MOSCOW, July 29 (Itar-Tass) - A monument to Vladimir Zworykin, pioneer of television technology, will be unveiled on Monday in a park near Ostankino TV centre in Moscow. The ceremony will mark Zworykin’s 125th birthday.
Sergei Goryayev, honored artist of Russia and presidium member of Russian Academy of Fine Arts, is the author of the monument. According to him, the two-meter bronze statue “is made in urban park sculpture style.” One of the composition elements is the famous Zworykin’s life-size TV set made of marble. “Zvorykin in a costume typical of that time comfortably leans against the TV set,” he said. “He looks as though he is showing us the fruits of his labor. A genius, looking somewhat tires, with his creation embodying a marvel of engineering thought.”
“The idea of the sculpture offers interplay to the viewer: anyone can not only take a picture with Zworykin but also “make it on television” using the TV set’s body, through which is seen the Ostankino television tower,” Goryayev noted.
The unveiling ceremony will be attended by acting Mayor of Moscow Sergei Sobyanin, President of the National Academy of Television and Radio Broadcasters Eduard Sagalayev, Director General of Channel One Konstantin Ernst, Zworykin’s granddaughter Sandra Knudsen, and his biographer Frederick Olessi.
Vladimir Zworykin was born in Murom, Vladimir region, on July 29, 1888 to the family of a prosperous merchant. He studied at the St. Petersburg Institute of Technology. While studying at the institute, he took part in experiments on television and electronics under Professor Boris Rosing. Zworykin graduated in 1912 and, thereafter, studied X-rays under Professor Paul Langevin in Paris. During World War I, Zworykin was enlisted and served in the Russian Signal Corps, then succeeded in getting a job working for Russian Marconi, testing radio equipment produced for the Russian Army. Zworykin decided to leave Russia for the United States in 1918, during the Civil War.
Once in the United States, Zworykin found job at the Westinghouse laboratories in Pittsburgh, where he eventually had an opportunity to engage in television experiments. He summarized the resulting invention in two patent applications. In 1929, Zworykin met David Sarnoff, who eventually hired him and put him in charge of television development for Radio Corporation of America at their newly established laboratories in Camden, New Jersey. In the same year, Zworykin demonstrated the first-ever television set. In 1931, he invented a camera tube that was named iconoscope, which paved the way for the development of electronic television systems.
Zworykin was a holder of more than 120 patents for inventions. He received numerous medals and awards, including the U.S. National Medal of Science awarded to Zworykin by President Lyndon Johnson in 1967. In 1977, he was inducted into National Inventors Hall of Fame. He died on July 29, 1982 in Princeton, New Jersey.