Barys Kit

Barys Kit (was born April 6, 1910) is a famous Belarusian and
American rocket scientist.

Kit was born on April 6, 1910 in Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire to the family of an employee at the Post and Telegraph Department, a Belarusian in origin. In 1918 Kit’s family moved to their native village of Aharodniki (now merged with the town of Karelichy, Hrodna Region).

After graduation from Navahrudak Belarusian Lyceum in 1928 Kit entered the physics and mathematics faculty of Vilnius University. After graduation in 1933 he worked as a teacher at Vilnius Belarusian Lyceum. In 1939 he was appointed its Principal. After the Vilnius Region had been annexed to Lithuania in 1939, Kit returned to his native region.
He was the Principal of Navahrudak Belarusian High School there and later a superintendent of a large school system district. Hundreds of elementary schools and several dozen high schools were opened in the region within a year due to Kit's direct participation.

During the Nazi Occupation of Belarus (1941–1944) Kit worked as
a teacher in the village of Lebedzeva near Maladzyechna and later as
a director of the Pastavy Teachers College. He was suspected of
having partisan connections and was arrested by the German SD punitive bodies. He spent a month in prison and was saved from execution by his former pupils. In 1944 Kit and his family with the retreating German army moved to Germany, first to Offenbach-Lindau in Bavaria, then to Munich. In 1948 Kit emigrated to the United States. In 1950 he settled in Los Angeles and worked there as a chemist in various companies.

In the mid-1950s Kit began his scientific activities in the field of astronautics. For 25 years he worked in the American space research program. As a mathematician and systems analyst, he took part in projects aimed at the development of intercontinental missile systems. Kit took part in all the American space research projects, including mathematical support of the mission to the Moon.

In 1972 Kit moved to Frankfurt-am-Main in Germany, where he lives as of 2013. In 1982 Kit earned a Ph.D. in mathematics and science
history from the University of Regensberg.

Kit 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.

Kit is 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 Doctorate of Science of Hrodna State University, and Navahrudak's honorable resident.

A "time capsule" with Kit's name was immured in the wall of Capitol in Washington, D.C. Kit has always remained a conscious Belarusian: “Everything I did in my life – I did for my homeland and its fame”.