Professor Horia Hulubei, the father founder of the Institute of Atomic Physics

A hero of WW 1, Horia Hulubei (b. November 15, 1896, d. November 22, 1972), was one of the most prominent Romanian scientists of all time, leader and teacher of several generations of Romanian scientists during more than four decades. Graduated from Jassy University, he took his PhD. in Paris with Marie Curie and Jean Perrin in 1933. A few years later, Horia Hulubei was nominated Directeur de Recherches at the French National Centre of Scientific Research and elected Corresponding Member of Paris Academy of Sciences. Back in Romania, Hulubei was nominated professor and Rector of Bucharest University (1941). Professor Hulubei had a broad field of interests, from Classical to Atomic and Nuclear Physics, but his main achievements are connected with the Physics of X-rays (the first spectra of noble gases, the multiple Compton effect, the search for elements 87 and 85, etc.). The Institute of Atomic Physics (IPA) in Bucharest (1949) was the third research institution founded and directed by him. Following Hulubei's initial design, IPA was, and, in spite of the past and actual difficulties, remains, the flagship of Romanian scientific research. Along the years, IPA influenced beneficially the development of the post-war Romania and established many collaborations abroad. (author)