Dmitri Maksutov: The Man and His Telescopes

By Eduard Trigubov and Yuri Petrunin

    In the annals of telescope making there is a single name that has become synonymous with ingenuity, innovation, elegance of design, and optical quality: Maksutov. While not the first to consider melding the best attributes of refracting and reflecting telescopes into a single instrument, Dmitri Maksutov did conceive an optical system that was to spawn a class of very compact, high-definition instruments that would be relatively easy to manufacture.
    The year 2001 marked the 60th anniversary of the invention of the meniscus catadioptric telescope by this remarkable Russian optician. Despite the current resurgence in popularity of his telescope designs, the story of Maksutov's tumultuous life remains largely unknown in the English-speaking world and his family's extensive connections to America will come as a surprise to most readers.
    Dmitri Dmitriyevich Maksutov was born on April 11, 1896, in the Russian city of Nikolayev, and three years later the family moved 70 miles to the port city of Odessa. His father, a naval officer serving with the Black Sea fleet, came from a family with a long and distinguished naval tradition. His great-grandfather, Peter Ivanovich Maksutov, was given the title of prince thereby raising the family to hereditary nobility as a reward for bravery in combat. His grandfather, Dmitri Petrovich Maksutov, was the imperial governor of Alaska when the United States purchased this vast territory for two cents an acre in 1867.