophysics and general physics merged in 2009.<ref name="YSUChair"/>}}

In 1965 Ambartsumian founded the journal ''Astrofizika'' (Armenian: Աստղաֆիզիկա, Russian: Астрофизика), which has been published by the Armenian Academy of Sciences since then. It was originally published in Russian, subsequently articles in English began to appear. He served as its editor-in-chief until 1987.<ref name="McCutcheonEnc"/> The journal has also been published since the first issue in English by [[Springer Science+Business Media|Springer]] in the US as ''[[Astrophysics (journal)|Astrophysics]]''.{{sfn|Parsamian|2008|p=95}}{{sfn|Lynden-Bell|Gurzadyan|1998|p=31}}

====Byurakan====
[[File:Byurakan 2.jpg|thumb|280px|The Byurakan Observatory in 2008]]

In 1946 Ambartsumian founded the [[Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory]] in the village of [[Byurakan]], at an altittude of {{convert|1405|m|abbr=on}}, on the slopes of [[Mount Aragats]], some {{convert|35|km|abbr=on}} from [[Yerevan]].<ref name="McCutcheonEnc"/>{{sfn|Parsamian|2008|p=91}}{{sfn|Graham|1987|pp=422-324}}<ref name="ByurHistory"/> The first buildings were completed in 1951,<ref name="ByurHistory"/> though the official inauguration took place in 1956.{{sfn|Lynden-Bell|Gurzadyan|1998|p=27}} Observations began to be carried out simultaneous with the construction of the observatory. "Our instruments stood under the open sky, covered with [[tarpaulin]]," said Ambartsumian.<ref name="McCutcheonAIP"/> Ambartsumian initially lived at a house in the village of [[Byurakan]] then build a house within the observatory grounds with the money awarded with the 1950 [[USSR State Prize|Stalin Prize]].{{sfn|Brutian|2008|p=102}} Ambartsumian directed the Byurakan Observatory until 1988 and was named its honorary director that year.<ref name="McCutcheonEnc"/><ref name="aras"/> From 1946 until his death in 1996, the Byurakan Observatory served as Ambartsumian's "institutional base."{{sfn|Graham|1987|pp=422-324}}

In 1960 Ambartsumian secured a [[Schmidt camera|Schmidt telescope]] with 40І (102&nbsp;cm) correcting plate and 52І (132&nbsp;cm) mirror for Byurakan.<ref name="ByurHistory"/> The telescope was reportedly made by [[Carl Zeiss AG]] in Nazi Germany in the 1930s and was transferred to Leningrad as spoils of war. It was completed in Leningrad and sent to Armenia.<ref name="hetq2018"/> Beginning with 1965, on Ambartsumian's initiative,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Khachikian |first1=E. Ye. |editor1-last=Westerlund |editor1-first=Bengt E. |title=Stars and Star Systems |date=1979 |publisher=[[D. Reidel|D. Reidel Publishing Company]] |isbn=978-94-009-9442-3 |page=[https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-94-009-9440-9_10 109] |chapter=On the Activity of the Nuclei of Galaxies |series=Astrophysics and Space Science Library |volume=75 |doi=10.1007/978-94-009-9440-9_10 |quote=The history of objects with UV-excess originated in the midsixties when, on Ambartsumian's initiative, Markarian began to make a successful survey of the sky with a view to detecting galaxies with anomalous spectra (Markarian 196'7), in Byurakan, using a 40-inch telescope of the Schmidt system provided with an objective prism of the same diameter. }}</ref> [[Benjamin Markarian]] started the First Byurakan Survey that resulted in the discovery of the [[Markarian galaxies]].<ref name="ByurHistory"/> A number of international symposiums and meetings were held at Byurakan under Ambartsumian's supervision.<ref name="ByurHistory"/> In 1968 the observatory was awarded the [[Order of Lenin]], the Soviet Union's highest civilian order for its great merit to the development of science.<ref name="ByurHistory"/> In 1961 Ambartsumian supervised the establishment of an astrophysical station of Leningrad State University, his alma mater, within the grounds of the Byurakan Observatory.<ref name="Sobolev96"/> It is where graduate students of the LSU did their summer internships until the late 1980s. It was shut down in 1993.<ref>Chronology at Astronomy at St. Peteresburg University (in Russian). [https://web.archive.org/web/20081204025037/http://www.astro.spbu.ru/NEW/history.html 1961]: Начала создаваться Бюраканская станция. ;[https://web.archive.org/web/20050216115100/http://www.astro.spbu.ru/NEW/1992.html 1993]: В октябре-ноябре Т.А. Полякова последней из сотрудников Астрономического института проводит наблюдения на нашей Бюраканской станции. С тех пор станция законсервирована.</ref>

Ambartsumian and his disciples at the Byurakan Observatory became known in the scholarly literature as the "Byurakan School."{{sfn|Graham|1987|pp=422-324}}{{sfn|Vucinich|2001|p=174}}<ref>{{cite journal |last1=King-Underwood |first1=Ani |title=Filling the gaps in Einstein's theory |journal=[[New Scientist]] |date=22 August 1985 |issue=1470 |page=50 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BMaVDEwRhpcC&pg=PA50}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=Symposium on the Philosophical Problems of Astronomy in the USSR Academy of Sciences |journal=[[Soviet Physics Uspekhi]] |date=1974 |volume=16 |issue=4 |page=579 |doi=10.1070/PU1974v016n04ABEH005362 |quote=These ideas, which are being developed by the Byurakan school of Astronomers...}}</ref> From 1977 to 1996 Ambartsumian headed a specialized council for theses defenses at Byurakan. Over 50 scientists defended their PhD (Candidate) and Doctoral theses on astronomy, astrophysics and theoretical physics in those years under Ambartsumian.<ref name="ByurHistory"/> Though most of the students were graduates of the astrophysics department of Yerevan State University,{{sfn|Lynden-Bell|Gurzadyan|1998|p=27}} many came from Russia, Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Hungary, Bulgaria, and elsewhere.{{sfn|Lynden-Bell|Gurzadyan|1998|p=28}} Several symposiums of the [[International Astronomical Union]] and numerous conferences were held in Byurakan in attendance of [[Jan Oort]], [[Fritz Zwicky]], [[Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar]], [[Pyotr Kapitsa]], [[Vitaly Ginzburg]], and others. It was also visited by Soviet leaders [[Nikita Khrushchev]] and [[Leonid Brezhnev]].{{sfn|Lynden-Bell|Gurzadyan|1998|p=28}}

With the Byurakan Observatory, Ambartsumian "put Armenia on the astronomical map"<ref name="Lynden-BellIndep"/> and made Soviet Armenia "one of the world's centers for the study of astrophysics."<ref name="Adalian"/> By the time of his death in 1996, ''[[The New York Times]]'' described Byurakan as "one of the world's leading astronomical research centers."<ref name="NYTobit"/> As of 1960 the Byurakan Observatory maintained regular contact with 350 research institutions and with scientists from 50 countries.<ref name="Pisarzhevsky"/>

==Research==
Ambartsumian carried out [[basic research]] in [[astronomy]] and [[cosmogony]].<ref name="Uspekhi1969"/><ref name="McCutcheonAIP"/> It covered astrophysics, [[theoretical physics]] and [[mathematical physics]],{{sfn|Brutian|2008|p=104}} and mostly focused on the physics of [[nebulae]], [[star system]]s, and [[extragalactic astronomy]].<ref name="McCutcheonAIP"/> He is best known for having discovered [[stellar associations]] and predicted [[Active galactic nucleus|activity of galactic nuclei]].<ref name="physicstoday"/> In his later career, Ambartsumian held views in contradiction to the consequences of the [[general relativity]], such as rejecting the existence of [[black holes]].{{sfn|Lynden-Bell|Gurzadyan|1998|p=24}}

===Stellar associations===
In 1947 Ambartsumian discovered [[stellar association]]s, a new type of [[stellar system]], which led to the conclusion that [[star formation]] continues to take place in the [[Milky Way]] galaxy.<ref name="AstronEnc"/><ref name="McCutcheonAIP"/><ref name="britannica"/><ref name="NYTobit"/><ref name="Andrews97"/><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Keldysh |first1=M. |author-link1=Mstislav Keldysh |title=The progress and organization of science in the U. S. S. R |journal=[[Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences]] |date=1965 |volume=286 |issue=1407 |page=448 |doi=10.1098/rspa.1965.0156 |bibcode=1965RSPSA.286..441K |s2cid=154749327 |quote=Ambartsumyan has done very interesting work on stellar associations, and it is his conclusion that the process of star-formation continues to this day.}}</ref> At the time the "idea of star formation as an ongoing process was regarded as very speculative."<ref name="Israelian97"/> His discovery was announced in a short publication<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ambartsumian |first1=V. A. |title=Эволюция звезд и астрофизика [The Evolution of Stars and Astrophysics] |date=1947 |publisher=Armenian SSR Academy of Sciences Press |location=Yerevan |url=http://ambartsumian.ru/dvd/Publications/Papers/1947ANArm___________A.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191203115428/http://ambartsumian.ru/dvd/Publications/Papers/1947ANArm___________A.pdf |archive-date=3 December 2019 |language=ru}}</ref> by the Armenian Academy Sciences.{{sfn|Lynden-Bell|Gurzadyan|1998|p=28}} Ambartsumian's discovery was based on his observation of stars of [[Stellar classification|O and B spectral types]] and [[T Tauri]] and [[flare star]]s that cluster very loosely.{{sfn|Lynden-Bell|Gurzadyan|1998|p=28}} This is significantly different from [[open cluster]]s, which have a higher density of stars, while stellar associations have lower than average density.{{sfn|Lynden-Bell|Gurzadyan|1998|p=28}} Ambartsumian divided stellar associations into OB and T groups<ref name="Israelian97"/> and concluded that the "associations have to be dynamically unstable configurations, and must expand subsequently, dissolving to form field stars."{{sfn|Lynden-Bell|Gurzadyan|1998|p=28}} He thus argued that star forming is ongoing in the [[galaxy]] and that stars are born explosively{{sfn|Lynden-Bell|Gurzadyan|1998|p=22}} and in groups.<ref name="Uspekhi1969"/>{{sfn|Lynden-Bell|Gurzadyan|1998|p=28}}

Ambartsumian's concept was not immediately accepted. Chandrasekhar noted the "early scepticism with which this discovery was received by the astronomers of the 'establishment' when I first gave an account of [Ambartsumian's] paper at the colloquium at the [[Yerkes Observatory]] in late 1950."{{sfn|Lynden-Bell|Gurzadyan|1998|pp=28-29}} Chandrasekhar noted that Ambartsumian's discovery of stellar associations had "far-reaching implications for subsequent theories relating to star formation."<ref name="Chandrasekhar"/> McCutcheon noted that the discovery "opened an entirely new field of astrophysical research."<ref name="McCutcheonEnc"/>

===Active galactic nuclei (AGN)===
Ambartsumian began studying nuclei of galaxies in the mid-1950s.{{sfn|Lynden-Bell|Gurzadyan|1998|p=29}} He found that clusters of galaxies are unstable and that galaxy formation is still ongoing.<ref name="McCutcheonEnc"/> At the 1958 Solvay Conference on Physics in Brussels he gave a famous report in which he emphasized the extraordinary character of the [[Active galactic nucleus|activity of galactic nuclei]] (AGN).{{sfn|Lynden-Bell|Gurzadyan|1998|p=29}} He claimed "enormous explosions take place in galactic nuclei and as a result a huge amount of mass is expelled. In addition, if this is so, these galactic nuclei must contain bodies of huge mass and unknown nature."<ref name="Israelian97"/> Lynden-Bell and Gurzadyan note that Ambartsumian was "perhaps the first to emphasize explosive phenomena in galactic nuclei."{{sfn|Lynden-Bell|Gurzadyan|1998|p=29}} Evidence for the activity included the [[Markarian galaxies]], discovered at Byurakan.{{sfn|Lynden-Bell|Gurzadyan|1998|p=29}} The concept of AGN was widely accepted some years later,<ref name="Israelian97"/> especially after [[quasars]] were discovered in 1963.{{sfn|Lynden-Bell|Gurzadyan|1998|p=29}} Ambartsumian developed and summarized his views on activity of galaxies in the 1960s.{{sfn|Lynden-Bell|Gurzadyan|1998|p=29}}

===Radiative transfer===
Ambartsumian discovered basic results in [[radiative transfer]] in astronomy.{{sfn|Lynden-Bell|Gurzadyan|1998|p=22}} He was the first or one of the first to study stellar radiation transfer in gaseous [[nebulae]].<ref name="McCutcheonAIP"/><ref name="AstronEnc"/> He devised techniques for calculating the rates of star cluster decay and the time needed to reach statistical equilibrium in double star systems.<ref name="AstronEnc"/><ref name="McCutcheonAIP"/>

In 1943 he introduced the principle of invariance, a method introduced by Ambartsumian in a theory of radiation transfer.<ref name="Israelian97"/> Lynden-Bell and Gurzadyan describe it as the "law that diffuse reflection by a semi-infinite, plane-parallel atmosphere must be invariant to the addition or subtraction of layers of arbitrary thickness to the atmosphere."{{sfn|Lynden-Bell|Gurzadyan|1998|p=27}} It has been applied in other areas, including [[optics]], [[mathematical physics]],<ref name="Israelian97"/> [[radiophysics]], [[geophysics]], [[oceanology]],{{sfn|Lynden-Bell|Gurzadyan|1998|p=27}} "allowing people to handle easily very complex mathematical problems."<ref name="Israelian97"/> It was further developed by Chandrasekhar in his ''Radiative Transfer'' (1950).<ref name="Israelian97"/>{{sfn|Lynden-Bell|Gurzadyan|1998|p=27}} According to Chandrasekhar, the formulation of the principles of invariance in the theory of radiative transfer is a "theoretical innovation that is of the greatest significance." He admitted that Ambartsumian's ideas influenced his own.<ref name="Chandrasekhar"/>

===Astronomy from space===
Ambartsumian was a "pioneer of astronomical research from Soviet spacecraft."{{sfn|Lynden-Bell|Gurzadyan|1998|p=22}} The program was directed by his disciple [[Grigor Gurzadyan]] and was launched in 1961. In April 1971 the [[Salyut 1]] space station carried [[Orion (space telescope)|Orion 1]], the "first space telescope with an objective prism, into orbit." In December 1973 the crewed [[Soyuz 13]] mission operated the "Orion-2 ultraviolet [[Cassegrain telescope]] with a quartz objective prism built in the Byurakan Observatory. Spectra of thousands of stars to as faint as thirteenth magnitude were obtained, as was the first satellite ultraviolet spectrogram of a planetary nebula, revealing lines of aluminium and titanium-elements not previously observed in planetary nebulae."{{sfn|Lynden-Bell|Gurzadyan|1998|p=30-31}}

