for the RDS-6s device. From 1951 to his death in 1973, Artsimovich was the head of the fusion power program in the former Soviet Union and invented the machine, for which he became to known as "the father of the Tokamak", a special concept for a fusion reactor. Once Artsimovich was asked when the first thermonuclear reactor would start its work. He replied: "When mankind needs it, maybe a short time before that." In 1953, he became an academician of the Soviet Academy of Sciences and then member of its Presidium in 1957. From 1963 to 1973, he was the vice-chairman of the Russian-chapter of Pugwash Committee and the chairman of the National Committee of Soviet Physicists. In 1966, he visited the United States to deliver lecture on fusion and Tokamat technology at the MIT, and was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. On 1 March 1973, Artsimovich passed away due to cardiac arrest in Moscow, and the crater Artsimovich on the Moon is named after him. Honours and awards 1946 – Member of the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union 1953 – Academician of the USSR 1953 – Stalin Prize, first class 1957 – Academician-secretary of the Department of General Physics and Astronomy, USSR Academy of Sciences, member of the Presidium of the USSR 1958 – Lenin Prize 1965 – Honorary Member of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences 1966 – Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 1968 – Foreign Member of the Swedish Academy of Sciences 1969 – Honorary Member of the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences 1969 – Hero of Socialist Labour 1970 – Honorary Citizen of Texas (USA) 1971 – USSR State Prize 1972 – Honorary Doctor of the University of Warsaw Four Orders of Lenin Two Orders of the Red Banner of Labour See also Russian Alsos References External links Artsimovich's photo – from the Russian Academy of Sciences Artsimovich Memorial Lecture-OFES 1909 births 1973 deaths Russian people of Polish descent Belarusian State University alumni Soviet physicists Russian physicists Soviet nuclear physicists Scientists from Moscow Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Full Members of the USSR Academy of Sciences Members of the German Academy of Sciences at Berlin Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Academic staff of the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology Academic staff of Saint Petersburg