Borys Kit was a Belarusian-American rocket scientist, mathematician, physicist, chemist, member of the International Academy of Astronautics, researcher of liquid hydrogen and developer of a rocket fuel formula. He was in charge of mathematical support of communications systems for American mission to the Moon which created a satellite broadband communications system, transmitting live video from the Moon in 1969.
Background
Kit was born on April 6, 1910 in Saint Petersburg, at that time Russian Empire. His father Vladimir Kit was from Belarusian village Agarodniki and worked as an employee at the Post and Telegraph Department. His mother was Ksenia nee Zurova. The true family surname was Kita. In 1918, Kit’s family moved to their native village of Agarodniki (today’s town of Karelichy in Grodno Province, Belarus). Kit grew up under Polish rule during the interwar period, as in 1921, this area became a part of the Second Polish Republic.
Education
Kit studied at local Polish school and in 1926 entered the Navahrudak Belarusian Lyceum. He learnt Polish and French perfectly. Later he mastered German, Ukrainian and English. After graduation from the lyceum in 1928, Kit entered the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics at Vilnius University. Later, he additionally studied medicine at Munich University (1945-1948). In 1982, Kit earned a Ph.D. in Mathematics and Science History from the University of Regensburg.
Career
In 1931, being the 3rd year student of the Vilnius University, Borys Kit began working as a teacher of Mathematics at the Belarusian Gymnasium of Vilnia. In 1939, he was appointed its Principal. After the Second World War had begun and the Vilnius Region had been annexed to Lithuania, Kit returned to his native region which had been joined to the Belarusian SSR. He was the Principal of Navahrudak Belarusian High School there and later an inspector of a large school system in the Baranavichy district. Kit actively supported education development. Due to his direct participation, hundreds of elementary schools and several dozen high schools were opened in the region within a year. Since 1941, in order to avoid arrest and being shot, Kit illegally stayed at the village of Lebedzeva near Maladzyechna (today’s Belarus) and worked there as a teacher. During the Nazi occupation of Belarus, he became Director of the Pastavy Teachers College (1941-1944). During the war period, he was stopped by a patrol carrying parcels of food. After being searched, he was found to be carrying a number of German travel passes which was enough to convict him of involvement with the resistance movement. A death sentence was inevitable. He was arrested by the German SD punitive bodies. He spent a month in prison and was saved from execution by his former student, Kastus Kasyak.
As the war came to an end, Kit too, was accused of collaboration because of his public role as a schoolteacher. He, however, managed to flee, and moved to Germany with the retreating German army, first to Opfenbach near Lindau in Bavaria, then to Munich. In 1945-1948, he studied Medicine at Munich University and at the same time taught Mathematics at the Ukrainian National Lyceum in Munich.
In late 1948, Kit moved to the small town of South River in the USA, where he worked in the pharmaceutical industry. During this time he actively helped those fellow-Belarusians who happened to be living away from their homeland. In 1950 he settled in Los Angeles and worked there as a chemist in various companies. There he was introduced to Professor Hustau Makshitsky, who managed to get him his first job in science, at North American Aviation. He worked for 25 years in the American space research program. As a mathematician and systems analyst, Kit took part in projects aimed at the development of inter-continental rocket systems. He participated in pioneering research and development work for the first American inter-continental, strategic rocket system NAVAHO at the North American Aviation, Inc. (presently Rockwell International Corporation). By 1960, Kit had become an expert in his field and published the first ever book on fuel for rocket systems, the "Rocket Propellant Handbook". It was rapidly recognised as a reference work for the industry and read across the world. From 1963, he worked at the Astronautics Bureau of the International Telephone and Telegraph Corporation. At the same time, American astronauts were preparing to fly to the Moon. Borys Kit was the corporation president's adviser, and he worked on the mathematical team supporting the success of American missions to the Moon. His best-known achievement was his work with liquid Hydrogen, developing a groundbreaking rocket fuel formula. It was this which allowed the first American flight to the moon to take place. It became the basis for many other scientists’ future research. He also worked on satellite communication systems to help space crews keep in touch with Earth. In the late 1960s, he lectured a lot in Japan, India, Mexico, Spain, Canada, England, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Germany, and other countries throughout the world.