These activities, especially the space missions, when for example a special crewed spaceship had to be devoted to an experiment from the smallest Soviet republic, needed powerful backing, both in Kremlin corridors and within the top-secret rocket industry establishment. This was achieved due to Ambartsumian's political skills, with the active support of Mstislav Keldish, the then President of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR.{{sfn|Lynden-Bell|Gurzadyan|1998|p=31}}

===Mathematics===
Ambartsumian also made contributions to mathematics, most notably with his 1929 paper in ''[[Zeitschrift für Physik]]'',<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ambarzumjan |first1=V. |title=Über eine Frage der Eigenwerttheorie |journal=[[Zeitschrift für Physik]] |date=September 1929 |volume=53 |issue=9–10 |pages=690–695 |doi=10.1007/BF01330827 |bibcode=1929ZPhy...53..690A |s2cid=121562123 |language=de}}</ref>{{sfn|Lynden-Bell|Gurzadyan|1998|p=25}} where he first introduced the inverse [[Sturm–Liouville theory|Sturm-Liouville problem]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Eskitaşçioğlu |first1=Esin İnan |last2=Açil |first2=Mehmet |title=An inverse Sturm-Liouville problem with a generalized symmetric potential |journal=Electronic Journal of Differential Equations |date=2017 |issue=41 |page=1 |url=https://ejde.math.txstate.edu/Volumes/2017/41/eskitascioglu.pdf |issn=1072-6691|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180510005544/https://ejde.math.txstate.edu/Volumes/2017/41/eskitascioglu.pdf |archive-date=10 May 2018 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Anger |first1=Gottfried |title=Inverse Problems in Differential Equations |date=1990 |publisher=[[Akademie-Verlag Berlin]] |isbn=9780306431647 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=HzSIkqw_CywC&dq=1929+ambartsumian+Sturm-Liouville+problem&pg=PA224 224]}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ozkan |first1=A.S. |last2=Keskin |first2=B. |title=Spectral problems for Sturm–Liouville operator with boundary and jump conditions linearly dependent on the eigenparameter |journal=Inverse Problems in Science and Engineering |date=2012 |volume=20 |issue=6 |page=799 |doi=10.1080/17415977.2011.652957 |s2cid=122220549 |doi-access=free }}</ref> He proved that "among all vibrating strings only the homogeneous [[String vibration|vibrating string]] has [[eigenvalue]]s that are specific to it—that is, homogeneous vibrating strings have a spectrum of eigenvalues."<ref name="McCutcheonEnc"/> It was only in the mid-1940s when his paper received attention and became a "significant research topic in the ensuing decades."<ref name="McCutcheonEnc"/> He commented: "when an astronomer is publishing a mathematical paper in a physical journal, he cannot expect to attract too many readers."{{sfn|Lynden-Bell|Gurzadyan|1998|p=25}}

Ambartsumian had made an independent discovery of [[Radon transform|Radon's problem]] in 1936. He did so in a three dimensional velocity space rather than ordinary space and gave the solution in two and three dimensions. [[Allan MacLeod Cormack]], the 1979 Nobel Prize Laureate in Physiology or Medicine for his work on X-ray [[computed tomography]], noted that it is the "first numerical inversion of the Radon transform" and suggested that it disproves the "often made statement that computed tomography would be impossible without computers." Ambartsumian's calculations, Cormack argued, "suggest that even in 1936 computed tomography might have been able to make significant contributions to, say, the diagnosis of tumors in the head." Ambartsumian told Cormack that he was informed of Radon's results two years after he published his work.<ref>[[Allan MacLeod Cormack|A.M. Cormack]], "[https://ia902300.us.archive.org/18/items/ambartsumian-comack/Ambartsumian%20Comack.pdf Computed tomography: some history and recent developments", ''Proceedings of Symposia in Applied Mathematics''], [[American Mathematical Society]], Volume 27, 1982, pp. [https://archive.today/m1bd1/371499fcd8bdb529f58289621a9bd788ad66ddac.jpg 35-42] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20240913135409/https://pdfhost.io/v/osHwJoeUP_Lieferschein alt archived])</ref>

==Science administration==
{{quote box
| width  = 30%
| align  = right
| quote  ="As well as being one of the giants of astronomical research in the 20th century, Viktor Ambartsumian was also a great leader and organizer of science in Armenia, in Russia, and on the international level." |source= —[[Geoffrey Burbidge]]<ref name="Burbidge"/> }}

===Soviet Academy of Sciences===
Ambartsumian was elected [[corresponding member]] of the [[Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union|USSR Academy of Sciences]] in 1939 and full member (academician) in 1953.<ref name="RASBio"/><ref name="McCutcheonEnc"/> In 1955 he became a member of the academy's presidium, the governing body.<ref name="McCutcheonEnc"/>{{sfn|Parsamian|2008|p=94}} He also chaired the Academy's Joint Coordinating Scientific Council on astronomy, which was responsible for the priorities and all major decisions in all of astronomy.{{sfn|Lynden-Bell|Gurzadyan|1998|p=31}} He was also chairman of the academy's commissions on astronomy (1944–46) and [[cosmogony]] (1952–64).<ref name="McCutcheonEnc"/>{{sfn|Parsamian|2008|p=94}}

In these positions, Ambartsumian was "one of the most powerful scientists of his time."{{sfn|Lynden-Bell|Gurzadyan|1998|p=22}} McCutcheon noted that Ambartsumian's "towering authority as an astrophysicist combined with his position in the Soviet establishment made him arguably the most powerful Soviet astronomer of his day."<ref name="McCutcheonEnc"/> He was often the "official head of Soviet delegations at many conferences, not only on astronomy but also on natural philosophy."{{sfn|Lynden-Bell|Gurzadyan|1998|p=31}}

From 1944 to 1979 Ambartsumian was a member of the editorial board of ''[[Astronomy Reports|Astronomicheskii zhurnal]]'' (also known as ''Astronomy Reports''), the Soviet Union's main astronomy journal.<ref name="McCutcheonEnc"/>{{sfn|Parsamian|2008|p=95}} He was also on the editorial board of ''Doklady Akademii Nauk SSSR'' (''[[Proceedings of the USSR Academy of Sciences]]'').{{sfn|Lynden-Bell|Gurzadyan|1998|p=31}}

===Armenian Academy of Sciences===
Although the Armenian branch of the Soviet Academy of Sciences was established in 1935, it was not until 1943 that the National Academy of Sciences of the Armenian SSR was found. Ambartsumian was one of its original co-founders along with other prominent scholars and scientists, including [[Joseph Orbeli|Hovsep Orbeli]], who became its first president. Ambartsumian initially served as vice president<ref name="McCutcheonEnc"/>{{sfn|Brutian|2008|p=102}} and in 1947 he became the academy's second president, serving for 46 years until 1993.<ref name="sciacad">{{cite web |title=About Academy |url=https://www.sci.am/about.php?langid=2 |website=sci.am |publisher=National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191207121119/https://www.sci.am/about.php?langid=2 |archive-date=7 December 2019}}</ref><ref name="McCutcheonEnc"/> When he stepped down, Ambartsumian was declared honorary president of the academy.<ref name="physicstoday"/>

[[Rouben Paul Adalian]] wrote that Ambartsumian "exercised enormous influence in the advancement of science in Soviet Armenia, and was revered as his country's leading scientist."<ref name="Adalian"/> McCutcheon went on to note that "From that point forward, science in Armenia was synonymous with the name Ambartsumian."<ref name="McCutcheonEnc"/> As president of the principal coordinating body for scientific research in Soviet Armenia, Ambartsumian played a significant role in promoting the sciences in the country.{{sfn|Brutian|2008|p=102}} He actively promoted the [[natural sciences|natural]] and [[Exact sciences|exact]] sciences, including [[physics]] and [[mathematics]], radioelectronics, chemistry, mechanics and engineering.<ref name="YSUbio"/> [[Artashes Shahinyan|Artashes Shahinian]] noted that Ambartsumian played a significant role in the development of the physical and mathematical sciences.{{sfn|Parsamian|2008|p=440}} He played an instrumental role in the establishment and development of the [[Yerevan Computer Research and Development Institute|Yerevan Scientific Research Institute of Mathematical Machines]] (YerNIIMM) in 1956,{{sfn|Parsamian|2008|p=94}} popularly known as the "Mergelyan Institute" after its first director, mathematician [[Sergey Mergelyan]].<ref name="Oganjanyan&Silantiev"/> Apoyan rejects that Ambartsumian had a direct involvement in its creation and characterizes his role as "favorable neutrality."<ref name="Apoyan2005"/> Overall, Apoyan criticizes Ambartsumian's role in science administration, arguing that he had a tendency to "fail projects that did not directly serve his fame."<ref name="Apoyan2005"/> He went as far as call Ambartsumian a "tyrant."<ref name="Apoyan2005"/>

Ambartsumian and Mergelyan had a complicated relationship. In 1971 Ambartsumian persuaded him to return to Armenia from Moscow and become vice president of the Armenian Academy of Sciences. However, in 1974 Mergelyan was not reelected to the presidium of the academy and was forced to leave it. Some academicians called for a revote, but Ambartsumian rejected any such attempts. Oganjanyan and Silantiev note that Ambartsumian was rumored to have seen Mergelyan as a rival for the academy's president and decided to "get rid of the competitor forever."<ref name="Oganjanyan&Silantiev"/>

Ambartsumian was the Chairman of the Editorial Board of the ''[[Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia]]'',<ref name="YSUbio"/><ref name="Adalian"/> published in 13 volumes in 1974–87.<ref>{{cite book|last=Adalian|first=Rouben Paul|title=Historical Dictionary of Armenia|year=2010|publisher=[[Scarecrow Press]]|location=Lanham, Maryland|isbn=978-0-8108-7450-3|author-link=Rouben Paul Adalian|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=QS-vSjHObOYC&dq=%22Soviet+Armenian+Encyclopedia%22&pg=PA605 605]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Bardakjian |first1=Kevork B. |title=A Reference Guide to Modern Armenian Literature, 1500-1920: With an Introductory History |date=2000 |publisher=Wayne State University Press |isbn=9780814327470 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=bR7hMqV3Ij0C&dq=%22Soviet+Armenian+Encyclopedia%22&pg=PA615 615]}}</ref>

===International===
According to [[Jean-Claude Pecker]] Ambartsumian "had a very strong influence on world [[Politics of outer space|astropolitics]]" and is one of the few astronomers who have had such a "deep influence on the life of the international bodies devoted to the promotion and defense of astronomy and science in general."<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Pecker |first1=Jean-Claude |author-link1=Jean-Claude Pecker |title=Victor Ambartsumian and the I.A.U. |journal=[[Astrophysics (journal)|Astrophysics]] |date=1988 |volume=29 |issue=1 |pages=9–14 |doi=10.1007/BF01005853 |bibcode=1988Ap.....29..409P |s2cid=119494558 |url=http://astro.asj-oa.am/1983/|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

;International Astronomical Union
Ambartsumian was a member of the [[International Astronomical Union]] (IAU) since 1946. He served as vice-president of the IAU from 1948 to 1955, then as president from 1961 to 1964.<ref name="Blaauw2007"/><ref name="McCutcheonEnc"/><ref name="aras"/> As Vice President Ambartsumian attempted to have the IAU General Assembly be held in Leningrad in 1951, however, the IAU Executive Committee canceled the assembly, increasing tensions within the IAU. An IAU General Assembly eventually took place in Moscow in 1958.<ref name="Blaauw2007"/> Ambartsumian headed the organizing committee.{{sfn|Lynden-Bell|Gurzadyan|1998|p=31}} Blaauw noted that "During these years, Ambartsumian, although violently opposing the IAU's policy, remained loyal to the Executive Committee's majority decisions for the sake of safeguarding international collaboration, an attitude that contributed to his election as President of the IAU in 1961."<ref name="Blaauw2007"/> He continued to support it as "the world-wide organization embracing astronomers from all countries. His election as President of the IAU in 1961 reflected both the appreciation for his efforts in this respect and his outstanding scientific achievements."<ref name="Blaauw97"/>

Ambartsumian was outspoken about the importance of international cooperation. At the 1952 IAU General Assembly in Rome he declared: "We believe that the joint study of such large problems as that of the evolution of celestial bodies will contribute to the cultural rapprochement of different nations, and to a better understanding among them. This is our modest contribution to the noble efforts toward maintaining peace throughout the world."<ref name="Kragh"/> At the 1963 IAU symposium in Sydney he stated that while competition between nations is important, it should be associated with co-operation.<ref>{{cite news |title=Unity Urged in Study of Stars by Astronomers |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1301&dat=19630326&id=j4RWAAAAIBAJ&pg=7162,7592410&hl=en |work=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]] |date=26 March 1963 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191203130000/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1301&dat=19630326&id=j4RWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=1OUDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7162,7592410&hl=en |archive-date=3 December 2019}}</ref>

;International Council of Scientific Unions
Ambartsumian also served as president of the [[International Council of Scientific Unions]] (ICSU) between 1968 and 1972, being elected twice for two-year terms in 1968 and 1970.<ref>{{cite web |title=6.1 Past Officers and Directors of ICSU |url=https://council.science/publications/annual-report-2017/administration-governance/ |website=council.science |publisher=[[International Science Council]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191206122422/https://council.science/publications/annual-report-2017/administration-governance/ |archive-date=6 December 2019 |quote=1968-1972 Victor A. Ambartsumian (USSR)}}</ref><ref name="aras"/> He was the first individual from the [[Eastern bloc]] to be elected to that post.{{sfn|Lynden-Bell|Gurzadyan|1998|p=33}}

==Philosophical and cosmological views==
Ambartsumian made "philosophical excursions",<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Jeu |first1=Bernard |title=A Note on Some Armenian Philosophers |journal=Studies in Soviet Thought |date=1973 |volume=13 |issue=3/4 |pages=251–264 |doi=10.1007/BF01043876 |jstor=20098573 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20098573 |issn=0039-3797|url-access=subscription }}</ref> and published several books and articles on [[philosophy]], including ''Philosophical Questions About the Science of the Universe'' (1973).<ref name="Astrofiz1998"/> In a 1968 paper Ambartsumian wrote that he believes in a close collaboration of philosophy and the [[natural sciences]] to solve the main scientific problems about [[nature]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ambartsumian |first1=V. A. |title=Современное естествознание и философия [Modern natural sciences and philosophy] |journal=[[Physics-Uspekhi|Uspekhi Fizicheskikh Nauk]] |date=1968 |volume=96 |issue=1 |page=19 |url=http://ambartsumian.ru/dvd/Publications/Papers/1968UspFN____96___3A.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191203114946/http://ambartsumian.ru/dvd/Publications/Papers/1968UspFN____96___3A.pdf |archive-date=3 December 2019 |language=ru}}</ref> Ambartsumian became a member of the administration of the [[:ru:Российское философское общество|Philosophical Society of the Soviet Union]] when it was established in 1971. In 1990 he became honorary president of the Philosophical Society of Armenia, which was created through his efforts.<ref name="Astrofiz1998"/>

