Nikolai Ye. Zhukovsky (1847-1921) was a Russian mechanician, the founding father of aero- and hydrodynamics. He was a Professor Emeritus of Moscow University (1911), Honorary Member of Moscow University (1916), Professor Emeritus of the Imperial Moscow Technical School (since 1918, the Moscow Higher Technical School), a Corresponding Member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences in the category of Mathematical Sciences (1894).
In 1902, he supervised the construction of the suction-type wind tunnel facility at the Mechanical Department of Moscow University, and in 1904, he headed the Europe’s first Aerodynamic Institute, established at the expense of D. Ryabushinsky in the village of Kuchino near Moscow. In the same year, Zhukovsky formulated a theorem, providing a quantitative value of the lifting force of an airplane wing; he defined the basic profiles of airplane wings and rotor blades; and developed the vortex theory of an airplane propeller. In 1905, he was elected the President of the Moscow Mathematical Society. In 1909, N. Zhukovsky headed the creation of the Aerodynamic Laboratory at the School. In 1916, he topped a Calculation-and-Testing Bureau at the Aerodynamic Laboratory of Moscow Technical School, where he developed methods of aerodynamic calculations and airplane structural calculations.
N. Zhukovsky’s research results were set forth in his papers. With his active involvement, Brief Theoretical Courses of Aviation were established in 1913, which were reorganized first into the Moscow Aviation Technical School in 1919, then into the Institute of Red Air Fleet Engineers in 1920; and ultimately, into the Military Air Academy and Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute (TsAGI).
The commemorative stamp provides a portrait of Nikolay Ye. Zhukovsky; the illustration features a flat wind tunnel, Zhukovsky’s lever pattern, and formulae.
| Denomination |
Paper |
Printing method |
Format of the envelope |
Edition |
| Letter “A” |
High Whiteness Modified (HWM) |
Offset |
110 × 220 mm |
1,0 million copies |