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The PATON family
Yevhen Oksarovych Paton
Yevhen Oksarovych PatonAn outstanding Ukrainian scientist in welding and bridge engineering, Academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences (since 1929), and Honored Scientist of the USSR (1940). Founder and first director of the Electric Welding Institute of the Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. Yevhen Paton was born on March 5, 1870, in Nice, France, and devoted nearly his entire professional life to the advancement of welding. He authored over 90 scientific works and made a fundamental contribution to the development of Ukraine as an industrialized state.
Between 1941 and 1943, the “father of welding” conducted research on welding special steels, the physical properties of arc combustion under flux, and the weldability of metals. He introduced a new class of welded structures and managed the development of welded pipelines, ships, and machinery for various uses. He was the author and lead designer of over 100 welded bridges, including one of the largest in the world – the all-welded bridge across the Dnipro River in Kyiv.
WELDING IS THE
FUTURE
O.P. Paton (Oscar Petrovych Paton), 1900
"...I want you to be a serious person — someone needed not only by yourself or your parents.".
О.P. Paton
"... I know what brings the greatest joy — the ability to set a small but independent goal and persistently strive to achieve it. Knowing what you want in life is a great happiness. I made my choice firmly: I would build bridges."
– Yevhen Oksarovych Paton
Yevhen Paton as a high school student, Breslau, 1886
I INHERITED FROM MY FATHER:
- Love of independence
- Low sociability – I rarely spent time in company and had a small circle of acquaintances.
- Success in work.
- Persistence in pursuing clearly defined goals
- Pride that prevented me from currying favour with superiors – I was always ashamed to ask for something for myself.
- Strong sense of practicality – in any task, I’m primarily interested in its purpose and practical application.
- Demanding of both subordinates and myself
EDUCATION
In 1894, I began working at the Department of the Dresden Polytechnic Institute and quickly adapted to my new role. My involvement in the design of a major railway station in Dresden provided me with an invaluable opportunity to put my academic knowledge to the test in real-life conditions from the very outset of my independent career. In January 1895, at the largest bridge-building plant in Gutehoffnungshütte in Sterkrade, I was assigned to develop working designs for road bridges and other related engineering projects.
— Yevhen Oksarovych Paton
Main building of the former Royal Saxon Polytechnic Institute in Dresden, early 20th century
Institute of Railway Engineers, St. Petersburg, 1895
"Farewell, Germany – you hold nothing more for me. My place is in Russia. In August 1895, I returned to St. Petersburg to become a student once more, for one year… In just eight months, I had to pass exams in 12 subjects and complete five major graduation projects. It was work usually spread over two or three years. I began with the bridge project – the most demanding of them all, especially since I had already designed bridges in Germany."
— Yevhen Oksarovych Paton
"The Kyiv Polytechnic Institute offered me the newly established Department of Bridges… .
Lecturing, designing bridges, writing textbooks… This is how the years went by."
"Designing the pedestrian bridge at the end of Petrivska Alley – now known to every resident of Kyiv – brought me immense creative joy. The continuation of the alley was blocked by a steep slope on the hilly bank of the Dnipro River, which had not yet shifted. Initially, a tunnel was proposed, but I found that idea unappealing and uninspired. This picturesque corner of Kyiv deserved a light and elegant bridge. Against the vast Dnipro and Kyiv's lush parks, such a structure would look truly magnificent. I proposed excavating the slope and spanning it with a light footbridge featuring crescent-shaped openwork trusses. My idea was well received and approved."
— Yevhen Oksarovych Paton
Yevhen Oksarovych Paton – Dean of the Engineering Department at the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, 1906
The park bridge in Kyiv was completed in 1912 based on the design by Yevhen Oksarovych Paton.
Electric welding
On 2 February 1933, the Presidium of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences resolved to establish the Institute of Electric Welding. Subsequently, on 1 January 1934, the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR formalized the creation of the world’s first specialized scientific and engineering center for welding.Yevhen Oksarovych Paton served as the Institute’s permanent director until August 1953.
In its early years, the Institute primarily focused on studying the strength of welded joints and developing optimal structural designs for welded assemblies.These issues were of critical importance in the early stages of welding development. The research carried out by Yevhen Oksarovych Paton and his team laid the scientific foundation for the design, calculation, and production of welded structures.