===Science and religion===

Ambartsumian was an [[atheist]]<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Ayrapetyan|first1=Albert|date=10 March 2009|title=Идеи академика Виктора Амбарцумяна и современная наука [Ideas of Academician Viktor Ambartsumian and Modern Science]|journal=Relga|issue=184|url=http://www.relga.ru/Environ/WebObjects/tgu-www.woa/wa/Main?textid=2336&level1=main&level2=articles|location=Moscow|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140824041754/http://www.relga.ru/Environ/WebObjects/tgu-www.woa/wa/Main?textid=2336&level1=main&level2=articles|archive-date=24 August 2014|language=ru|quote=...автор, атеист и коммунист утверждает...}}</ref> and believed that science and religion are [[Conflict thesis|irreconcilable]].<ref name="Kragh"/> Ambartsumian wrote in 1959 that the "idea of the [[existence of God]], the idea of [[Creation myth|world-creation]] has been defeated entirely."<!-- {{Quote frame|Since [[Copernicus]] challenged ecclesiastical authority in explaining nature, astronomy began to gradually gain one position after another, expelling God from all parts of the material world. The development of science today has brought a final triumph to atheism. The idea of the [[existence of God]], the idea of [[Creation myth|world-creation]] has been defeated entirely. [...] мнение известного советского астронома академика В.И. Амбарцумяна, открывшего звездные системы нового типа (звездные ассоциации): "С тех пор как Коперник бросил вызов церковному авторитету в объяснении природы, астрономия стала постепенно завоевывать одну позицию за другой, изгоняя Бога из всех участков материального мира. Развитие науки в наши дни принесло окончательный триумф атеизму. Идея существования Бога, идея сотворения Мира, потерпела полное поражение" [1]. --><ref>Амбарцумян В. А. Наука о Вселенной и религия. [К критике фидеизме]. ''[[:ru:Наука и религия|Наука и религия]]'', 1959, No 1, стр. 9 – 12; cited in {{cite journal |last1=Nedelko |first1=Vitaliy I. |last2=Khundzhua |first2=Andrey G. |title=Наука и религия – проблемы взаимоотношений |journal=Православное осмысление творения міра и современная наука |date=2008 |issue=4 |page=229 |isbn=978-5-902884-06-4 |url=http://shestodnev.ortox.ru/users/79/1100779/editor_files/file/PravOsm004.pdf |publisher=[[Russian Orthodox Church]] |location=Moscow |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191203110720/http://shestodnev.ortox.ru/users/79/1100779/editor_files/file/PravOsm004.pdf |archive-date=3 December 2019 |language=ru}}</ref> In an interview months before his death, Ambartsumian said that "God is an idea [...] the embodiment of morality [...] an idea that gives meaning to life, profound meaning, and thus, it must be acknowledged that it exists."<!-- «Աստված գաղափար է, դա կապված է մարդու գաղափարների հետ։ Իմ կարծիքով, իհարկե, մարդը այնուամենայնիվ բացի սովորական գիտելիքներից ստեղծել է մի ամբողջ աշխարհ, դա բարոյական աշխարհ է՝ իր մտքում, իր հոգու մեջ։ Մետք չպետք է իջնենք այդ սովորական գաղափարներին, որ աստված դա ինչ որ մարդու պես, կենդանու պես բան է։ Ո՛չ։ Դա որպես բարոյականության մարմնավորում, որպես կենտրոնացում բարոյականության համար։ Կյանքին իմաստ տվող, խորը իմաստ տվող մի գաղափար, ապա պետք է ընդունել որ դա կա։ Եթե կարծում են աստղագետները, կամ ուրիշ գիտնականներ հնարավոր է իրենց տելեսկոպներում նայել և տեսնել աստծուն, դա իհարկե բոլորովին միամիտ կարծիք է։ Այդ տեսակ աստծուն ես բոլորովին չեմ հավատում։ Բայց ես հավատում եմ, մարդը և առհասարակ բոլոր գիտակից արարածները կարող են զարգացնել այդ գաղափարը՝ բարձրագույն բարոյականության վերաբերյալ։ Ես կոչ եմ անում, որ մարդիկ իրոք մտածեն թե նրանք ճիշտ է և՛ խելք ունեն, և՛ տեսանելի աշխարհի ճանաչողություն ունեն, այդ բոլորը ճիշտ է, բայց կա նաև մի ուրիշ գաղափար, որ նրանք կարող են իրենց մեջ ստեղծել գաղափարներ, որոնք վերաբերում են մեծ բարոյականությանը, և այդ տեսակետից ամենաբարձր գաղափարը, որը կարող է ստեղծվել դա կարելի է անվանել, կարելի է դիտել աստծու երևույթի արտահայտություն։» --><ref>original source: {{cite web |title=Մեր արխիվը [Our archives] |url=https://www.1tv.am/hy/video/%D5%84%D5%A5%D6%80-%D5%A1%D6%80%D5%AD%D5%AB%D5%BE%D5%A8/111516 |website=1tv.am |publisher=[[Public TV of Armenia]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190530105819/http://www.1tv.am/hy/video/%D5%84%D5%A5%D6%80-%D5%A1%D6%80%D5%AD%D5%AB%D5%BE%D5%A8/111516 |archive-date=30 May 2019 |language=hy |date=15 December 2018 |access-date=13 September 2024 |url-status=bot: unknown }}; [https://archive.org/details/viktor-ambartsumian-on-god excerpt]<!-- [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/sZWycj0nlQg alternative archived version]--></ref>

For over four decades,{{efn|The organization effectively ceased to operate during the [[dissolution of the Soviet Union]] in 1990, when the last of its publications were made.<ref>{{cite web |title=ՀԽՍՀ "Գիտելիք" ընկերություն |url=http://haygirk.nla.am/cgi-bin/koha/opac-search.pl?idx=kw&q=%D4%B3%D5%AB%D5%BF%D5%A5%D5%AC%D5%AB%D6%84+%D5%A8%D5%B6%D5%AF%D5%A5%D6%80%D5%B8%D6%82%D5%A9%D5%B5%D5%B8%D6%82%D5%B6&sort_by=pubdate_dsc&addto=&biblionumber=42097&loggedinuser=&biblionumber=48688&loggedinuser=&biblionumber=21245&loggedinuser=&biblionumber=43630&loggedinuser=&biblionumber=76955&loggedinuser=&biblionumber=142772&loggedinuser=&biblionumber=38934&loggedinuser=&biblionumber=43602&loggedinuser=&biblionumber=17311&loggedinuser=&biblionumber=49943&loggedinuser=&biblionumber=33472&loggedinuser=&biblionumber=43245&loggedinuser=&biblionumber=72892&loggedinuser=&biblionumber=42094&loggedinuser=&biblionumber=32451&loggedinuser=&biblionumber=985&loggedinuser=&biblionumber=39495&loggedinuser=&biblionumber=19724&loggedinuser=&biblionumber=21954&loggedinuser=&biblionumber=81552&loggedinuser= |website=haygirk.nla.am |publisher=[[National Library of Armenia]] |access-date=7 December 2019 |language=hy}}</ref>}} he headed ''Gitelik'', the Armenian branch of the all-Soviet organization ''[[:ru:Знание (общество)|Znaniye]]'' (Knowledge), founded in 1947 to continue the pre-war atheist work of the [[League of Militant Godless]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Corley |first1=Felix |title=The Armenian Church Under the Soviet Regime, Part 1: the Leadership of Kevork |journal=Religion, State & Society |date=1996 |volume=24 |issue=1 |url=https://biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/rss/24-1_009.pdf |publisher=[[Keston Institute]]|page=36}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia. Volume III |title-link=Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia |date=1977 |page=[https://hy.wikisource.org/wiki/%D4%B7%D5%BB:%D5%80%D5%A1%D5%B5%D5%AF%D5%A1%D5%AF%D5%A1%D5%B6_%D5%8D%D5%B8%D5%BE%D5%A5%D5%BF%D5%A1%D5%AF%D5%A1%D5%B6_%D5%80%D5%A1%D5%B6%D6%80%D5%A1%D5%A3%D5%AB%D5%BF%D5%A1%D6%80%D5%A1%D5%B6_(Soviet_Armenian_Encyclopedia)_3.djvu/81 81] |language=hy |chapter=«Գիտելիք» |quote=ՀՍՍՀ-ում «Գիտելիք» ընկերությունը ևս հիմնադրվել է 1947-ին ... Հիմնադրման օրից նախագահն է ակադեմիկոս Վ. Համբարձումյանը։}}</ref> The organization engaged in what it called "[[Marxist–Leninist atheism|scientific-atheistic]] propaganda"<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Danielian |first1=Kh. |date=1959 |title=Հայկական ՍՍՌ քաղաքական և գիտական գիտելիքների տարածման ընկերությունը [The Armenian Society for Spreading Political and Scientific Knowledge] |url=http://hpj.asj-oa.am/54/ |journal=[[Patma-Banasirakan Handes]] |language=hy |volume=2-3 |issue=2–3 |page=391 |quote=Ընկերության աշխատանքներում զգայի տեղ է հատկացվում գիտա-աթեիստական պրոպագանդային։}}</ref> by publishing atheist novels and journals, producing films and organizing lectures on the supremacy of science over religion.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Laitila |first1=Teuvo |editor1-last=Tomlins |editor1-first=Steven |editor2-last=Tomlins |editor2-first=Steven |title=The Atheist Bus Campaign: Global Manifestations and Responses |date=2016 |publisher=BRILL |location=Leiden |isbn=9789004328532 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=mwxoDQAAQBAJ&dq=Znaniye+society+atheism&pg=PA263 263] |chapter=Russia: Atheism, 'Blasphemy', State and Orthodox Christianity}}</ref> As of 1986, the society had around 20,000 members.<ref>{{cite book |title=[[Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia]] Vol. 13 |date=1987 |page=[https://hy.wikisource.org/wiki/%D4%B7%D5%BB:%D5%80%D5%A1%D5%B5%D5%AF%D5%A1%D5%AF%D5%A1%D5%B6_%D5%8D%D5%B8%D5%BE%D5%A5%D5%BF%D5%A1%D5%AF%D5%A1%D5%B6_%D5%80%D5%A1%D5%B6%D6%80%D5%A1%D5%A3%D5%AB%D5%BF%D5%A1%D6%80%D5%A1%D5%B6_(Soviet_Armenian_Encyclopedia)_13.djvu/236 236] |language=hy |quote=«Գիտելիք» ընկերություն}}</ref>

According to one associate, Ambartsumian self-identified as an "Armenian Christian" but was not religious.{{sfn|Parsamian|2008|p=344}} He felt that Christianity has been important in preserving Armenian identity.{{sfn|Shakhbazyan|2011|p=287}} Ambartsumian had friendly relations with [[Vazgen I]], the long-time head ([[Catholicos of All Armenians|Catholicos]]) of the [[Armenian Apostolic Church]], especially since at least the late 1980s.{{efn|In 1988 Vazgen I publicly congratulated Ambartsumian's 80th anniversary in 1988.{{sfn|Parsamian|2008|p=435}} Ambartsumian and the four other prominent Armenians hunger striking in Moscow sent a letter to Vazgen I on his birthday on 20 September 1990 expressing their admiration for him. "Your holy faith and your sublime example of selflessly serving the nation give us strength and endurance," read the statement.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hambardzumyan |first1=Viktor |last2=Sargsyan |first2=Sos |last3=Balayan |first3=Zori |last4=Babayan |first4=Simeon |last5=Grigoryan |first5=Vachagan |title=Տ. Տ. Վազգեն Ա Ամենայն Հայոց Կաթողիկոս |journal=[[Etchmiadzin (magazine)|Etchmiadzin]] |date=1990 |volume=47 |issue=8–9 |page=20 |url=http://echmiadzin.asj-oa.am/6589/ |language=hy}}</ref> Vazgen I was made honorary member of the Ambartsumian-led Armenian Academy of Sciences in 1991.<ref>{{cite web |title=Vazgen I (Palchyan Levon-Karapet) |url=https://www.sci.am/m/membersview.php?l=&id=216&oid=&oid2=&d=&langid=2 |website=sci.am |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191215190101/https://www.sci.am/m/membersview.php?l=&id=216&oid=&oid2=&d=&langid=2 |archive-date=15 December 2019}}</ref>}} In 1969 Ambartsumian visited [[San Lazzaro degli Armeni]] in Venice, home of the [[Armenian Catholic]] congregation of the [[Mekhitarists]] and was declared an honorary member of its academy.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Rosino|first1=Leonida|author-link1=:it:Leonida Rosino|title=Encounters with Victor Ambartsumian one afternoon at the San Lazzaro Degli Armeni island at Venice|journal=[[Astrophysics (journal)|Astrophysics]]|date=1988|volume=29|issue=1|pages=412–414|doi=10.1007/BF01005854|bibcode=1988Ap.....29..412R|s2cid=120007462|url=http://astro.asj-oa.am/1984/|url-access=subscription}}</ref>{{sfn|Parsamian|2008|p=377}}

===Marxism–Leninism and dialectical materialism===
Ambartsumian accepted and followed [[Marxist-Leninist]] philosophy<ref name="Kragh"/> and staunchly promoted [[dialectical materialism]] and projected it on his astrophysical interpretations.<ref name="McCutcheonEnc"/> [[Helge Kragh]] described Ambartsumian as a "convinced [[Marxist]]."<ref name="Kragh"/> He wrote on Marxism–Leninism and dialectical materialism in 1959:{{sfn|Graham|1987|pp=391-392}}{{efn|Also cited in<ref name="Kragh"/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Hawkes |first1=Nick |title=Evidence of God: A Scientific Case for God |date=2012 |publisher=[[Wipf and Stock]] |isbn=9781620321447 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=4c8SBQAAQBAJ&dq=Ambartsumian&pg=PA29 29]}}</ref>}}
{{Quote frame|The history of the development of human knowledge, each step forward in science and technology, each new scientific discovery, irrefutably attests to the truth and fruitfulness of dialectical materialism, affirms the correctness of the Marxist-Leninist teaching concerning the knowability of the world, the magnitude and transforming power of the human mind, which is penetrating ever deeper into the secrets of nature. At the same time the achievements of science convincingly demonstrate the complete unsoundness of idealism and agnosticism, and the reactionariness of the religious world view.}}

