V. Shestakov and the Development of Modern Hydrogeology in Russia

There is hardly any branch of modern hydrogeology in which V. Shestakov has not made a significant impact. He was one of the Russian hydrogeologists who made a smooth transition from Darcy–Dupuit–Boussinesq-based classical groundwater dynamics into modern hydrogeodynamics and modeling. Shestakov’s work opened new possibilities and means for solving a wide range of complicated practical problems. Vsevolod Shestakov was born on July 15, 1927 in Moscow. His early interest in water-related issues was inspired by his father, a talented engineer and Chief of the Water Supply Department in the Moscow Municipality. In 1944, Shestakov entered the Moscow Mining Institute, but shortly afterward switched to the Moscow Engineering Construction Institute. He graduated with honors in 1949 and started working as a junior scientist in the VNII (All-Union Research Institute) VODGEO where his main areas of interest included filtration beneath dams, flooding of underground structures, drainage system design, and groundwater contamination at nuclear facilities. In the 1950s, a strong team of specialists in the fields of the filtration theory, engineering hydrogeology, and hydromechanics was assembled in VNIIVODGEO. Among them were outstanding scientists such as N. Bindeman and N. Verigin with whom Shestakov exchanged his ideas and plans. He was also acquainted with I. Charny and G. Barenblatt who strongly influenced the young scientist. Shestakov’s collaboration with the latter was very fruitful and resulted in interesting findings (Barenblatt and Shestakov 1956). In 1953, Shestakov completed his Candidate Science dissertation entitled “The study of filtration beneath soil dams.” Seven years later, the young scientist took a