On September 10, 2025, V. A. Drits passed away

The Russian Clay and Clay Minerals Group, together with the staff of GIN RAS and IGEM RAS, deeply regret to announce that on September 10, at the age of 93, one of the leading specialists in the field of crystal chemistry of clay minerals – Victor Anatolievich Drits – passed away.

OBITUARY

V. A. DRITS

1932-2025

V. A. Drits was born on November 25, 1932 in the settlement of Chernovskie Kopi, Chita Region. In 1951, Victor Anatolievich entered Irkutsk State University, from which he graduated with honors in 1955. Between 1955 and 1961, V. A. Drits worked as an assistant at the Faculty of Physics of IGU, and in 1962 he defended his dissertation for the degree of Candidate of Physical and Mathematical Sciences at the Institute of Crystallography of the USSR Academy of Sciences in Moscow. From that same year, Victor Anatolievich worked at the Geological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences (GIN RAS), progressing from Senior Researcher (1962-1970), Head of the Laboratory of Physical Methods for Studying Rock-Forming Minerals from its establishment in 1970 until 2005, Deputy Director of the Institute (1988-1992), and Principal Researcher (from 2005). In 1975, V. A. Drits defended his doctoral dissertation, and in 1986 he was awarded the title of Professor.

Victor Anatolievich Drits can be fully considered a pioneer in the field of crystal chemistry of clay minerals. His areas of interest included modeling diffraction patterns from defective layered structures, interpreting Mössbauer and infrared spectra of layered silicates, and revealing new possibilities of electron diffraction and thermal analysis. His developments and advanced results not only gained wide international recognition but are also used in the practice of leading domestic and foreign laboratories.

V. A. Drits is the author and co-author of more than 520 scientific works, including 8 monographs. He leads in citation index among Russian scientists in Earth Sciences and is among the most cited Russian scientists across all fields of knowledge.

In 1992, for his outstanding contribution to mineralogical science, V. A. Drits was elected an Honorary Doctor of the University of Orléans (France). He was one of 20 current Honorary Members of the Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland. As a scientist who made an outstanding contribution to clay mineral science, he was elected a Distinguished Member of The Clay Minerals Society (CMS, USA). In 1997, V. A. Drits was awarded the gold medal of the International Association for the Study of Clays (AIPEA) as a researcher who achieved revolutionary advances in the field of clay mineralogy. In 1996, he was honored with the Pioneer Lecture at the annual meeting of CMS, and in 1997, on the occasion of his 65th birthday, an international conference "Journées Scientifiques en l'Honneur de Victor Anatolievitch DRITS" was held in Paris.

For 35 years, V. A. Drits headed the Laboratory of Physical Methods for Studying Rock-Forming Minerals at GIN RAS. For many years, V. A. Drits collaborated intensively and successfully with leading domestic (IGEM RAS, SPGU, IGGD RAS, KFU, INGG SO RAS, etc.) and foreign (University of Orléans and Joseph Fourier University in Grenoble (France), the Geological Survey of Denmark, the University of Tokyo (Japan), the United States Geological Survey, etc.) scientific institutions.

The broad and diverse scientific activity of V. A. Drits is akin to the work of a conductor who works with various groups of musicians, whose ideas they adopt and fruitfully implement. Wherever and with whomever V. A. Drits worked, a group of like-minded people formed around him, attracted not only by Victor Anatolievich's highest scientific potential and enthusiasm for solving scientific problems, but also by his unique human qualities: genuine kindness and sincere friendliness, charm and openness, love of life, and, of course, a wonderful sense of humor.