Yevhen Oksarovych Paton with a group of researchers from the Department of Welding Technology, 1940
"By 1939–1940, I had already recognized this crucial issue and believed it would define the core of our future scientific work." "It was automatic submerged arc welding."
"...In it, I saw the realization of all the goals my team and I had set when we began our work on welding mechanization." "We pursued them persistently, through all the trials, errors, and setbacks."Our objectives were high productivity, superior seam quality, and relieving welders from arduous manual labor."
High-speed submerged arc welding not only gained widespread recognition, but also became the main technological process in armor production facilities. Tens of thousands of combat vehicles were By the war’s end, tank hulls no longer had any manually welded seams. Tank production for the front increased manifold. By the end of the war, over 55,000 units had been manufactured.
— Yevhen Oksarovych Paton
At the end of 1941, there were only three automatic welding plants in the country. By the end of 1942 – 40; by the end of 1943 – 80; in March 1944 – 99; and by December 1944 – 133! At that time, the Institute was operating at 52 factories.
“Tanks Go to the Front”
Universal welding machine TC17 for welding butt and corner joints
Є.О. Paton and developer of the welding tractor TS17 V.Ye. Paton is the son of Yevhen Oskarovych
Automatic welding heads designed by the E.O. Paton Institute of Electric Welding
On 9 June 1947, the Council of Ministers of the USSR issued a resolution "On the Expansion of Automatic Submerged Arc Welding in Industry." The Institute was assigned the responsibility of providing scientific and organizational support for all welding operations across the USSR. To discuss this resolution, the All-Union Conference on Automatic Welding was held in Kyiv in October 1947, where Yevhen Oksarovych Paton presented a report titled “Prospects for the Further Development of Automatic Welding in the USSR.”
Science goes into production
In 1948 he studied in a laboratory car in Ukraine.
For the introduction of new technologies and equipment in the welding industry and the establishment of professional training of welders E.O. Paton created a laboratory car at the Institute of Electric Welding. Thanks to this innovative idea, the specialists of the Institute were able to quickly bring new knowledge to enterprises in the most remote corners of the country.
Laboratory car
M.S. Khrushchev and Ye.O. Paton: business discussion (late 1940)
Farewell, Germany, you have nothing to keep me, my place is in Russia. In August Based on the conclusion of Academician E.O. Paton, based on scientific and practical data, in the case of the use of automatic submerged arc welding in bridge construction will save metal by an average of 20% and labor over 2 million man-hours… In addition, it reduces the need for rolling, increases corrosion resistance of structures, frees transport from unnecessary transportation of metal.
From the note of MS Khrushchev to the Central Committee of the CPSU
Є.О. Paton with his son Boris on the Dnieper cliffs
Automatic welding of a butt seam of a wall
Running structures of the bridge during construction
The main volume of welding of the main beams was performed by automatic and semi-automatic machines developed in the EEZ. The technological process of assembling and welding of the main beams was performed by the flow method; 97% of all seams were welded by automatic and semi-automatic machines.
I look at our talented youth with hope. Though many of them still lack extensive scientific experience, they have already learned to work as a team—cooperatively and cohesively—while critically reflecting on their achievements and staying closely connected to real-life production.This gives me confidence that the Institute of Electric Welding we established will continue to meet its important challenges…
— Yevhen Oksarovych Paton
LIFELONG WORK
Borys Yevhenovych Paton
(1918–2020)
Paton Boris
A prominent Ukrainian scientist in welding technology, metallurgy, and materials science. Doctor of Technical Sciences (1952), President of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (1962–2020), twice awarded the title Hero of Socialist Labor, and the first recipient of the Hero of Ukraine distinction.
He served as Director of the Yevhen Paton Institute of Electric Welding (from 1953), General Director of the Interdisciplinary Scientific and Technical Complex “Y.O. Paton Institute of Electric Welding” (from 1986), President of the International Association of Academies of Sciences (from 1993), and held numerous key positions in scientific and state bodies of Ukraine.
I take great joy in passing on knowledge and nurturing a whole new generation of welding scientists. It’s a promising shift, and they are successfully carrying our shared mission forward. Among them are my sons.
— Yevhen Oksarovych Paton
Academician Yevhen Oksarovych Paton with his sons Volodymyr and Borys in the design department of the Institute
Biography
He had to defend his diploma on the very first day of the war. Due to the emergency situation, all graduates were allowed to present simultaneously. On his way to the Polytechnic Institute, near what is now Victory Square in Kyiv, Borys came under fire from German aircraft.