Dialectical materialism influenced Ambartsumian's [[cosmological]] views and ideas.<ref name="Kragh"/> According to [[Loren Graham]], "perhaps no great Soviet scientist has made more outspoken statements in favor of dialectical materialism" than Ambartsumian.{{sfn|Graham|1987|p=391}} Mark H. Teeter wrote in a 1981 report that Ambartsumian is "one of a rather limited group of Soviet scholars of international stature who claim that dialectical materialism has assisted them in their work."<ref name="Teeter"/> Kragh noted that Ambartsumian was not a [[cosmologist]], but an astrophysicist, and that "his ideas of the universe were influenced both by his background in astrophysics and his adherence to Marxist–Leninist philosophy."<ref name="Kragh"/> Graham notes that his "praise of dialectical materialism has been voiced again and again over the years; these affirmations have come when political controls were rather lax as well as when they were tight. We have every reason to believe that they reflect, at root, his own approach to nature."{{sfn|Graham|1987|p=391}}

==Political career and views==
[[File:Viktor Ambartsumian portrait.png|thumb|Ambartsumian]]

Ambartsumian is often referred to as a [[politician]]; [[Donald Lynden-Bell]] called him a skillful one.<ref name="Lynden-BellIndep"/> In a 1977 interview [[Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar]] went as far as to opine that Ambartsumian has been "much more of a politician than an astronomer" since the mid-1940s.<ref name="Chandrasekhar77"/>

{{Ill|Ludvig Mirzoyan|hy|Լյուդվիկ Միրզոյան}}, a colleague and friend, wrote that "Ambartsumian was a true patriot of his native land, Soviet Armenia and all the Soviet Union, and simultaneously, he was a convinced [[Internationalism (politics)|internationalist]]."{{sfn|Parsamian|2008|p=96}} He was described by a Soviet-run magazine as an "ardent advocate of the widest possible international scientific exchange."<ref name="Pisarzhevsky"/>

===Soviet politics===
McCutcheon noted that Ambartsumian's life was "shaped and directed by the Soviet system" and he was politically loyal to the Soviet regime.<ref name="McCutcheonEnc"/> [[Adriaan Blaauw]] wrote that "his political views harmonized to a considerable degree with those of Soviet rulers."<ref name="Blaauw2007"/> [[Loren Graham]] argued that, simultaneously, he was "not afraid to reprimand the Communist Party ideologues when they obstructed his research."{{sfn|Graham|1987|p=392}} In favor with the Communist Party, he enjoyed the freedom to regularly travel to the West.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Doel |first1=Ronald E. |title=Evaluating Soviet Lunar Science in Cold War America |journal=[[Osiris (journal)|Osiris]] |date=1992 |volume=7 |page=254 |doi=10.1086/368712 |jstor=301774|bibcode=1992Osir....7..238D |s2cid=143320796 }}</ref> McCutcheon noted that Ambartsumian's "scientific genius combined with his political loyalty took him to the heights of the Soviet scientific establishment."<ref name="McCutcheonEnc"/>

Ambartsumian jointed the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union]] (CPSU) in 1940.<ref name="McCutcheonEnc"/> In 1948 he became a member of the [[Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Central Committee]] (the executive branch) of the [[Communist Party of Armenia (Soviet Union)|Communist Party of the Armenian SSR]].<ref name="McCutcheonEnc"/> Ambartsumian was also a member of the [[Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union|Supreme Soviet]] from 1950 to 1989 (3rd to 11th convocation sessions).{{sfn|Parsamian|2008|p=96}}<ref name="McCutcheonEnc"/> In [[1989 Soviet Union legislative election|1989]] he was elected as a representative from Armenia to the [[Congress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union]] in the first relatively free elections.<ref>{{cite web |title=Алфавитный список народных депутатов СССР (26 марта 1989 – 26 декабря 1991, полный) |url=http://www.politika.su/gos/ndsa.html |website=politika.su |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191225090608/http://www.politika.su/gos/ndsa.html |archive-date=25 December 2019}}</ref>

Ambartsumian was a delegate to the [[19th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|19th]] (1952), [[20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|20th]] (1956), [[22nd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|22nd]] (1961), [[23rd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|23rd]] (1966), [[24th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|24th]] (1971), [[25th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|25th]] (1976) and [[26th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|26th]] (1981) [[Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|congresses of the CPSU]].{{sfn|Parsamian|2008|p=96}}

===Cold War politics===
Ambartsumian often signed [[open letter]]s in support of the official line of the Soviet authorities. In 1971 he was among leading 14 Soviet scientists who signed a letter to U.S. President [[Richard Nixon]] in support of [[Angela Davis]] and appealed him to "give her an opportunity of continuing her scientific work."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Szulc |first1=Tad |author-link1=Tad Szulc |title=Russians Invited to the Davis Trial |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/01/04/archives/russians-invited-to-the-davis-trial-nixon-authorizes-offer-in-black.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=4 January 1971 |page=1}}</ref> In 1983 Ambartsumian was among 244 Soviet scientists who signed a statement attacking U.S. President [[Ronald Reagan]]'s [[Strategic Defense Initiative]] ("Star Wars"), namely Reagan's plan for an effective defense against nuclear attack. The scientists stated that Reagan is "creating a most dangerous illusion that may turn into an even more threatening spiral of the arms race."<ref>{{cite news |title=Soviet Scientists Call Missile Defense Plan By U.S. an Illusion |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/04/10/world/soviet-scientists-call-missile-defense-plan-by-us-an-illusion.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=10 April 1983 |page=14}}</ref>

Ambartsumian's relationship with dissidents was complicated. In 1973 he refused to meet [[Yuri Orlov]], nuclear physicist and a prominent dissident, after having offered him a job in Yerevan. Ambartsumian told him through subordinate that "there are situations when even an Academy member is helpless."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Goldberg |first1=Paul |title=The Final Act: The Dramatic, Revealing Story of the Moscow Helsinki Watch Group |date=1988 |publisher=[[William Morrow and Company|Morrow]] |location=New York |isbn=9780688068592 |pages=30–31 }}</ref> In 1975 he was among 72 Soviet scientists who denounced the award of the [[Nobel Peace Prize]] to Soviet physicist and dissident [[Andrei Sakharov]].<ref>{{cite news |title=72 Soviet Academicians Assail Sakharov on Prize |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/10/26/archives/72-soviet-academicians-assail-sakharov-on-prize.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=26 October 1975 |page=16}}</ref>

===Armenian causes===
Ambartsumian revered the Armenian language and supported its usage.{{sfn|Brutian|2008|p=105}}<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Vahanyan |first1=Gvidon |title=Վիկտոր Համբարձումյան. Մեր ամենամեծ գանձը՝ մայրենի լեզուն |journal=Garoun |date=1985 |issue=2 |url=https://garoun.am/?p=1685 |publisher=[[Writers Union of Armenia]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191212184055/https://garoun.am/?p=1685 |archive-date=12 December 2019 |language=hy}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Badalyan |first1=Melanya |title=Հայոց լեզուն - հայ ինքնության, հայ էության ընդերքը... |url=https://www.azg.am/AM/culture/2019111501 |work=[[Azg (daily)|Azg]] |date=15 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191212184333/https://www.azg.am/AM/culture/2019111501 |archive-date=12 December 2019 |language=hy |quote=Վիկտոր Համբարձումյանը հայ եւ համաշխարհային գիտական մտքի պատմության մեջ թողեց մեծ ժառանգություն, բայց իր վերջին խոսքիՙ Կտակի մեջ ժողովրդի մեծագույն առաքինությունը մայրենի լեզվի տիրապետումն ու դրա պահպանումն է համարում:}}</ref> He insisted all internal communication of the Armenian Academy of Sciences be done in Armenian when he became president in 1947.{{sfn|Brutian|2008|p=105}} As president of the Armenian Academy of Sciences, Ambartsumian often gave speeches at major events, such as during the commemorations of the 1600th anniversary of [[Mesrop Mashtots]], the inventor of the [[Armenian alphabet]], in 1962<ref>{{cite journal|last=Hambardzumyan|first=Viktor|title=Հայ գրի և դպրության մեծ հիմնադիրը [The Great Founder of Armenian Writing and Written Language]|journal=[[Patma-Banasirakan Handes]]|year=1962|volume=3|issue=3|pages=3–16|url=http://hpj.asj-oa.am/414/|language=hy}}</ref> and the 100th anniversary of [[Hovhannes Tumanyan]], Armenia's national poet, in 1969.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hambardzumyan |first1=Viktor |title=Համազգային մեծ բանաստեղծը [The Great National Poet] |journal=[[Lraber Hasarakakan Gitutyunneri]] |date=1969 |volume=9 |issue=9 |pages=3–4 |url=http://lraber.asj-oa.am/1514/ |language=hy}}</ref>  Ambartsumian stated: "The history of our culture has given many outstanding figures, but of all these figures, the Armenian people owe the most to Mashtots."<!-- «Մեր մշակույթի պատմությունը տվել է բազմաթիվ կարկառուն դեմքեր, սակայն բոլոր այդ գործիչներից հայ ժողովուրդը ամենից շատ պարտական է … Մաշտոցին։»--><ref name="1962days">{{cite journal |first=G. |last=Kirakosyan |title=Մաշտոցյան օրերը Հայաստանում [Days of Mashtots in Armenia] |journal=[[Patma-Banasirakan Handes]] |date=1962 |issue=3 |pages=267–269 |url=http://hpj.asj-oa.am/1561/ |language=hy}}</ref> 

====Armenian genocide====
Ambartsumian delivered a speech on 24 April 1965, on the 50th anniversary of the [[Armenian genocide]], describing it as "extermination of the Armenian population of [[Western Armenia]]." He linked it to the 45th anniversary of Soviet Armenia and the revival of the Armenian people as a result of the [[October Revolution]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hambardzumyan |first1=Viktor |title=Մեծ եղեռնը [Mets Yeghern] |journal=[[Patma-Banasirakan Handes]] |date=1965 |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=19–20 |url=http://hpj.asj-oa.am/729/ |language=hy}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hambardzumyan |first1=Viktor |title=Եղեռն և վերածնունդ [Mets Yeghern and Revival] |journal=[[Patma-Banasirakan Handes]] |date=1965 |volume=2 |issue=2 |pages=41–54 |url=http://hpj.asj-oa.am/774/ |language=hy}}</ref> In an article published in ''[[Pravda]]'' on 24 April 1975 Ambartsumian linked the [[Armenian genocide]] to the Holocaust and blamed [[German imperialism]] during [[World War I]] for inspiring the [[Young Turks]] and the capitalist states for failing to defend the innocent Armenian population and praised the October Revolution for saving the Armenian nation.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hambardzumyan |first1=Viktor |title=Իմպերիալիզմը գենոցիդի հանցավորն է [Imperialism – the culprit of genocide] |journal=[[Patma-Banasirakan Handes]] |date=1975 |volume=2 |issue=2 |pages=67–72 |url=http://hpj.asj-oa.am/2230/ |language=hy}}</ref>

====Nagorno-Karabakh====
Ambartsumian played a role in the [[Karabakh movement]] and was vocal in the initial phase of the [[Nagorno-Karabakh conflict]]. In November 1989, the Ambartsumian-led Armenian Academy of Sciences issued a statement protesting the decision of the [[Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union]] to return Nagorno-Karabakh under the direct control of [[Soviet Azerbaijan]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hambardzumyan |first1=Viktor A. |last2=Sedrakian |first2=D. M. |title=Հայկական ԽՍՀ գիտությունների ակադեմիայի նախագահությունում [At the Presidium of the Armenian Academy of Sciences] |journal=[[Patma-Banasirakan Handes]] |date=1989 |issue=3 |pages=3–4 |url=http://hpj.asj-oa.am/5206/ |language=hy}}</ref>

In September 1990 Ambartsumian and four other Armenians, including writer [[Zori Balayan]] and actor [[Sos Sargsyan]], went on a [[hunger strike]] at the [[Four Seasons Hotel Moscow|Hotel Moskva]] in Moscow to protest the military rule over [[Nagorno-Karabakh]] declared by [[Mikhail Gorbachev]].<ref name="Shogren"/><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gurzadyan |first1=V. |author1-link=Vahe Gurzadyan |title=Correspondence: Hunger strike |journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |date=18 October 1990 |volume=347 |page=610 |doi=10.1038/347610d0 |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/347610d0.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231117124634/https://www.nature.com/articles/347610d0.pdf |archive-date=17 November 2023 }}</ref> Ambartsumian celebrated his 82nd birthday hunger striking.<ref name="Schodolski"/><ref name="NadlerUPI"/> He insisted that Gorbachev had violated the Soviet constitution by keeping Nagorno-Karabakh under direct rule from Moscow. "This is a bad thing when a government does not abide by its own laws," he argued. He also stated: "My desire is that Karabakh be part of Armenia. This is a problem that has to be solved with a long process and with concessions."<ref name="Schodolski"/> Ambartsumian stated that his only demand is that the "elected leaders of Nagorno-Karabakh regain control."<ref name="Shogren"/> Ambartsumian called the hunger strike a "modest step" aimed at making a "huge resonance in the world—to let the world know."<ref name="NadlerUPI"/> The Soviet authorities "totally ignored" the strike.{{sfn|Lynden-Bell|Gurzadyan|1998|p=32}} He ended it after 9 days only when Catholicos [[Vazgen I]] persuaded him to do so.{{sfn|Shakhbazyan|2011|p=284}}{{sfn|Brutian|2008|p=105}}{{sfn|Lynden-Bell|Gurzadyan|1998|p=32}}

On 11 May 1991 Ambartsumian and a number of members of the Armenian Academy of Sciences wrote a letter to Soviet President [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] expressing their concern with the forced expulsion of ethnic Armenians from parts of NKAO and Shahumian rayon as part of [[Operation Ring]].<ref name="PBH1991"/>

=== Soviet collapse and independence of Armenia ===
In June 1991 the session of the Armenian Academy of Sciences issued a statement on its views on Armenian independence and the future of the Soviet Union. The Academy stated its unconditional support for the independence of Armenia, pushed at the time by the [[Pan-Armenian National Movement]] (HHSh). However, it argued that because Armenia is economically interconnected with and dependent on other Soviet republics, an abrupt disruption in the existing relations would result in "unimaginable levels of economic collapse, unemployment and emigration." Thus, they called for Armenia to join the [[Union of Sovereign States|New Union Treaty]] proposed by Gorbachev. The session also argued that leaving the Soviet Union would mean to abandon Nagorno-Karabakh.<ref name="PBH1991"/>

As a communist, Ambartsumian reportedly regretted the [[collapse of the Soviet Union]], but voted for Armenia's independence in the [[1991 Armenian independence referendum|1991 referendum]]. He appreciated independent Armenia, but reminded Armenians that they will be paying a high price for it.{{sfn|Shakhbazyan|2011|pp=283-284}} In 1995 he congratulated Armenians worldwide with Armenia's independence and stated that the newly independent republic is "moving forward."<ref>{{cite news |title=Վիկտոր Համբարձումյանը հաջողություն է նախանշում |url=https://www.aravot.am/1995/11/17/618769/ |work=[[Aravot]] |date=17 November 1995 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191203210658/https://www.aravot.am/1995/11/17/618769/ |archive-date=3 December 2019 |language=hy}}</ref> According to Yuri Shahbazyan, a friend and biographer of Ambartsumian, he remained sympathetic towards the [[Communist Party of the Russian Federation|Communist Party of Russia]] and was critical of Western-sponsored [[economic liberalization]] in Russia and other post-Soviet countries.{{sfn|Shakhbazyan|2011|p=285}}

==Personal life==
[[File:Byurakan, Armenia - panoramio (10).jpg|thumb|Ambartsumian's house-museum in Byurakan, where he lived since around 1950 and died in 1996.]]
[[File:Monument to Victor Hambardzumyan, Baghramyan street.jpg|thumb|A memorial in front of Ambartsumian's house in Yerevan's [[Baghramyan Avenue]] ]]

When Ambartsumian was referred to by foreigners as a Russian scientist, he corrected them by saying he was Armenian. He spoke perfect Armenian, albeit with an accent.<ref name="hetq2018"/>

Between 1946 and 1996 Ambartsumian mostly divided his time between Yerevan and Byurakan. He built himself a house within the Byurakan Observatory with the award money that came with his second [[USSR State Prize|Stalin Prize]] in 1950.{{sfn|Brutian|2008|p=102}} Since 1960 he also maintained a house next to the building of the Academy of Sciences in Yerevan, on [[Baghramyan Avenue]].

