On February 28 in Washington the famous physicist Leonid Moiseyevish
Ozernoy passed away. A pupil of Vitaly Lazarevich Ginzburg, and a graduate
of Moscow State University in 1963, Leonid Ozernoy belonged to the
brilliant assemblage of Moscow astrophysicists of the 1960s generation who
were able to catch the beginning of the revolution in astronomy.
In the 1960s, Ozernoy published a series of very important works on the
theory of quasars, active nuclei of galaxies, and the collapse of stars.
He was the first to predict the irradiation
of gravitational waves during
the supernova explosion, he substantially advanced the theory of the
stability and evolution of magnetic supermassive stars, and he actively
studied the evolution of dense spherical clusters.
I had the good fortune to work with Leonid Moiseyevich in those years when
he had emigrated to the USA, where he worked at NASA and at George Mason
University in Washington. But I knew him since the beginning of the 1970s.
A quiet and intellectual man in personal relationships, he became tough
and unbending in scientific polemics. He was not afraid to go out on his
own and to insist on his point of view, despite the opinions of the
scientific "community". This is a rare and important quality in science.
He was able to advance and properly appreciate new ideas. He once told me:
"Volodya, the most valuable thing that there is in science is the ability
to set out a new task. This cannot be taught"
In his (Soviet) time, when he could not leave, he experienced painful
disappointment with those around him, almost all of whom avoided him.
To the blessed memory of Leonid Moiseyevich Ozernoy.
Professor of the Moscow University Vladimir M. Lipunov
Translated by Valeriy Soyfer
