Matvei Petrovich Bronstein (Russian: Матвей Петрович Бронштейн, December 2 [O.S. November 19] 1906, Vinnytsia – February 18, 1938) was a Soviet theoretical physicist, a pioneer of quantum gravity, author of works in astrophysics, semiconductors, quantum electrodynamics and cosmology, as well as of a number of books in popular science for children.
He introduced the cGh scheme for classifying physical theories. “After the relativistic quantum theory is created, the task will be to develop the next part of our scheme, that is to unify quantum theory (with its constant h), special relativity (with constant c), and the theory of gravitation (with its G) into a single theory.”
He was married to Lydia Chukovskaya, a writer, prominent human rights activist, and a friend of Andrei Sakharov.
During the Great Purge, in August 1937 Bronstein was arrested. He was convicted by a list trial (“по списку”) in February 1938 and executed the same day in a Leningrad prison. His wife was told that he was sentenced to 10 years of labor camps without the right of correspondence.
Bronstein’s books for children “Solar matter” (Солнечное вещество), “X Rays” (Лучи X), “Inventors of Radio” (Изобретатели радио) were republished after he had been rehabilitated in 1957.
The “Bronstein Prize in Loop Quantum Gravity” is offered to Post-doctoral scholars in the field, the inaugural winner of which was Eugenio Bianchi in 2013.