Ivan Stranski

Ivan Nikolov Stranski (; ; – 19 June 1979) was a Bulgarian and later a German physical chemist who is considered the father of crystal growth research.

He was the founder of the Bulgarian school of physical chemistry, heading the departments of physical chemistry at Sofia University and later at Technische Hochschule Berlin (today Technische Universität Berlin), of which he was also rector. The Stranski–Krastanov growth and Kossel–Stranski model are some of Stranski's contributions which bear his name.

Biography Early life and studies Ivan Stranski was born on 21 December 1896 O.S. (2 January 1897 N.S.) in Sofia, the capital of the Principality of Bulgaria, the third child of Nikola Stranski (1854 - 1910), pharmacist to the royal court, and his wife Maria Krohn, a Baltic German. Ever since his childhood he suffered from bone tuberculosis, an incurable disease at the time. Stranski finished the First Sofia High School for Boys. Seeking ways to fight the illness, Stranski decided to study medicine, though he returned to Bulgaria disappointed after a year of studies in Vienna. He graduated from Sofia University in 1922, majoring in chemistry, and went to the Friedrich Wilhelm University of Berlin for further studies. There, in 1925, he acquired his Dr. phil. under Paul Günther with a dissertation on X-ray spectroscopy.

In 1930, Ivan Stranski received a Rockefeller scholarship and along with Kaischew was invited to Technische Hochschule Berlin, where he collaborated with prominent physical chemist Max Volmer. he had also previously held the position of vice rector. In 1953, he became deputy director of the Fritz Haber Institute. Until 1963, Stranski taught at the Free University of Berlin. in recognition of Stranski's role as "father of crystal growth research".

A street in Sofia, Bulgaria is also named after Ivan Stranski.

Selected bibliography

I. N. Stranski, L. Krastanov, Zur Theorie der orientierten Ausscheidung von Ionenkristallen aufeinander, Sitzungsber. d. Akad. d. Wissensch. Wien, Math.-naturw. Kl. Abt. IIb, 146, 797 (1938)