Vladimir Sergeevich Bagotsky (1920-2012), spent the early part of his life in Switzerland, entered Moscow University in 1938, and graduated in 1944. His PhD thesis on hydrogen evolution on mercury (1947) was supervised by Z.A. Iofa. In late 1940s, he started his oxygen reduction research, co-authored “Kinetics of electrode processes”, and participated in sharp discussions on atomic hydrogen, e.g. found himself in the center of the professional life at the Dept, but it was possible only until the “fight with anti-cosmopolitants” started. This campaign forced him to leave the University in 1949, and move to the All-Union Research Institute “Cells-Electrocarbon” (later known as the Institute of Power Sources, VNIIT). His successful development of silver-zinc batteries for the soviet space program made Bagotsky the real leader of power sources research in the country. In 1960s, he became the head of the state fuel cell program. Finally, it became possible to establish his division in Frumkin Institute in 1965, and many of his pupils and colleagues from VNIIT joined him in this new unit, see their names and main topics below. This memorial article contains Bagotsky’s complete list of articles and books, as well as many photos. His principle team members from both Frumkin Inst and VNIIT are presented below (alphabetic order).

Olga Alekseevna Khazova (1933-2023) was a graduate of Moscow Chemical-Technological Institute (МХТИ). She completed her PhD on methanol adsorption and oxidation on platinum in 1965, and became the closest collaborator of V.S. Bagotsky and Yu.B. Vassiliev in further fuel cell oriented research.

Villi Shelevich Palanker graduated from Moscow Chemical-Technological Institute (МХТИ) and moved to Frumkin Institute from the Institute of Power Sources as a member of Bagotsky’s team. His 1967 PhD thesis was devoted to ‘double layer’ on mercury in concentrated solutions and low-temperature melts. The next topic was Pt-support interaction in respect to electrocatalysis of hydrogen reactions. In early 1970s he decided to leave for Israel, but could not obtain the permission from soviet authorities for many years. In a hope to enhance this procedure (more fast in national republics of the USSR) he left for Alma-Ata, Kazakhstan, where he was employed in the Institute of Organic Catalysis and Electrochemistry headed by D.V. Sokolsky. There are five excellent Palanker’s articles of Alma-Ata period, on tungsten carbide electrocatalyst, published in 1975-1977 in international journals. Later he left for Yerevan, Armenia, and was finally allowed to immigrate already in 1980s.