===Personality===
[[Donald Lynden-Bell]] characterized Ambartsumian as a "broad-shouldered thickset man of medium height, quick intellect and strong character."<ref name="Lynden-BellIndep"/> Lynden-Bell and [[Vahe Gurzadyan]] wrote that Ambartsumian was modest in private life and behaved simply in public.{{sfn|Lynden-Bell|Gurzadyan|1998|p=32}} [[Fadey Sargsyan]] described Ambartsumian as an "extremely modest" man.{{sfn|Parsamian|2008|p=195}} Anthony Astrachan wrote in ''[[The New Yorker]]'' that Ambartsumian is "by all reports an engaging human being."<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Astrachan |first1=Anthony |title=BOOKS: Dogma in the Manger |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |date=24 September 1973 |page=[https://archive.org/details/New_Yorker_Magazine_1973-09-24/page/n126 125]}}</ref> Ambartsumian admitted to not having any hobbies: "My only passion is science, astronomy. Like a jealous wife, it expects a man to give all of himself."<ref name="SovLife1968"/> However, he loved poetry and music,<ref name="Lynden-BellIndep"/> and "could enliven even the most abstract mathematical lectures with quotations from classical and contemporary poets."<ref name="Andrews97"/>

===Family===
In 1930 or 1931 Ambartsumian married Vera Fyodorovna (née Klochikhina), an ethnic Russian, who was the niece and the adopted daughter of [[Pelageya Shajn]], the wife of [[Grigory Shajn]], both Russian astronomers.<ref name="McCutcheonAIP"/>{{sfn|Shakhbazyan|2011|pp=148-149}}{{sfn|Brutian|2008|p=103}}{{sfn|Lynden-Bell|Gurzadyan|1998|p=26}} She was an English teacher who taught him to read his papers in English when he visited the U.S. and Britain. However, she could not reconcile with his "barbarous pronunciation," as she described it.<ref name="SovLife1968"/> He was deeply depressed by her death in 1995.{{sfn|Lynden-Bell|Gurzadyan|1998|p=32}} They had four children: daughters Karine (b. 1933) and Yelena (b. 1936) and sons [[:hy:Ռաֆայել Համբարձումյան (ֆիզիկոս)|Rafayel]] (b. 1940) and [[Rouben V. Ambartzumian|Rouben]] (b. 1941). All four became either mathematicians or physicists.{{sfn|Shakhbazyan|2011|pp=148-149}}<ref name="Andrews97"/> As of 1987 he had eight grandchildren.<ref name="McCutcheonAIP"/>

===Retirement and death===
Ambartsumian began retiring from the various positions he held in 1988, at 80. He left the position of the director of the Byurakan Observatory that year. In 1993 he stepped down as president of the Armenian Academy of Sciences and in 1994 as chair of astrophysics at Yerevan State University.<ref name="physicstoday"/><ref name="YSUChair"/>

Ambartsumian died at his Byurakan house on August 12, 1996, a month short of his 88th birthday.<ref name="McCutcheonEnc"/><ref name="NYTobit"/><ref name="Astrofiz1998"/> He was buried at the observatory grounds, next to his wife and parents.{{sfn|Shakhbazyan|2011|p=292}} His funeral was attended by thousands of people, including Armenia's president [[Levon Ter-Petrosyan]].{{sfn|Lynden-Bell|Gurzadyan|1998|p=32}}

His house was inaugurated as a museum in August 1998.<ref name="Astrofiz1998"/>

==Recognition==
[[File:V. Hambardzumyan Memorial 4.JPG|thumb|Ambartsumian's statue in Yerevan]]

Ambartsumian was one of the 20th century's leading astrophysicists{{efn|"...recognized as one of the giants of twentieth-century astrophysics..."<ref name="McCutcheonEnc"/> <br>"Victor Ambartsumian, a giant of world astrophysics, alive..."<ref name="NYT92"/>}} and astronomers.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Petrosian |first1=A. R. |last2=Gurzadyan |first2=V. G. |authorlink2=Vahe Gurzadyan |title=Astronomy in Armenia: Anticipations of a Second Wind |journal=[[Quarterly Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society]] |date=1996 |volume=37 |page=231 |url=http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1996QJRAS..37..231P |bibcode=1996QJRAS..37..231P |quote=...Ambartsumian, one of the foremost astronomers of the 20th century...}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Israelian |first1=Garik |authorlink1=Garik Israelian |title=Award of the Viktor Ambartsumian International Prize for Astrophysics |url=https://www.iac.es/en/outreach/news/award-viktor-ambartsumian-international-prize-astrophysics |publisher=[[Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias]] |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20191228122657/https://www.iac.es/en/outreach/news/award-viktor-ambartsumian-international-prize-astrophysics |archivedate=28 December 2019 |date=16 September 2010 |quote=Viktor Ambartsumian (1908-1996) was one of the most influential astronomers of the last century.}}</ref>{{efn|[[Geoffrey Burbidge]]: "...one of the giants of astronomical research in the 20th century..."<ref name="Burbidge"/>}} He was the leading astronomer of the Soviet Union{{efn|[[Leonard Searle]], 1958: "The authors are prominent Soviet astrophysicists and the complete volume is edited by the most eminent of them, V. A. Ambartsumyan."<ref name="Searle"/>
*[[Walter Sullivan (journalist)|Walter Sullivan]], 1964: "The observatory is the headquarters of Viktor A. Ambartsumian, Russia's foremost astronomer..."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Sullivan |first1=Walter |authorlink=Walter Sullivan (journalist) |title=Space Signals Said To Hint Life Afar |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/10/26/archives/space-signals-said-to-hint-life-afar.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=October 26, 1964}}</ref> 
*[[Jaan Einasto]], 2013: "I visited in autumn 1977 Byurakan Observatory and discussed the idea with Viktor Ambartsumian, the most influential astronomer of the USSR."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Einasto |first1=Jaan |authorlink1=Jaan Einasto |title=Dark Matter And Cosmic Web Story |date=2013 |publisher=[[World Scientific]] |isbn=9789814551069 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=xkS7CgAAQBAJ&pg=PA141 141] }}</ref>}} and is universally recognized as the founder of the Soviet school of [[theoretical astrophysics]].<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Gregersen |editor1-first=Erik |title=The Universe: A Historical Survey of Beliefs, Theories, and Laws |date=2009 |publisher=[[Rosen Publishing Group]] |isbn=9781615300266 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=4jbAzk3HR6gC&pg=PA163 163] |quote=He was also the founder of the school of theoretical astrophysics in the Soviet Union.}}</ref><ref name="britannica"/>{{efn|[[Russian Academy of Sciences]]: "основоположник советской школы теоретической астрофизики"<ref name="RASBio"/><br>[[Andrei Severny (astronomer)|Andrei Severny]] and [[Viktor Sobolev (scientist)|Viktor Sobolev]]: "V. A. Ambartsumyan is considered to be, by right, the founder of Soviet theoretical astrophysics."<ref name="Uspekhi1969"/> <br>[[Garik Israelian]]: "It is commonly accepted that V.A. Ambartsumian was a father of the Soviet school of Theoretical Astrophysics."<ref name="Israelian97"/> <br>[[A. David Andrews]]: "This eminent founder of astrophysics in the former Soviet Union..."<ref name="Andrews97"/> }} Ambartsumian was also well-regarded internationally.<ref>''Detre Centennial Conference: Proceedings'' (2006). [[Hungarian Academy of Sciences]]. p. 22 "This agreement obviously was a tribute of Victor Ambartsumian, the president of the Armenian Academy of Sciences and an astronomer of very high international reputation."</ref>{{efn|The authors of a 1981 US government report described him as "among the Soviet Union's best-known and most respected scientists abroad."<ref name="Teeter"/>}} [[Loren Graham]] called him "one of the best-known abroad of all Soviet scientists."{{sfn|Graham|1987|p=391}} He was an honorary or foreign member of academies of sciences of over 25 countries.<ref name="Israelian97"/>

Despite being a Soviet scientist, he was well-regarded in the United States.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Shabad |first1=Theodore |title=Soviet Claims Joint Credit for Finding Jupiter's Ring |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/04/18/archives/soviet-claims-joint-credit-for-finding-jupiters-ring-ring-of-rocky.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=April 18, 1979 |page=20|quote=Viktor A. Ambartsumyan, a prominent and respected astronomer...}}</ref> During the [[Cold War]], Ambartsumian was the first Soviet scientist to become foreign honorary member of the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] and foreign associate of the [[National Academy of Sciences]] in 1958 and 1959, respectively.<ref name="amacad"/>{{efn|"the first Soviet Scientist since World War II to become a foreign honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences."<ref name="AcadArtSci"/> "The National Academy of Sciences announced today that Viktor A. Ambartsumyan, a Soviet astronomer, had been made a foreign associate of the academy -- the first Soviet scientist to be so honored in over a decade."<ref name="Acad1959"/>}} In January 1971 Ambartsumian was invited to the [[United States House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology|U.S. House Committee on Science and Astronautics]], where he was introduced by [[Fred Lawrence Whipple]] as a "man who is rated the world's greatest astronomer or at least among the very greatest."<ref>{{cite journal |journal= Panel on Science and Technology |title= International Science Policy |date=January 27, 1971 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=i5LBdgzpxNIC&dq=Ambartsumian&pg=RA1-PA277 277–278] |publisher=[[United States House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology|U.S. Congress House Committee on Science and Astronautics]] <!-- |quote=Dr. Whipple. Speaking of astronomers, we have with us a man who is rated the world's greatest astronmer or at least among the very greatest, Dr. Viktor Ambartsumian of the U.S.S.R.-->}} ([https://web.archive.org/web/20240917075221/https://books.googleusercontent.com/books/content?req=AKW5QafnxJIZcVyXVQ7rA0STDNZj0Kdz2zOfymSNObqv4l-7M_A1h1BSRlyMrcf2AU9Co1YZxB6z9aTWISaDrPogVh47j90jn88ctmzNvrEJflgw9d-iHSe-w3e7Twur7JvLUijAX3zT3gJR_o06D1wtbfDmRwYV5FKENUOd50t9PL_odmVqqJfy3Lwu9OZG89I7nctGPF5rluIkeUs9IIcTGpJ5FMaIUL9EW-fQr2ceiYTtZATGpwI archived PDF])</ref>

In 1977 [[Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar]] stated: "My own impression has always been that he was, when he was in his prime, one of the most perceptive and elegant of astronomers."<ref name="Chandrasekhar77"/> Chandrasekhar opined in 1988:<ref name="Chandrasekhar">{{cite journal |last1=Chandrasekhar |first1=S. |authorlink1=Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar |title=To Victor Ambartsumian on his 80th birthday |journal=Astrofizika |date=1988 |volume=29 |issue=1 |pages=7–8 |bibcode=1988Afz....29....7C |url=http://astro.asj-oa.am/1982/}}. Reprinted in 
*{{cite journal |last1=Chandrasekhar |first1=S. |title=To Victor Ambartsumian on his 80th birthday |journal=[[Astrophysics (journal)|Astrophysics]] |date=1988 |volume=29 |issue=1 |pages=408–409 |doi=10.1007/BF01005852 |bibcode=1988Ap.....29..408C |s2cid=122547053 |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF01005852|url-access=subscription }} 
*{{cite journal |last1=Chandrasekhar |first1=S. |title=To Victor Ambartsumian on his 80th birthday |journal=[[Journal of Astrophysics and Astronomy]] |date=1997 |volume=18 |issue=1 |pages=3–4 |doi=10.1007/BF02714848 |bibcode=1997JApA...18....3C |s2cid=121290161 |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2FBF02714848|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
{{quote frame|Academician Ambartsumian’s realm does not divide astronomy and astrophysics into its conventional parts: theoretical and observational. He is an astronomer ''par excellence''. [...] There can be no more than two or three astronomers in this century who can look back on a life so worthily devoted to the progress of astronomy.}}

