Leonid Sikoruk

Known for

Writing

Born

July 23, 1937

Died

March 2, 2025

Birthplace

Osinniki, Kemerovskaya oblast, RSFSR, USSR

Leonid Leonidovich Sikoruk - Soviet and Russian director of non-fiction films, cameraman, popularizer of science, author of educational literature. Honored Art Worker of the Russian Federation (1996). In the period 1954-1957 he studied at the Novosibirsk Civil Engineering Institute named after V.V. Kuibyshev, worked there as a film laboratory assistant. Having taken a great interest in cinema, in 1958 he went to work for the Novosibirsk television studio, starting with a correspondent. He acted as a cameraman, shooting several films at the newly formed NovosibirskTelefilm studio. He entered the correspondence department of the camera department of VGIK, from which he graduated in 1968. In the 1970s, he created a series of television programs "Physics for Kids" at the studio. In 1973, he organized the D. D. Maksutov Telescope Building Club. Became the initiator of the start of industrial production of TAL telescopes at the Novosibirsk Instrument-Making Plant. Leonid Sikoruk is a cult figure among telescope building enthusiasts. The second edition of his book "Telescopes for Astronomy Lovers" was the last book on amateur astronomy published in the USSR. It has become a popular and cited book among amateurs of telescope construction in the republics of the former USSR. Collaborated with the West Siberian Newsreel Studio (West Siberian Film Studio - since 1992). He is the director of the children's television company "Old Mill" organized by him. Leonid Sikoruk became the hero of the TV movie "Cosmos of Leonid Sikoruk" (directed by S. Kasatkina; 2007). Member of the Union of Cinematographers of the USSR (West Siberian branch). In January 2009, the International Astronomical Union named asteroid 8561 Sikoruk.