Karl Rebane
Karl K. Rebane (11 April 1926, in Pärnu – 4 November 2007, in Pärnu) was an Estonian physicist.
He studied at the Tallinn Technical University from 1947 to 1949, and graduated from Leningrad University in 1952. Rebane received a PhD in Solid State Theory in 1955 from the Leningrad (St. Petersburg) University and a Doctor of Science degree in Theoretical Physics in 1964 from the Ins*ute of Physics of the Belarusian AS at Minsk. He joined Tartu University in 1955 where he held both teaching and administrative positions, including Professor and Chair of the Experimental Physics Department (1958–60), and Professor and Chair of the Joint Department of Laser Optics at the Ins*ute of Physics and Tartu University (1974–1993). He was president of the Estonian Academy of Sciences from 1973 to 1990.
Contents
- 1 Early life
- 2 Awards and Honours
- 3 Family
- 4 References
Early life
Karl Rebane was born on April 11, 1926 in Pärnu, Estonia. His father, Karl Rebane sr, was a bookkeeper. He was the second oldest out of five children. His brothers were Jaan Rebane:, Toomas Rebane (:et) and Jüri Rebane:. The war reached Estonia in 1941 and his family evacuated to a small village in the oblast of Chelyabinsk where he worked at the local kolkhoz and attended a school for displaced Estonian children in Verkhneuralsk. In the spring of 1944, he was called into military service and joined Eesti Laskurkorpus, an Estonian division of the Red Army, where he was a crew member of a 45:mm an*ank gun. He was wounded in battle on November 23, 1944 on the Sõrve peninsula, Estonia.
Awards and Honours
For research and scientific activity:
- 1965 - Estonian SSR National Prize:
- 1981 - P. N. Lebedev Gold Medal: from the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union for achievements in the field of Physics
- 1986 - Medal of the Estonian Academy of Sciences:
- 1986 - Hero of Socialist Labour, Order of the Red Banner of Labour, Order of Lenin
- 1993 - Humboldt Research Award (Germany)
- 1996 - Estonian National Research Award (as part of a collective) for research work in exact sciences, chemistry, and biology
- 2000 - Order of Friendship of the Russian Federation
- 2001 - Estonian National Research Award for outstanding lifetime achievements in research and development
- 2002 - Royal Norwegian Order of Merit
- 2003 - Cariplo Research Fellowship (Italy)
- 2006 - Order of the White Star Cl* III
Family
He was married to Ljubov Rebane, and had two children, Inna and Aleksander Rebane. He also had three brothers, Jaan, Toomas, and Jüri Rebane. His granddaughter is writer and mathematician Helju Rebane.