===In Armenia===
After he visited Byurakan for the [[First Soviet-American Conference on Communication with Extraterrestrial Intelligence]] in 1971, [[William H. McNeill (historian)|William H. McNeill]] wrote that Ambartsumian is a "world famous astronomer and a man of enormous local prestige."<ref>{{cite journal |last1=McNeill |first1=William H. |author1-link=William H. McNeill (historian) |title=Journey from Common Sense: Notes of a conference on communication with extraterrestrial intelligence, Byurakan, Armenia, September, 1971 |journal=University of Chicago Magazine |date=May 1972 |volume=64 |issue=5 |page=[https://campub.lib.uchicago.edu/view/?docId=mvol-0002-0064-0005#page/7/mode/1up 5] }}</ref> One of the "modern icons of Armenian pride,"<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Derluguian |first1=Georgi |last2=Hovhannisyan |first2=Ruben |authorlink1=Georgi Derluguian |title=The Armenian Anomaly: Toward an Interdisciplinary Interpretation |journal=[[Demokratizatsiya (journal)|Demokratizatsiya]] |date=Fall 2018 |volume=26 |issue=4 |page=454 |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/707881 |quote=...a small Soviet republic that was linked to a parade of world luminaries and modern icons of Armenian pride: the composer Aram Khachaturian, the painter Martiros Sarian, the astrophysicist Victor Ambartsumian, the mathematician Sergei Mergelian, and the chess champion Tigran Petrosian, among others.}}</ref> Ambartsumian is recognized as the most prominent scientist in 20th century Armenia,<ref>{{cite book |title=Science and Technology in Armenia: Toward a Knowledge-Based Economy |url=https://www.nap.edu/read/11107/chapter/4 |publisher=[[National Academies Press]] |location=Washington, D.C. |page=38 |isbn=0-309-09278-7 |date=2004 |doi=10.17226/11107 |quote=The most famous twentieth-century scientist in Armenia was Victor Ambartsumian...}}</ref> and the most important since the seventh century polymath [[Anania Shirakatsi]].<!--“He was the most prominent scientist in the country, and it didn’t matter if he had a position or not. I can now say that he was the greatest scientist in Armenian history,” says Mickaelian.--><ref name="hetq2018"/><!--«Շիրակացին մեր ամենամեծ գիտնական է` իր ժամանակաշրջանի համար: Մենք իհարկե ունենք Վիկտոր Համբարձումյան, որը շատ ավելի կարևոր դեր է խաղացել գիտության մեջ: Չեմ ուզում այդպիսի համեմատություն անել, բայց եթե հարաբերական նայենք` ժամանակաշրջանի մեջ, գուցե և Շիրականցին է համար 1-ին մեր մտածողը եղել հայ ժողովրդի ամբողջ պատմության մեջ»,- ասաց Արեգ Միքայելյանը։--><ref>{{cite news |last1=Avagyan |first1=Sona |title=Ոչ ոք չէր նկատել, որ Շիրակացու 1400-ամյակն է |url=https://hetq.am/hy/article/47740 |work=[[Hetq]] |date=5 October 2010 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20191206090527/https://hetq.am/hy/article/47740 |archivedate=6 December 2019 |language=hy}}</ref> [[Fadey Sargsyan]], Ambartsumian's successor as President of the Armenian Academy of Sciences, stated in 1998 that he went "beyond the limits of his scientific fields and in his own lifetime [became] a great national figure."<ref name="Astrofiz1998"/>

On 11 October 1994 Armenia's President [[Levon Ter-Petrosyan]] awarded Ambartsumian the title of a [[National Hero of Armenia]]<ref name="NatHero">{{cite web |title=Orders of the Republic of Armenia: The Order of Motherland |url=https://www.president.am/en/orders/46/ |website=president.am |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191207112125/https://www.president.am/en/orders/46/ |archive-date=7 December 2019 |quote=Victor Hambardzumian - 11.10.1994}}</ref> for his scientific work of international significance, science administration and patriotic activism.<ref name="ArmObit"/> His official [[obituary]] was signed by Armenia's president, government and parliament.<ref name="ArmObit"/>

{{multiple image|align=right|direction=vertical|width=220|image1= 100 Armenian dram - 1998 (obverse).png
|image2= 100 Armenian dram - 1998 (reverse).png
|footer=Ambartsumian appeared on the 100-[[Armenian dram|dram]] banknote (1998–2004)<ref name="cba"/>
|footer_align=center}}

===Tribute===
An asteroid discovered at the [[Crimean Astrophysical Observatory]] in 1972 by [[Tamara Smirnova]] is named [[1905 Ambartsumian]].<ref>{{cite book |title = Dictionary of Minor Planet Names |last = Schmadel | first = Lutz D. |publisher  = [[Springer Berlin Heidelberg]] |page = 153 |date = 2007 |isbn = 978-3-540-00238-3 |doi = 10.1007/978-3-540-29925-7_1906 |chapter = (1905) Ambartsumian }}</ref> Ambartsumian's Knot is a small tidal dwarf galaxy located in [[NGC 3561]] in the constellation [[Ursa Major]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Arp |first1=Halton |author1-link=Halton Arp |title=Peculiar Galaxies and Radio Sources |journal=[[The Astrophysical Journal]] |date=May 1967 |volume=148 |page=342 |doi=10.1086/149159 |bibcode=1967ApJ...148..321A |url=https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1967ApJ...148..321A/abstract |quote=An apparently ejected knot (Ambartsumian’s knot; see Zwicky 1958)...}}</ref>

In 1998 Ambartsumian's 90th anniversary was celebrated in Armenia; the [[International Astronomical Union]] held a symposium at the Byurakan Observatory<ref name="Astrofiz1998"/> and the [[Central Bank of Armenia]] issued a 100 [[Armenian dram|dram]] banknote depicting Ambartsumian and the Byurakan Observatory.<ref name="cba"/> The Byurakan Observatory was officially named after him that year.<ref name="ByurHistory"/> Other things named after Ambartsumian include Chair of General Physics and Astrophysics at [[Yerevan State University]],<ref name="YSUChair"/> a street, park, and public school in Yerevan,<ref>{{cite web |title=Երևան քաղաքի փողոցների, պողոտաների, նրբանցքների, փակուղիների, անցուղիների, հրապարակների, զբոսայգիների, թաղամասերի /սկսած1990 թվականից/ |url=https://www.yerevan.am/uploads/media/default/0001/29/8d73ca144990a63c4cda3afa2b2fe9740d6bf84a.pdf |website=yerevan.am |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191226191447/https://www.yerevan.am/uploads/media/default/0001/29/8d73ca144990a63c4cda3afa2b2fe9740d6bf84a.pdf |archive-date=26 December 2019 |language=hy |quote=Համբարձումյան/Վիկտոր/ փողոց․ Վիկտոր Համբարձումյանի անվան պուրակ}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Երևանի քաղաքապետարանի ենթակայության դպրոցներ [Yerevan municipal schools] |url=https://www.yerevan.am/am/school/ |website=yerevan.am |publisher=Yerevan Municipality |language=hy |quote=Վիկտոր Համբարձումյանի անվան հ. 12 դպրոցը հիմնադրվել է 1940թ.: Կրթօջախն աշխարհահռչակ աստղագետի անունով կոչվել է 1996թ.}}</ref> and the Pedagogical Institute of [[Vardenis]].<ref>{{cite web |title=List of Armenian Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) |url=https://erasmusplus.am/home/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/List-of-Armenian-Universities_NEO-AM_2016.pdf |website=erasmusplus.am |publisher=National Erasmus+ Office in Armenia |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190228075456/https://erasmusplus.am/home/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/List-of-Armenian-Universities_NEO-AM_2016.pdf |archive-date=28 February 2019 |date=April 2016 |quote=Vardenis Pedagogical Institute after Victor Hambardzumyan}}</ref>

In 2009 a {{convert|3.2|m|adj=on}} bronze [[:Hy:Վիկտոր Համբարձումյանի հուշարձան (Երևան)|statue]] of Ambartsumian was unveiled in Yerevan at the park around the [[:hy:Երևանի աստղադիտարան|Yerevan Observatory]] in attendance of President [[Serzh Sargsyan]] and other officials.<ref>{{cite news |title=Monument to Victor Hambardzumyan unveiled in Yerevan |url=https://www.panorama.am/en/news/2009/12/15/victor-hambarcumyan/1175556 |work=panorama.am |date=15 December 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191205174346/https://www.panorama.am/en/news/2009/12/15/victor-hambarcumyan/1175556 |archive-date=5 December 2019}}</ref> Busts of Ambartsumian stand at the Byurakan Observatory, the city of [[Vardenis]] (1978),<ref>{{cite web |title=Հայաստանի Հանրապետության Գեղարքունիքի մարզի պատմության և մշակույթի անշարժ հուշարձանների պետական ցուցակը |url=https://www.arlis.am/DocumentView.aspx?DocID=37837 |website=arlis.am |publisher=Armenian Legal Information System |language=hy |date=9 January 2003 |quote=ՀՈՒՇԱՐՁԱՆ ՎԻԿՏՈՐ ՀԱՄԲԱՐՁՈՒՄՅԱՆԻ 1978 թ. Մշակույթի տան մոտ}}</ref> and at the central campus of Yerevan State University.<ref name="YSUbio"/>

In 2009 Armenian President [[Serzh Sargsyan]] established an international prize in Ambartsumian's memory.<ref>{{cite web |title=Հայաստանի ազգային հերոս, ակադեմիկոս Վ. Համբարձումյանի անվան միջազգային գիտական մրցանակ հիմնելու մասին |url=https://www.president.am/hy/decrees/item/173 |website=president.am |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191205175656/https://www.president.am/hy/decrees/item/173 |archive-date=5 December 2019 |language=hy |date=16 April 2009}}</ref> It was first awarded in 2010 and is awarded every two years. The prize was initially $500,000, but was reduced to $300,000 in 2018.<ref>{{cite web |title=Viktor Ambartsumian International Science Prize |url=http://vaprize.sci.am/ |website=vaprize.sci.am |publisher=National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191205180153/http://vaprize.sci.am/ |archive-date=5 December 2019}}</ref> It is considered one of the prestigious awards in astronomy and related fields.<ref name="prize"/>

==Awards and honors==
{{Col-begin}}
{{Col-2}}
===State awards===
;Soviet Union<ref name="aras"/><ref name="RASBio"/>
*[[File:Sickle and Hammer.jpg|20px]] [[Hero of Socialist Labour (USSR)|Hero of Socialist Labour]] (1968, 1978)
*[[File:Заслуженный деятель науки Армянской ССР.png|20px]] Honored Scientist of the Armenian SSR (1940) and the Georgian SSR (1968)
*[[File:SU Order of Lenin ribbon.svg|40px]] [[Order of Lenin]] (1945, 1958, 1968, 1974, 1978)
*[[File:SU Order of the Red Banner of Labour ribbon.svg|40px]] [[Order of the Red Banner of Labour]] (1944, 1953)
*[[File:SU Order of the Badge of Honour ribbon.svg|40px]] [[Order of the Badge of Honour]] (1988)
*[[File:SU Order of the October Revolution ribbon.svg|40px]] [[Order of the October Revolution]] (1983)
*[[File:SU Medal For Labour Valour ribbon.svg|40px]] [[Medal "For Labour Valour"]] (1960)
*[[File:Stalin Medal.png|20px]] [[USSR State Prize]] (1946, 1950)
;Armenia
*[[File:Ribbon bar of Order of Fatherland.png|40px]] [[National Hero of Armenia]] (1994)<ref name="NatHero"/>
;Foreign countries
*[[File:POL Order Zaslugi PRL kl3 BAR.png|40px]] [[Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland]] 3rd class, [[Polish People's Republic]] (1973)
*[[File:HUN Order of the Flag of the HPR Green-Wreath BAR.svg|40px]] [[Order of the Flag of the People's Republic of Hungary]], [[People's Republic of Bulgaria]] (1975)
*[[File:St.AndrewOrder.png|40px]] [[Order of Saints Cyril and Methodius#Order of Cyril and Methodius .281950.29|Order of Cyril and Methodius]], [[People's Republic of Bulgaria]] (1969)<ref name="aras"/>
*[[File:RusStatePrize.jpg|20px]] [[State Prize of the Russian Federation]] (1995)<ref name="RASBio"/>

{{Col-2}}

===Professional awards===
*[[Prix Jules Janssen|Janssen Prize]] of [[Société astronomique de France]] (1956)<ref>{{cite web |title=JANSSEN PRIZE |url=https://saf-astronomie.fr/en-janssen-prize/ |website=saf-astronomie.fr |publisher=Société astronomique de France |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191220195626/https://saf-astronomie.fr/en-janssen-prize/ |archive-date=20 December 2019 |quote=1956 : Viktor Ambartsumian (USSR)}}</ref>
*[[Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society]] (1960) "for outstanding contributions to astrophysics"<ref name="Redman"/>
*[[Bruce Medal]] of the [[Astronomical Society of the Pacific]] (1960)<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Mayall |first1=N. U. |author-link1=Nicholas Mayall |title=Award of the Bruce Gold Medal to Prof. V. A. Ambartsumian |journal=Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific |date=April 1960 |volume=72 |issue=425 |pages=73–75 |publisher=[[Astronomical Society of the Pacific]]|doi=10.1086/127484 |bibcode=1960PASP...72...73M |doi-access=free }}</ref>
*[[Lomonosov Gold Medal]] of the Soviet Academy of Sciences, "for outstanding achievements in the field of astronomy and astrophysics" (1971)<ref>{{cite web |title=Большая золотая медаль им. М.В.Ломоносова |url=http://www.ras.ru/about/awards/lomonosovgoldmedal.aspx?print=1 |website=ras.ru |publisher=Russian Academy of Sciences |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191220195051/http://www.ras.ru/about/awards/lomonosovgoldmedal.aspx?print=1 |archive-date=20 December 2019 |language=ru |quote=1971 Амбарцумян Виктор Амазаспович за выдающиеся достижения в области астрономии и астрофизики}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Награжденные золотой медалью имени М.В. Ломоносова |url=http://www.ras.ru/rasawards/2a162aae-b78f-416c-9eb0-58ac901e6297.aspx?hidetoc=0# |website=ras.ru |publisher=Russian Academy of Sciences |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191220195147/http://www.ras.ru/rasawards/2a162aae-b78f-416c-9eb0-58ac901e6297.aspx?hidetoc=0 |archive-date=20 December 2019 |language=ru}}</ref>
*Helmholtz Medal ([[:de:Helmholtz-Medaille|Helmholtz-Medaille]]) of the [[German Academy of Sciences at Berlin|Academy of Sciences of the German Democratic Republic]] (1971)<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hartkopf |first1=Werner |title=Die Berliner Akademie der Wissenschaften: Ihre Mitglieder und Preisträger 1700–1990 |date=1992 |publisher=[[Walter de Gruyter]] |isbn=9783050068633 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=NZFdDwAAQBAJ&dq=Helmholtz-Medaille+1971+ambarzumjan&pg=PA6 6] |language=de |chapter=Ambarzumjan, Viktor |quote=1971 Helmholtz-Medaille der Akademie}}</ref>
*[[Cothenius Medal]] of the [[Academy of Sciences Leopoldina]] (1974)<ref>{{cite web |title=Cothenius Medal |url=https://www.leopoldina.org/en/about-us/distinctions-of-the-academy/medals/cothenius-medal/ |website=leopoldina.org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191220200313/https://www.leopoldina.org/en/about-us/distinctions-of-the-academy/medals/cothenius-medal/ |archive-date=20 December 2019 |quote=1974 Viktor A. Ambarcumjan (1908 - 1996) Erevan Astronomie}}</ref>
{{Col-end}}

===Membership===
;Soviet Union
*Corresponding Member of the USSR Academy of Sciences (1939)<ref name="RASBio"/>
*Full member (Academician) of the Armenian SSR Academy of Sciences (1943)<ref name="aras"/>
*Full member (Academician) of the USSR Academy of Sciences (1953)<ref name="RASBio"/>
*Honorary member of the Academies of Sciences of the [[Georgian National Academy of Sciences|Georgian SSR]] and [[Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences|Azerbaijan SSR]]{{sfn|Parsamian|2008|p=98}}

