Henrich Altov
Henrich Altov, born Henrikh Saulovich Altschuller on October 15, 1926, in Tashkent, Soviet Union, was a notable figure known for his contributions to the field of inventive problem-solving and science fiction. After serving in the Russian army, he worked in a patent office where he developed a methodology known as TRIZ, which stands for the Theory of Solving Inventive Problems. His innovative work began in the late 1940s, but he faced severe repercussions for his ideas when he and a colleague sent a letter to Josef Stalin, resulting in their imprisonment in a labor camp.
Altov was released in 1954 following Stalin's death and struggled to find employment due to his past as a political prisoner. He turned to writing science fiction under the pseudonym Genrikh Altov, using the proceeds to support his research on TRIZ. His work gained recognition, culminating in the publication of "Ballad of the Stars" in 1982, which he edited with his wife, Valentina Zhuravlyova. By the 1970s, Altov became a prominent figure in the TRIZ community, eventually serving as president of the Russian TRIZ Association. He continued to influence the field until his death in 1998, leaving a legacy that intertwines creativity in science and literature.
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Henrich Altov
Fiction and Nonfiction Writer
- Born: October 15, 1926
- Birthplace: Tashkent, Uzbekistan, U.S.S.R.
- Died: September 24, 1998
Biography
Henrich Altov, who also wrote under the pseudonym of Genrikh Al’tov, was born October 15, 1926, as Henrikh Saulovich Altschuller, in Tashkent in the Soviet Union. His parents worked for a news agency and were avid readers, so there were always books in his home. He joined the Russian army after high school and was assigned to an infantry regiment, but then was sent for training at an air force school. By the time he completed the training, World War II had ended. He began working in a patent office, where he began studying the process of patenting ideas and inventions.
As a trained engineer, he registered dozens of patents himself, having obtained his first one while still in high school. Around 1946, he began creating a process called TRIZ, an acronym for the Theory of Solving Inventive Problems in Russian, formulating generic rules to explain how new patent ideas came into being. In 1949, he made the mistake of sending a thirty-page letter on the subject, written with an associate, to Soviet dictator Josef Stalin, outlining ways to improve the Soviet patent system. The two were rewarded by being arrested in 1950 and confined to a labor camp for people whose politics seemed suspicious to authorities. His father died while he was laboring as a coal miner in the icy area of Vorkuta. His mother repeatedly applied to the government for amnesty in his case, without success and she eventually committed suicide. Altov was released in 1954, after Stalin’s death. He had found himself imprisoned with professors representing a number of scientific disciplines, and they worked together to further refine his ideas.
Returning to Baku, Altov found it difficult to get work as a former political prisoner. He began freelancing for newspapers and writing science fiction stories under the name of Genrikh Altov. He used the money from his science fiction writing to continue developing his TRIZ concepts and ideas. At times, money was so tight that Altov had to sell many of his precious books to secondhand bookstores.
He is remembered today as both a writer of science fiction and as an SF critic. Some of his work was done in collaboration with his writer wife, Valentina Zhuravlyova. His best-known science fiction stories appear in “Ballad of the Stars” (1982), which Altov edited with her.
By the 1970’s, a growing number of Russian engineers and technicians had adopted and popularized the TRIZ movement and saw Altov as its personification. He found himself as president of a new Russian TRIZ Association, giving lectures and publishing articles on the topic. During the Soviet breakup of the early 1990’s, Baku became a scene of violence and Altov moved to Petrozavdsk, which soon became the central point of the TRIZ Association. He died in 1998.