“We were young and reckless. I couldn’t think of anything better than hiding from the bombs in the entrance of the nearest building. It felt like rain falling. Luckily, that house wasn’t hit. And so, under those circumstances, I graduated from the institute and received my assignment to Leningrad—to the Zhdanov Shipbuilding Plant, where I had completed my pre-diploma internship. It was a well-known enterprise, and I had grown fond of Leningrad.”
— Borys Paton
However, the war changed his course: he was reassigned to Gorky, where he worked at the Krasnoye Sormovo plant until February 1942. At his father’s request, he was then transferred to the Institute of Electric Welding, which had been evacuated from Kyiv and was temporarily operating in Nizhny Tagil. They lived and worked on the premises of a tank factory, conducting research directly on the production floor. In a remarkably short time, this work yielded groundbreaking results. New modes, methods, and technologies were developed that enabled high-speed welding with excellent quality. The complexity and pioneering nature of these developments is underscored by the fact that Nazi Germany never succeeded in implementing automatic welding of tank armor, and in the United States it was only introduced in 1944. Day after day, month after month, the “Paton seam” reliably fused the legendary T-34 and other combat vehicles into a monolithic whole. It proved to be even stronger than the armor itself, holding together plates damaged by direct fire. This was a true scientific triumph of the Institute and its leadership.
Academician Yevhen Oksarovych Paton with his sons Volodymyr and Borys in the Institute’s design department, 1950
The beginning was difficult, as at that time his knowledge, experience, and authority could not yet match his father’s. Being his father’s deputy was one thing, but leading the Institute was another entirely. But as the saying goes, "Even saints were once novices."
— Borys Yevhenovych Paton
At the age of 35, Borys Yevhenovych became Director of the Institute of Electric Welding and held this position until 2021.
Many practical advances in astronautics would not be possible without welding directly in space—one of the most promising and versatile processes for joining materials.
— Yevhen Oksarovych Paton
In the Space Technology Laboratory of the Y.O. Paton Institute of Electric Welding. From left to right: B.E. Paton, V.V. Stesin, Y.I. Drabovych, O.A. Zahrebelnyi, 1967
Svetlana Savitska performing cutting, welding, soldering, and coating experiments in open space outside the Salyut-7 space station, 1984
On the eve of May 1, 1975, Volodymyr Vasyliovych Shcherbytsky called and said, “Suslov instructed me to appoint you President of the Union Academy.” I replied, “No, Volodymyr Vasyliovych, I won’t go.” “What do you mean, you won’t go? This is Moscow, the Central Committee of the CPSU. Brezhnev wants this too.” I answered, “I’m not striving for Moscow. I have my institute here, the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences...”
— Borys Yevhenovych Paton
“This is an unacceptable site for a nuclear power plant.” This conclusion, with appropriate justification (proximity to Kyiv, the rivers Prypiat and Dnipro, which supply water to 70% of Ukraine’s population, etc.), was signed by B.E. Paton and submitted to the leadership of Ukraine. This action was clearly that of a man of great personal courage and high civic responsibility.
— Academician V.H. Baryakhtar
In May and throughout the summer, the working day of the President of the Academy began early in the morning and ended late at night. The development of scientifically grounded priorities and recommendations for eliminating the consequences of the reactor explosion required firsthand assessment at the accident site, coordination with the USSR Government Commission, Kyiv City Commission, and involvement of many Academy institutes. The President personally assumed the most difficult and responsible tasks. Working daily, including weekends, he defined the Academy’s key activities, chaired meetings of the Presidium’s operational commission, approved proposed measures, and ensured their implementation.
— B.M. Malynovskyii
He did not pursue a career — he simply worked. That was the natural state of his soul. It is hard to pinpoint his main motivation: scientific curiosity, a need for action, or a drive to benefit society. Most likely, all three applied.
— M.M. Amosov
In people like O.O. Chalapchii lies the indomitable strength of Ukraine.
— Borys Yevhenovych Paton
Remember: we were not born to stand still. Do not let your inner energy fade. Cherish each day and hour. Even ancient philosophers understood that the human being – human life – is the measure of all things. Your own life is no exception…
— Borys Yevhenovych Paton
I will say it again: youth is everything. Without youth, there will be no scientific schools — and scientific schools are the very foundation of science.
— Borys Yevhenovych Paton.
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