He returned to Germany in 1972 to be nearer to his homeland, retiring at the age of 82. He stayed in Frankfurt-am-Main and decided to pursue a career in Europe. He began teaching Mathematics at the European College of the University of Maryland at Heidelberg in 1973, where he started a thesis on the work of mathematician and professor at Vilnius University Antoni Zygmund. Kit spent his final years in a nursing home in Frankfurt-am-Mein, Germany. Even into the final days of his life he could speak 4 languages fluently: English, Belarusian, Russian and German. In his tiny room, he always displayed an American flag, a big photo of his family on the windowsill and a pile of awards on the shelf.
Borys Kit worked for 25 years in the American space research program. He is the author of the first manual on rocket propellant "Rocket Propellant Handbook", published by McMillan in 1960. The book received many positive reviews and is referenced in rocket science publications even today. He developed space rocket fuel based on liquid hydrogen which made Moon flights possible. He was also in charge of mathematical support of communications systems for American mission to the Moon.
The name of ‘Borys Kit’ was included inside a time capsule honouring the world’s greatest space scientists, which was built into a wall of the US Capitol building in Washington DC. The capsule is intended to be opened in 500 years. Kit was a long-standing member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, an honorary member of the Hermann Oberth German Astronautics Society Board of Directors, a member of the International Astronautics Academy in Paris, Vice-President of the Eurasian International Astronautics Academy, Professor Emeritus of Maryland University, Honorary Professor of the Yanka Kupala State University of Grodno, and Navahrudak's honorable resident.
For many years, Borys Kit, a patriot devoted to his homeland, fought for the independence of Belarus. He was an active participant of the national movement in Western Belarus. Due to his views on the government in his homeland, Belarus, his status was rarely recognised in the state-run media.
Views
Boris Kit repeatedly stressed that he had always worked “for the people’s sake” and saved lives during the Nazi occupation. He did a lot to spread education during the war period and supported Belarusians abroad.
Quotations:
“Bring no harm to others and you'll be happy in life”.
“Everything I did in my life - I did for my homeland and its fame”.
“I’ve always dreamt of returning home and working for the sake of free Belarus. I belong here: my father is Belarusian; I grew up there. One can progress on condition of being free otherwise one just does something without any progress”.
“All lives end; mine is slowly coming to its wed as well. But as long as there are people like you, Belarus will be alive”.
Membership
Kit was a long-standing member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, an honorary member of the Hermann Oberth German Astronautics Society Board of Directors, a member of the International Astronautics Academy in Paris, Vice-President of the Eurasian International Astronautics Academy.
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
,
United States
Hermann Oberth German Astronautics Society Board of Directors
,
Germany
International Astronautics Academy in Paris
,
France
Eurasian International Astronautics Academy
Personality
Being in the USA, Kit distinguished himself by his philanthropy and active engagement in affairs of the Belarusian diaspora. Despite his emigration, Kit stayed a conscious Belarusian through all his life, spoke Belarusian language.
Physical Characteristics:
He was one of the world’s oldest men and died at the age of 107.
Quotes from others about the person
German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine:"Kit has always remained a conscious Belarusian. He prefers the Belarusian language to all other languages”.
Connections
Borys Kit was married to Nina Korsak. They had 2 sons. His second wife wasTamara Kazevich.
Wife:
Nina Korsak
Son:
Vladimir Kit
He was born in 1941 in Belarus, worked as an Assistant to the Head of the American space agency NASA, was in charge of the Department which dealt with Europe. He died from cancer on November 4, 2008.
Son:
Viktor Kit
He was born in the USA, became a surgeon in Baltimore.