The Russian-American physicist and radio engineer Vladimir Kosma Zworykin (1889-1982) made important contributions to the development of television, as well as to the newer field of electronics.

Vladimir Zworykin was born in Mourom, Russia, on July 30, 1889. He is best known for his pioneering work in the development of television.

Early Education and Career

Zworykin received a degree in electrical engineering from the St. Petersburg Institute of Technology in 1912 and a doctorate in physics in 1926 from the University of Pittsburgh. Like many European intellectuals of the 20th century, Zworykin was driven to the United States by the recurrent religious persecution and political repression which rocked Europe and Russia. He came to America in 1920, 3 years after the Russian Revolution, and joined the research staff of Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company in Pittsburgh. In 1930 he went to the Radio Corporation of America (RCA), where he was made director of the electronics...