Léon Theremin
Leon Theremin (born Lev Sergeivitch Termen) (August 15 1896-November 3 1993), Russian inventor of the electronic musical instrument the Theremin.Leon Theremin's invention in 1919 of the Thereminvox was followed closely by the outbreak of civil war in Russia. After a lengthy tour of Europe, during which time he demonstrated his invention to packed houses, Theremin found his way to America, where he patented his invention in 1929. Subsequently, Theremin granted commercial production rights to RCA.
One day in 1938, Theremin was kidnapped from his New York apartment by Soviet agents, and forced to return to the USSR.
According to the biography Theremin Ether Music and Espionage, he was not kidnapped, but wanted to return to the USSR. Shortly after he returned, he was imprisoned and sent to the Butyrka prison. He was forced to work in the gold mines in Kolyma, and later he worked in a labor camp together with Tupolev, Korolev and other well-known scientists and engineers on several tasks. Athough the new conditions seemed to be like paradise to him, it was in fact another circle of Dante's hell, Albert Glinsky, the author of the biography, stated.
Although rumors of his execution were widely circulated, Theremin was in fact put to work in a labor camp. He was rehabilitated for his services to the state seven years later.
Some have suggested that he designed the first "bug" or covert listening device but this is not exactly the case. Theremin's bug was the first to use inducted energy from radio waves of one frequency to transmit an audio signal on another. This made the device difficult to detect, as it did not radiate any signal unless it was being remotely powered and listened to, and endowed it with (potentially) unlimited operational life. This bug was embedded in a wooden plaque and presented to the American ambassador in Moscow by Russian schoolchildren. It hung in his office until detected by a professional bug sweeper using a marta kit, which happened to catch a signal from it while it was being used.
Theremin also invented the first motion detector for automated doors.
He is the subject of a documentary film, "Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey".
The very good biography Theremin Ether Music and Espionage by Albert Glinsky with a foreword by Robert Moog was published at University of Illinois Press, 2000.
Biography
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