Gubkin Dynasties. History of the Srebrodolsky Family

My name is Maria Srebrodolskaya, and I continue the work of my family, a geophysical dynasty, the history of which began long before I was born.

My grandfather, Denis Mikhailovich Srebrodolsky, was born in 1911 in the village of Karpilovka. He showed an early talent for physics and mathematics, entered the Leningrad Polytechnic University in the physics and mathematics department and in 1934 became one of the first geophysicists in the country. He worked with the pioneers of Soviet geophysics S.G. Komarov and V.N. Dakhnov (founder of the Department of Geophysical Information Systems), participated in the first studies of the subsoil using physical fields.

The war interrupted his scientific career - he voluntarily went to the front, refusing a reservation, and went through the most difficult battles: the Battle of Moscow, the Battle of Stalingrad, the lifting of the siege of Leningrad. It was there that he met my grandmother, who was only 17 years old at the time. After the war, he became one of the founders of the Institute of Nuclear Geology and Geophysics and headed the nuclear geophysics laboratory there until the end of his life.

My grandfather had two sons. The eldest became a teacher at the Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and my father, Andrei Denisovich, chose the path of a geophysicist. He entered our university in 1970 and dedicated his entire life to it. Dad worked in a scientific laboratory, gave lectures, was deputy dean of the geological faculty. He loved students very much, was always on the same page with them. I am still told how students waited at the door to get to him for advice, and my father's former graduates still write me words of gratitude to him. In addition to work, dad was involved in cycling tourism, was a master of sports, and went on canoeing trips. And at home, he was the most caring, loving husband and father, a kind and wise man.

My mother, Tatyana Alekseyevna, also graduated from our university. After school, she decided not to continue her education right away, but to gain field experience, and so at the age of 16 she went to work for a geological party in Yakutia, she also worked as a geologist in Moscow. Already in 1972, two years after graduating from school, Tatyana entered the Gubkin Mining and Geotechnical Institute and remained at the university until the end of her working career. After graduating, she first worked in a laboratory at the Department of Geophysical Information Systems, and then at the Institute of Oil and Gas Geology and Geophysics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, located within the walls of the university. Her last place of work was the Gubkin University Advanced Training Center. My parents met while working on organizing student events at Gubkin University, and were friends for 15 years before getting married. My mother helped my father defend his PhD thesis, drawing maps for him, since everything was done by hand back then.

I was born in 1990 and since childhood I spent a lot of time at the university: in offices, at the department, among students. Sometimes I even say that I was "born at the university." At first I dreamed of becoming a school teacher, then I wanted to become a chemist, but in the end, of course, I chose geophysics. I was always interested in what my parents did, and they readily answered all my questions.

I entered Gubkin University in 2007 and began teaching seminars in my senior years. After graduating, I worked shifts for four years in an oilfield services company, interpreting geophysical research data during the horizontal wells drilling, and between shifts in the mornings I hurried to the university again. I hardly had time to sleep, but I could not leave teaching - this is my true love, my life. Now I have defended my PhD thesis, give lectures and seminars, supervise graduate students, do research, oversee the student scientific society at the department and continue the family business.

When my dad passed away in 2018, I felt especially keenly how much he influenced my path. I realized: the most important thing he gave me was love for the profession. I never say: "I'm at work" - I always say: "I'm at university."

Thank you, dad, for this profession. For the fact that I am in my place.