Nikolay Sobolev

Nikolay Vladimirovich Sobolev (; 28 May 1935 – 25 March 2022) was a Soviet and Russian mineralogist, petrologist, and geochemist who studied processes in the lithospheric mantle and was a member of Russian (USSR), European, US National, and Italian Academies of Sciences.

Early life and education Sobolev was born in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) on 28 May 1935 in the family of Vladimir Sobolev.

His work contributed to (i) mineralogical criteria for diamond potential in kimberlites and exploration approaches, and (ii) documentation and interpretation of microdiamonds and coesite-bearing mineral inclusions in metamorphic rocks of the Kokchetav Massif, used as evidence for ultrahigh-pressure conditions during crustal subduction and exhumation.

Editorial and professional service Nikolay (center), Alexander, and Stephan (right) Sobolev brothers against the backdrop of a sculpture and a photo of their father, Vladimir Sobolev, on his 110th anniversary (Novosibirsk, Russia, 2018). Sobolev was editor-in-chief of the journal Geology and Geophysics for approximately 24 years (often reported as beginning in 1998).

He also served in international scientific bodies, including as vice-president of the International Mineralogical Association (1990–1994).

In 2019 he received the Friedrich-Becke Medal of the Austrian Mineralogical Society (ÖMG).

He was also reported as a recipient of the A. E. Fersman Prize of the Russian Academy of Sciences and an Alexander von Humboldt international award. and an international member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, member of Academy of Science in Rome (Accademia dei Lincei).

Selected works