;Abroad
Ambartsumian was elected honorary and foreign member of 28 Academies of Sciences,<ref name="aras"/> including:
*Honorary Member of the [[American Astronomical Society]] (1947)<ref>{{cite web |title=Honorary Members |url=https://aas.org/join/honorary-members |website=aas.org |publisher=[[American Astronomical Society]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191202165806/https://aas.org/join/honorary-members |archive-date=2 December 2019 |quote=Viktor A. Ambartsumian* 1947}}</ref>
*Associate of the [[Royal Astronomical Society]] (1953)<ref>{{cite web |title=Viktor Amazaspovich Ambartsumian |url=https://ras.ac.uk/obituaries/Viktor_Amazaspovich/Ambartsumian |website=ras.ac.uk |date=18 September 1908 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191220202954/https://ras.ac.uk/obituaries/Viktor_Amazaspovich/Ambartsumian |archive-date=20 December 2019}}</ref>
*Corresponding member (1958) and foreign associate (1978) of the [[French Academy of Sciences]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Les membres du passé dont le nom commence par A |url=https://www.academie-sciences.fr/fr/Liste-des-membres-depuis-la-creation-de-l-Academie-des-sciences/les-membres-du-passe-dont-le-nom-commence-par-a.html |website=academie-sciences.fr |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191220201553/https://www.academie-sciences.fr/fr/Liste-des-membres-depuis-la-creation-de-l-Academie-des-sciences/les-membres-du-passe-dont-le-nom-commence-par-a.html |archive-date=20 December 2019 |language=fr |quote=Ambartsumian (Victor, Amazaspovitch) 18 septembre 1908 à Tbilissi, Géorgie, Russie - 20 août 1996 Élu correspondant le 22 décembre 1958 (section d'astronomie), puis associé étranger le 12 juin 1978}}</ref>
*Foreign Honorary Member of the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] (1958)<ref name="amacad">{{cite web |title=Members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1780-2019 |url=https://www.amacad.org/sites/default/files/media/document/2019-10/ChapterA.pdf |website=amacad.org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191220203658/https://www.amacad.org/sites/default/files/media/document/2019-10/ChapterA.pdf |archive-date=20 December 2019 |page=13 |quote=Ambartsumian, Viktor Amazaspovich (1908-1996) Election: 1958, FHM}}</ref>
*[[Member of the National Academy of Sciences|Foreign Associate]] of the U.S. [[National Academy of Sciences]] (1959)<ref name="Acad1959">{{cite news |last1=Finney |first1=John W. |title=U.S. GROUP HONORS SOVIET SCIENTIST; 2 Britons and German Also Elected as Associates by the National Academy |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1959/06/11/archives/us-group-honors-soviet-scientist-2-britons-and-german-also-elected.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=11 June 1959}}</ref>
*Honorary Member of the [[Royal Astronomical Society of Canada]] (1959)<ref>{{cite web |title=Honorary Member: Dr. V.A. Ambartsumian |url=https://www.rasc.ca/honorary-member-dr-va-ambartsumian |website=rasc.ca |date=17 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191220203419/https://www.rasc.ca/honorary-member-dr-va-ambartsumian |archive-date=20 December 2019}}</ref>
*[[Fellow of the Royal Society#Foreign Member|Foreign Member]] of the [[Royal Society]] (1969)<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kolchinsky |first1=Edouard |last2=Hossfeld |first2=Uwe |last3=Levit |first3=Georgy S. |title=Russian scientists and the Royal Society of London: 350 years of scientific collaboration |journal=Notes and Records: The Royal Society Journal of the History of Science |publisher=[[Royal Society]] |doi=10.1098/rsnr.2017.0001 |date=30 August 2017 |volume=72 |issue=3 |pages=343–363 |quote=24.04.1969 Viktor Amazaspovich Ambartsumian (1908–1996), astrophysicist, Foreign Member|doi-access=free }}</ref>

===Honorary degrees===
Ambartsumian received [[Honorary degree|honorary doctorates]] from several universities: [[Australian National University]] (1963),<ref>{{cite news |title=Russian Delegates Miss First Talks |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1300&dat=19630319&id=YMEQAAAAIBAJ&pg=4836,2868657&hl=en |work=[[The Age]] |date=19 March 1963 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191203130250/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1300&dat=19630319&id=YMEQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=1JQDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4836,2868657&hl=en |archive-date=3 December 2019}}</ref> [[University of Paris]] (1967), [[University of Liège]] (1967), [[Charles University in Prague]] (1967), [[Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń]] (1973), [[National University of La Plata]] (1974).<ref name="aras"/>{{sfn|Parsamian|2008|p=99}}

==Publications==
Throughout his career, Ambartsumian authored some 20 books and booklets and over 200 academic papers.<ref name="aras"/>

===''Theoretical Astrophysics'' (1952)===
Ambartsumian served as editor and senior author of the 1952 book ''Teoreticheskaia Astrofizika'' (Теоретическая астрофизика).{{sfn|Lynden-Bell|Gurzadyan|1998|p=25}} It is an extended<ref name="Blaauw2007"/> version of his 1939 book on theoretical astrophysics—the first systematic textbook on the subject in Russian—based on his lectures at Leningrad State University.<ref name="Redman"/>{{sfn|Lynden-Bell|Gurzadyan|1998|p=25}} It was translated into a number of languages, including English, German, and Chinese.{{sfn|Lynden-Bell|Gurzadyan|1998|p=25}} The English translation appeared in 1958 as ''Theoretical Astrophysics''.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ambartsumyan |first1=V. A. |title=Theoretical Astrophysics |date=1958 |publisher=[[Pergamon Press]] |location=London and New York |language=|translator=J. B. Sykes}}</ref><ref name="McCutcheonEnc"/> It became a bible for a generation of astronomers and astrophysicists<ref name="Israelian97"/><ref name="McCutcheonEnc"/> and was well received by reviewers. [[Roderick Oliver Redman]] called it "a welcome addition to the comparatively few general texts of solid worth which are now available"<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Redman |first1=R. O. |authorlink1=Roderick Oliver Redman |title=Russian Astrophysics |journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |date=1958 |volume=182 |issue=4635 |pages=548–549 |doi=10.1038/182548a0 |bibcode=1958Natur.182..548R |s2cid=4293821 |doi-access=free }}</ref> and noted that in a short time it had found "many appreciative readers in both German and English speaking countries."<ref name="Redman"/> [[Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin]] wrote that it is the "only advanced book of this scope in English, it will be of the greatest value."<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Payne-Gaposchkin |first1=Cecilia |authorlink1=Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin |title=Theoretical Astrophysics V. A. Ambartsumyan, Editor and J. B. Sykes |journal=[[Physics Today]] |date=May 1959 |volume=12 |issue=5 |page=56 |doi=10.1063/1.3060822 |url=https://physicstoday.scitation.org/doi/abs/10.1063/1.3060822?journalCode=pto|url-access=subscription }}</ref> [[George B. Field]] described the book as "comprehensively and competently constructed."<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Field |first1=George B. |authorlink1=George B. Field |title=Reviewed Work: Theoretical Astrophysics by V. A. Ambartsumyan, J. B. Sykes |journal=[[American Scientist]] |date=June 1959 |volume=47 |issue=2 |pages=176A, 178A |jstor=27827344 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27827344}}</ref> [[A. David Andrews]] described it as a "valuable textbook", which "contains examples of [Ambartsumian's] unique and fruitful approaches to stubborn astronomical problems."<ref name="Andrews97"/> [[Leonard Searle]] lauded the sections on stellar atmospheres, but criticized the section on interstellar material, especially the constitution of stars as outdated for ignoring fundamental post-war western contributions.<ref name="Searle"/>

==See also==
*[[Armenians in Tbilisi]]

==References==
;Notes
{{notelist}}

;Citations
{{reflist|refs=

<ref name="aras">{{cite web|title=Victor Ambartsumian (1908-1996) |url=https://www.aras.am//FamousAstronomers/ambartsumian.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191201192940/https://www.aras.am//FamousAstronomers/ambartsumian.html |archive-date=1 December 2019 |publisher=Armenian Astronomical Society}}</ref>

<ref name="NadlerUPI">{{cite news |last1=Nadler |first1=Gerald |title=Famed Armenian scientist, 82, on hunger strike |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1990/09/18/Famed-Armenian-scientist-82-on-hunger-strike/2453653630400/ |work=upi.com |agency=[[United Press International]] |date=18 September 1990 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191203095847/https://www.upi.com/Archives/1990/09/18/Famed-Armenian-scientist-82-on-hunger-strike/2453653630400/ |archive-date=3 December 2019}}</ref>

<ref name="Schodolski">{{cite news |last1=Schodolski |first1=Vincent J. |title=Armenians on Hunger Strike |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1990-09-19-9003180645-story.html |work=[[Chicago Tribune]] |date=19 September 1990 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191202161325/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1990-09-19-9003180645-story.html |archive-date=2 December 2019}} [https://archive.org/details/armeniansonhungerstrikechicagotribune Alt URL]</ref>

<ref name="Shogren">{{cite news |last1=Shogren |first1=Elizabeth |title=Armenians Wage Hunger Strike in Regional Dispute: Soviet Union: Five threaten to starve themselves to death unless Moscow ends military rule in Azerbaijan enclave. |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-09-21-mn-730-story.html |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=21 September 1990}}</ref>

<ref name="Kragh">{{cite arXiv |last1=Kragh |first1=Helge |author-link1=Helge Kragh |title=The Universe, the Cold War, and Dialectical Materialism |date=2012 |class=physics.hist-ph |eprint=1204.1625}}</ref>

<ref name="Teeter">{{cite book |last1=Teeter |first1=Mark H. |editor1-last=Teeter |editor1-first=Mark H. |editor2-last=Sutter |editor2-first=Eleanor B. |editor3-last=Ruble |editor3-first=Balir A. |title=Soviet Research Institutes Project. Volume III: The Humanities |date=1981 |publisher=[[United States International Communication Agency]] |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=k3rr4VWZtPUC&dq=Ambartsumian&pg=PA646 646] |chapter=Philosophy}}</ref>

<ref name="McCutcheonEnc">{{cite web |last1=McCutcheon |first1=Robert A. |author-link=Robyn McCutcheon |title=Ambartsumian, Viktor Amazaspovich |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/science/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/ambartsumian-viktor-amazaspovich |publisher=[[Encyclopedia.com]] |work=[[Dictionary of Scientific Biography|Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191203145604/https://www.encyclopedia.com/science/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/ambartsumian-viktor-amazaspovich |archive-date=3 December 2019 |date=1 November 2019}}</ref>

<ref name="ByurHistory">{{cite web |title=History |url=https://www.bao.am/history/history.php |website=bao.am |publisher=Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191205171700/https://www.bao.am/history/history.php |archive-date=5 December 2019}}</ref>

<ref name="prize">{{cite journal |title=New international prize commemorates Viktor Ambartsumian |journal=[[Astronomy & Geophysics]] |date=December 2009 |volume=50 |issue=6 |pages=6.6 |doi=10.1111/j.1468-4004.2009.50604_10.x |doi-access=free }}</ref>

<ref name="McCutcheonAIP">{{cite web |last1=McCutcheon |first1=Robert |author-link=Robyn McCutcheon |title= Oral Histories: V. A. Ambartsumian |url=https://www.aip.org/history-programs/niels-bohr-library/oral-histories/4998 |publisher=Niels Bohr Library & Archives, [[American Institute of Physics]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191202172140/https://www.aip.org/history-programs/niels-bohr-library/oral-histories/4998 |archive-date=2 December 2019 |date=2 October 1987}} Originally published in {{cite journal |last1=McCutcheon |first1=R.A. |title=The early career of Viktor Amazaspovich Ambartsumian: An interview (Erevan, October 1987) |journal=The Astronomy Quarterly |date=1990 |volume=7 |issue=3 |pages=143–176 |doi=10.1016/0364-9229(90)90019-W |publisher=[[Elsevier]]|bibcode=1990AstQ....7..143M }}</ref>

<ref name="ArmObit">{{cite journal |author1=Editorial Board |title=Վիկտոր Համբարձումյան. 1908—1996 [Victor Hambartsoumian 1908-1996] |journal=[[Lraber Hasarakakan Gitutyunneri]] |date=1997 |issue=1 |pages=3–6 |url=http://lraber.asj-oa.am/2299/ |language=hy}}</ref>

<ref name="RASBio">{{cite web |title=К 100-летию со дня рождения академика Амбарцумяна Виктора Амазасповича |url=http://www.ras.ru/news/shownews.aspx?id=bb001a50-9d6b-41fc-a38b-1a5aa18228d1&_Language=ru |website=ras.ru |publisher=[[Russian Academy of Sciences]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191207113602/http://www.ras.ru/news/shownews.aspx?id=bb001a50-9d6b-41fc-a38b-1a5aa18228d1&_Language=ru |archive-date=7 December 2019 |date=16 September 2008}}</ref>

<ref name="YSUbio">{{cite web |title=Վիկտոր Համբարձումյան [Viktor Hambardzumyan] |url=http://www.ysu.am/persons/hy/Viktor-Hambardzumyan |website=ysu.am |publisher=Yerevan State University |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191207114029/http://www.ysu.am/persons/hy/Viktor-Hambardzumyan |archive-date=7 December 2019 |language=hy}}</ref>

<ref name="YSUChair">{{cite web |title=Ֆիզիկայի ֆակուլտետ [Faculty of Physics] |url=http://www.ysu.am/faculties/hy/Physics/section/structure |website=ysu.am |publisher=Yerevan State University |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191207130811/http://www.ysu.am/faculties/hy/Physics/section/structure |archive-date=7 December 2019 |language=hy}}</ref>

<ref name="Astrofiz1998">{{cite journal |last1=Kalloghlian |first1=A. T. |title=On the 90th birthday of Academician V. A. Ambartsumian, founder of the journal Astrophysics, at Symposium No. 194 of the International Astronomical Union |journal=[[Astrophysics (journal)|Astrophysics]] |date=October 1998 |volume=41 |issue=4 |pages=325–327 |doi=10.1007/BF02894657 |bibcode=1998Ap.....41..325K |s2cid=121474711 }}</ref>

<ref name="PBH1991">{{cite journal |last1=Hambardzumyan |first1=Viktor |title=Հայաստանի գիտությունների ակադեմիայում [In the Academy of Sciences of Armenia] |journal=[[Patma-Banasirakan Handes]] |date=1991 |issue=1 |pages=3–6 |url=http://hpj.asj-oa.am/5515/}}</ref>

<ref name="Sobolev96">{{cite journal |last1=Sobolev |first1=V. V. |author-link1=Viktor Sobolev (scientist) |title=В.А.Амбарцумян в Ленинградском университете [V. A. Ambartsumian at Leningrad University] |journal=Journal of St. Petersburg University |date=16 October 2003 |issue=22–23 |url=http://old.journal.spbu.ru/2003/22/3.shtml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191214120349/http://old.journal.spbu.ru/2003/22/3.shtml |archive-date=14 December 2019 |language=ru}}; date: 10.11.1996</ref>

