Alexander Illarionovich Tudorovsky (24.08.1875-25.10.1963) was a Soviet physicist and a corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Sciences (1933). He was born in the village of Glukhovo (now in Chernigov Oblast). He graduated from St Petersburg University (1897). In 1902-19 he worked at the St Petersburg Polytechnic Institute, in 1919-29 at Petrograd (Leningrad) University, and from 1918 also at the State Optical Institute.
His research concerned technical and computational optics. He studied the application of vector methods to the calculation of mirror and prism systems, the dependence of the aberration coefficient on the position of the object, and the distribution of illumination in the image of a large object formed by an optical system. He developed a theory for calculating instruments with a diffraction grating, proposed rigorous methods of ray tracing in such instruments, and extended the methods of calculating complex optical systems. His studies were also in the field of the theory of third-order aberrations and the use of electronic computers for calculating optical systems. He carried out work on the calculation and design of new types of photographic objectives (USSR State Prizes, 1942, 1946).
He founded a school of computational opticians. Honoured Worker of Science and Technology of the RSFSR.