The origins of polarography in the USSR: Yevgeniya Nikolayevna Varasova

Abstract

The history of electroanalysis is inextricably linked to that of polarography. Polarography was first developed in the 1920 s in Czechoslovakian and Japanese laboratories, where the foundations of the method were laid. Subsequently, the geography of laboratories using the polarographic method expanded considerably. This was mainly due to the students of J. Heyrovský, among whom was Yevgeniya Nikolayevna Varasova. The scientific activity of Varasova played a critical role in establishing polarography in the Soviet Union, a country that became one of the leading contributors to electrochemical analysis in the twentieth century. The many schools of polarography in the Soviet Union are a vivid testimony to this. Polarography and general electroanalytical chemistry, together with fundamental electrochemistry developed by A.N. Frumkin, contributed to the worldwide reputation of the Soviet Union as a centre of science in the twentieth century. This happened, despite the international isolation and internal political atrocities of the Soviet system, thanks to the dedicated work of its scientists. This article, based on archival data, reflects the events of Varasova’s tragically short life, her scientific achievements and her actions aimed at introducing polarographic equipment and methods into the work of Soviet scientific and industrial laboratories.