<ref name="Adalian">{{cite book|last=Adalian|first=Rouben Paul|title=Historical Dictionary of Armenia|year=2010|publisher=Scarecrow Press|location=Lanham, Maryland|isbn=978-0-8108-7450-3|author-link=Rouben Paul Adalian|pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=QS-vSjHObOYC&pg=PA353 353]-[https://books.google.com/books?id=QS-vSjHObOYC&pg=PA354 354]|chapter=Hambartsumian, Viktor}}</ref>

<ref name="NYTobit">{{cite news |last1=Saxon |first1=Wolfgang |title=Viktor A. Ambartsumyan, 87, Expert on Formation of Stars |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/08/15/world/viktor-a-ambartsumyan-87-expert-on-formation-of-stars.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=15 August 1996 |page=22}}</ref>

<ref name="hetq2018">{{cite news |last1=Martirosyan |first1=Marine |last2=Sarukhanyan |first2=Vahe |title=The Byurakan Observatory: Armenia's Scientific Crown Jewel |url=https://hetq.am/en/article/86749 |work=[[Hetq]] |date=21 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191201193241/https://hetq.am/en/article/86749 |archive-date=1 December 2019}}</ref>

<ref name="AcadArtSci">{{cite magazine |title=Soviet Rule Has Bestowed Upon Science all the Authority of Which it Deprived Religion |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=2 June 1958 |volume=71 |page=23}}, reproduced in {{cite journal |title=Congressional Record—House |journal=[[Congressional Record]] |date=1958 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=1QDk2mXwE3oC&dq=Viktor+Ambartsumian&pg=PA9922 9922] |publisher=[[U.S. Government Printing Office]] |quote=The new Biurakan Observatory in Armenia has one of the world's largest telescopes, and one of the world's finest libraries in the field. The observatory's head, Viktor Ambartsumian, the first Soviet Scientist since World War II to become a foreign honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.}}</ref>

<ref name="SovLife1968">{{cite journal |title=Picture of an Astrophysicist |journal=[[Soviet Life]] |date=February 1968 |issue=2 |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Q2fVf03wXwkC&dq=Ambartsumian&pg=RA1-PA56 56-57]}}</ref>

<ref name="cba">{{cite web |title=Banknotes out of Circulation - 100 drams |url=https://www.cba.am/en/SitePages/detailsncbrabanknotesnotcirculated.aspx?nominal=4 |website=cba.am |publisher=[[Central Bank of Armenia]]}}</ref>

<ref name="Redman">{{cite journal |last1=Redman |first1=R. O |author-link1=Roderick Oliver Redman |title=Presidential address on the award of the Gold medal to prof. V. A. Ambartsumian |journal=[[Quarterly Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society]] |date=1960 |volume=1 |pages=23–25 |bibcode=1960QJRAS...1...23. }} ([https://web.archive.org/web/20191226194645/http://ambartsumian.ru/dvd/About/Papers/1960QJRAS___1___23_.pdf PDF])</ref>

<ref name="Uspekhi1969">{{cite journal |last1=Severnyi |first1=A. B. |last2=Sobolev |first2=V. V. |author-link1=Andrei Severny (astronomer) |author-link2=Viktor Sobolev (scientist) |translator=W. V. Chumakov |title=Viktor Amazaspovich Ambartsumyan (on his 60th birthday) |journal=[[Physics-Uspekhi|Soviet Physics Uspekhi]] |date=1969 |volume=11 |issue=5 |pages=776–777 |doi=10.1070/PU1969v011n05ABEH003750 |url=https://ufn.ru/en/articles/1969/5/o/|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

<ref name="Burbidge">{{cite book |last1=Burbidge |first1=Geoffrey |author-link1=Geoffrey Burbidge |editor1-last=Ambartsumian |editor1-first=Rouben V. |editor1-link=Rouben V. Ambartzumian |title=A life in astrophysics. Selected papers of Viktor A. Ambartsumian |date=1998 |publisher=Allerton Press |location=New York |isbn=9780898640823 |pages=[http://ambartsumian.ru/dvd/About/Papers/A%20Life%20in%20Astrophysics_Burbidge.pdf vii-viii] |chapter=Introduction}}</ref>

<ref name="physicstoday">{{cite journal |last1=Petrosian |first1=Artashes R. |last2=Harutyunian |first2=Haik A. |last3=Mickaelian |first3=Areg M. |title=Victor Amazasp Ambartsumian |journal=[[Physics Today]] |date=June 1997 |volume=50 |issue=6 |page=106 |doi=10.1063/1.881754 |doi-access=free }} ([https://physicstoday.scitation.org/doi/pdf/10.1063/1.881754 PDF])</ref>

<ref name="britannica">{{cite web |last1=Masevich |first1=Alla Genrikhovna |author-link1=Alla Masevich |title=Viktor Amazaspovich Ambartsumian |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Viktor-Amazaspovich-Ambartsumian |website=[[Encyclopedia Britannica]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191202172638/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Viktor-Amazaspovich-Ambartsumian |archive-date=2 December 2019 |date=14 September 2019}}</ref>

<ref name="Israelian97">{{cite journal |last1=Israelian |first1=Garik |author-link=Garik Israelian |title=Obituary: Victor Amazaspovich Ambartsumian, 1912 [i.e. 1908] -1996 |url=http://aas.org/obituaries/victor-amazasp-ambartsumian-1908-1996?qt-obituary_sort=0 |journal=[[Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society]] |date=1997 |volume=29 |issue=4 |pages=[http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1997BAAS...29.1466I 1466-1467] |bibcode=1997BAAS...29.1466I |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150911212352/http://aas.org/obituaries/victor-amazasp-ambartsumian-1908-1996?qt-obituary_sort=0 |archive-date=11 September 2015 }}</ref>

<ref name="Lynden-BellIndep">{{cite news|last=Lynden-Bell|first=D.|author-link=Donald Lynden-Bell|title=Obituary: Victor Ambartsumian |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-victor-ambartsumian-1311606.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191202160632/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-victor-ambartsumian-1311606.html |archive-date=2 December 2019 |work=[[The Independent]]|date=26 August 1996}}</ref>

<ref name="Andrews97">{{cite journal |last1=Andrews |first1=A. D. |author-link1=A. David Andrews |title=Victor Ambartsumian (1908-1996) |journal=[[Irish Astronomical Journal]] |date=1997 |volume=24 |issue=1 |pages=4–6 |bibcode=1997IrAJ...24....3G }}</ref>

<ref name="NYT92">{{cite news |last1=Cherry |first1=David |title=Black Hole Theory Faces Challenge |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/02/05/opinion/l-black-hole-theory-faces-challenge-810092.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=5 February 1992 |page=22}}</ref>

<ref name="Blaauw2007">{{cite book |last1=Blaauw |first1=Adriaan |author-link1=Adriaan Blaauw |editor1-last=Hockey |editor1-first=Thomas |title=Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers. Volume I: A—L |date=2007 |publisher=[[Springer Science+Business Media|Springer]] |isbn=9780387304007 |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=t-BF1CHkc50C&dq=Ambartsumian&pg=PA41 40-41] |chapter=Ambartsumian, Victor Amazaspovitch}}</ref>

<ref name="Blaauw97">{{cite journal|last=Blaauw|first=Adriaan|author-link = Adriaan Blaauw|doi=10.1007/BF02714847|title=V. A. Ambartsumian (18 September 1908 – 12 August 1996)|journal=[[Journal of Astrophysics and Astronomy]]|volume=18|pages=1–8|year=1997|issue=1 |bibcode=1997JApA...18....1B|s2cid=121212500|doi-access=free}}</ref>

<ref name="Chandrasekhar77">{{cite web |last1=Weart |first1=Spencer |author-link1=Spencer R. Weart |title=Oral Histories: S. Chandrasekhar - Session I |url=https://www.aip.org/history-programs/niels-bohr-library/oral-histories/4551-1 |publisher=[[American Institute of Physics]] |date=17 May 1977}}</ref>

<ref name="Pisarzhevsky">{{cite journal |last1=Pisarzhevsky |first1=Oleg |title=Blue Galaxies |journal=[[Russian Life|The USSR]] |date=January 1960 |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=vl825H2S2xYC&dq=Ambartsumyan&pg=RA6-PA33 33-35]}}</ref>

<ref name="AstronEnc">{{cite book |editor1-last=Lankford |editor1-first=John |title=History of Astronomy: An Encyclopedia |date=2011|orig-year=1997 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=9781136508349 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=9jyExgmZxBoC&dq=ambartsumian&pg=PA10 10] |chapter=Ambartsumian, Viktor Amazaspovich (b. 1908)}}</ref>

<ref name="Oganjanyan&Silantiev">{{cite book |last1=Oganjanyan |first1=Sergey |last2=Silantiev |first2=Sergey |title=2017 Fourth International Conference on Computer Technology in Russia and in the Former Soviet Union (SORUCOM) |chapter=Sergey Mergelyan: Triumph and Tragedy |date=2017 |pages=8–12 |doi=10.1109/sorucom.2017.00008 |publisher=[[IEEE Computer Society]]|isbn=978-1-5386-4741-7 |s2cid=49643309 }}</ref>

<ref name="Apoyan2005">{{cite news |last1=Apoyan |first1=Grigor |title=Эссе о математике и не только о нем [An Essay on a Mathematician and Not Only] |url= http://lebed.com/2005/art4282.htm |work=[[:ru:Лебедь (альманах)|Almanac Lebed]] |issue=438 |date= 14 August 2005 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200131210251/http://www.lebed.com/2005/art4282.htm |archive-date=31 January 2020 |language=ru}}</ref>

<ref name="Searle">{{cite journal |last1=Searle |first1=Leonard |authorlink1=Leonard Searle |title=Review of Publications- Theoretical Astrophysics |journal=[[Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada]] |date=1958 |volume=52 |issue=6 |page=[http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1958JRASC..52..281A 281] |bibcode=1958JRASC..52..281A |url=http://ambartsumian.ru/dvd/About/Papers/1958JRASC__52__281A.pdf }}</ref>

}}

==Bibliography==
;Books on Ambartsumian
*{{cite book |last1=Shakhbazyan |first1=Yuri |title=Амбарцумян: Этапы жизни и научные концепции [Ambartsumian: Stages of Life and Scientific Concepts] |date=2011 |publisher=[[Molodaya Gvardiya (publisher)|Molodaya Gvardiya]] |location=Moscow |isbn=978-978-5-03437-0 |url=http://vambartsumian.org/lib/pdf/ambartsumian.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191202133200/http://vambartsumian.org/lib/pdf/ambartsumian.pdf |archive-date=2 December 2019 |language=ru}}

;Journal articles
*{{cite journal |last1=Lynden-Bell |first1=D. |last2=Gurzadyan |first2=V. |author-link1=Donald Lynden-Bell |author-link2=Vahe Gurzadyan |title=Victor Amazaspovich Ambartsumian. 18 September 1908 – 12 August 1996 |journal=[[Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society]] |date=1998 |volume=44 |pages=22–34 |jstor=770228 |publisher=[[Royal Society]]|doi=10.1098/rsbm.1998.0002 |doi-access=free }}
*{{cite journal |last1=Brutian |first1=Grigor |author-link1=:hy:Գրիգոր Բրուտյան |title=Վիկտոր Համբարձումեան [Viktor Hambardzumyan] |journal=[[Etchmiadzin (journal)|Etchmiadzin]] |date=2008 |volume=64 |issue=10 |pages=99–105 |url=http://echmiadzin.asj-oa.am/3887/ |publisher=[[Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin]] |language=hy}}
*{{cite book |editor1-last=Parsamian |editor1-first=Elma S. |title=Victor Amabartsumian |date=2008 |publisher=Gitutyun Press. Armenian Academy of Sciences |location=Yerevan |isbn=978-5-8080-0742-0 |url=http://tert.nla.am/archive/HAY%20GIRQ/Ardy/2001-2011/hambardzumyan_viktor_2008.pdf }}
*{{cite journal |last1=McCutcheon |first1=Robert A. |author-link=Robyn McCutcheon |title=The 1936-1937 Purge of Soviet Astronomers |journal=[[Slavic Review]] |date=1991 |volume=50 |issue=1 |pages=100–117 |doi=10.2307/2500602 |jstor=2500602|s2cid=159916900 }}
*{{cite journal |author1=Editorial Board |title=В. А. Амбарцумян - жизнь в науке |journal=Astrofizika |date=2008 |volume=51 |issue=3 |pages=343–362 |url=http://astro.asj-oa.am/312/ |language=ru}}; translated in {{cite journal |title=V. A. Ambartsumian—A Life in Science |journal=[[Astrophysics (journal)|Astrophysics]] |date=2008 |volume=51 |issue=3 |pages=280–293 |doi=10.1007/s10511-008-9016-6 |bibcode=2008Ap.....51..280E |ref={{harvid|A Life in Science|2008}}|author1=Editorial Board of Journal Astrofizika |s2cid=189843048 }}

;General books
*{{cite book |last1=Graham |first1=Loren |author-link1=Loren Graham |title=Science and Philosophy in the Soviet Union |date=1987|orig-year=1972 |publisher=[[Columbia University Press]] |location=New York}}
*{{cite book |last1=Vucinich |first1=Alexander |author-link=Alexander Vucinich |title=Einstein and Soviet Ideology |date=2001 |publisher=[[Stanford University Press]] |isbn=9780804742092 |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=f_-lAYZzP1UC&pg=PA174 173-176]}}

==External links==

{{commons category}}

*[https://www.aip.org/history-programs/niels-bohr-library/oral-histories/4998 Oral history interview transcript with Viktor Amazaspovich Ambartsumian on 2 October 1987, American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library & Archives]
*[http://www.phys-astro.sonoma.edu/brucemedalists/ambartsumian/ambartsumianrefs.html Ambartsumian bibliography] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210421070006/http://www.phys-astro.sonoma.edu/brucemedalists/ambartsumian/ambartsumianrefs.html |date=21 April 2021 }} at Sonoma State University
*[http://ambartsumian.ru/dvd/Publications/all_publications_or.htm Ambartsumian bibliography] at ambartsumian.ru

==Further reading==
*{{cite book |editor1-last=Harutyunian |editor1-first=Haik |editor2-last=Sedrakian |editor2-first=David |editor3-last=Kalloghlian |editor3-first=Arsen |editor4-last=Nikoghossian |editor4-first=Arthur |title=Ambartsumian's Legacy and Active Universe |date=2012 |publisher=Springer-Verlag |location=New York |isbn=978-1-4614-0181-0}}

{{National Heroes of Armenia}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ambartsumian, Viktor}}
[[Category:1908 births]]
[[Category:1996 deaths]]
[[Category:Scientists from Tbilisi]]
[[Category:Armenian astronomers]]
[[Category:Armenian scientists]]
[[Category:Armenian astrophysicists]]
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