Sergiu Rădăuțanu
{{Short description|Moldovan physicist}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Sergiu Rădăuțanu
| office = Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the Moldavian SSR
| termstart = 11 April 1967
| termend = 14 July 1971
| premier = Alexandru Diordiță
Petru Pascari
| successor = Artem Lazarev
| predecessor = Andrei Lupan
| image = Stamp of Moldova md441.jpg
| caption = 2002 stamp
| birth_place = Chișinău, Kingdom of Romania
| death_place = Saint Petersburg, Russia
| honorific_suffix = OR
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=y|1926|6|17}}
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=y|1998|3|6|1926|6|17}}
}}
Sergiu Rădăuțanu (17 June 1926 – 6 March 1998) was a Moldovan physicist. He was a vice-president of the Academy of Sciences of Moldova and professor at the Technical University of Moldova.
Early life
Rădăuțanu was born on 17 June 1926 in Chișinău. His parents were both teachers, with his father speaking nine languages and teaching French.{{cite web|url=https://mjps.utm.md/archive/download/50391|title=On the 90th anniversary of academician Sergiu Radautsan|publisher=Academy of Sciences of Moldova|via=Moldavian Journal of the Physical Sciences|date=17 June 2016}}
Education and early career
Rădăuțanu studied at Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu High School in Chișinău and graduated from the State University of Moldova in 1955. He earned his PhD in 1959 from the Ioffe Institute in Leningrad, researching solid solutions in semiconductor systems. His habilitation in 1966 at the Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University focused on diamond-type semiconductors with defective structures.{{cite web|url=https://utm.md/blog/2021/06/17/17-iunie-2021-in-memoriam-acad-sergiu-radautanu-95/|title=17 iunie 2021. In memoriam acad. Sergiu RĂDĂUȚANU – 95|trans-title=June 17, 2021. In memoriam acad. Sergiu RĂDĂUŢANU – 95|lang=ro|publisher=Technical University of Moldova|date=17 June 2021}}
Key roles and leadership
In 1961, Rădăuțanu became the Laboratory Head at the Institute of Applied Physics, where he advanced semiconductor material research.
In 1964, he helped found and was a rector of the Technical University of Moldova (UTM). Under his leadership until 1973, UTM became Moldova's premier technical institution. Later, in 1990, he was appointed the
vice-president of the Academy of Sciences of Moldova and five years later later directed its Semiconductor Materials Center until 1998. Rădăuțanu was also active politically and he served as Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the Moldavian SSR from 1967–1971.{{cite web|url=https://ibn.idsi.md/sites/default/files/imag_file/65-123.pdf|title=Partea II - Sergiu Rădăuțanu - Itinerar biografic|trans-title=Part II - Sergiu Rădăuțanu - Biographical itinerary|lang=ro|publisher=Instrumentul Bibliometric Național|access-date=25 April 2025}}
Scientific contributions
Rădăuțanu specialized in semiconductor physics, focusing on ternary and complex compound materials, with his work bridging theoretical and applied research. He authored over 1,000 studies and held over 100 patents, emphasizing semiconductor technology and solid-state electronics. As well as his own research, he supervised 64 doctoral candidates, fostering a generation of physicists and engineers. Rădăuțanu also lectured globally, including in France, Germany, and the United States, England, South Korea, Hungary, India, and Japan, and organized Moldova's first NATO scientific conference in 1996.{{cite web|url=https://stiri.md/article/afaceri/100-de-inventatori-sergiu-radautanu-primul-rector-al-utm/|title=100 de inventatori: Sergiu Rădăuțanu - primul rector al UTM|trans-title=100 Inventors: Sergiu Rădăuțanu - the first rector of UTM|lang=ro|website=Stiri.md|first=Denis|last=Rosca|date=3 April 2025}}
Awards
Rădăuțanu was awarded the State Prize of Moldova in 1983 and 1998, as well as the Order of the Red Banner of Labour and the Order of the Republic in 1996.{{cite web|url=https://ibn.idsi.md/sites/default/files/imag_file/22-26_32.pdf|title=Academicianul Sergiu Rădăuțanu, savant de talie internațională|trans-title=Academician Sergiu Rădăuțanu, internationally renowned scholar|lang=ro|publisher=Instrumentul Bibliometric Național|first=Ion|last=Tighineanu|access-date=25 April 2025}}
Death
Rădăuțanu passed away on 6 March 1998, and several streets and institutions bear his name.{{cite web|url=https://www.agir.ro/buletine/3072.pdf|title=Sergiu Rădăuțanu – Personalitatea care a unit cercetători de pe cele două maluri ale Prutului|trans-title=Sergiu Rădăuțanu – The personality who united researchers from both banks of the Prut|lang=ro|first1=Georghe|last1=Manolea|first2=Florin|last2=Tănăsescu|first3=Petru|last3=Todos|first4=Ion|last4=Sobor|publisher=General Association of Engineers of Romania|access-date=25 April 2025}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20080308190954/http://www.radautan.info/ www.radautan.info] - Website "Sergiu Rădăuțan"
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rădăuțanu, Sergiu}}
Category:Scientists from Chișinău
Category:Communist Party of the Soviet Union members
Category:Chairmen of the Supreme Soviet of the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic
Category:20th-century physicists
Category:Recipients of the Moldavian SSR State Prize
Category:Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour