Dr. Alexander Winogradow

"Dr. Alexander Winogradow, 83, Researcher in Plastics, Is Dead". The New York Times. November 16, 1970.

Dr. Alexander Winogradow, a research and consulting chemist who in 1937 originated In lonée, with affinities to the French and Oriental art of cloisonné (wire‐glazed pottery), died Saturday in his home at 327 Central Park West. His age was 83.

In 1935, Dr. Winogradow was examining a sheet of transparent plastic in his laboratory when he observed a technical flaw. Delighted with its luminosity, he saw it as “a shining star against the dark background.”

For the next two years, he studied air bubbles in plastic, their formation and control. His research led him to his origination of Inlonée.

Like cloisonné, Inlonée uses fine gold‐twisted wires to form patterns. The spaces are filled with high‐polymeric liquids of many colours, which refract and reflect light to produce an internal glow. Surfaces gleam like jewels.

In 1967, Dr. Winogradow's work was exhibited at the Kennedy Galleries under the sponsorship of Steven Rockefeller and Anna Marie Rockefeller, who had been one of his pupils. It had also been shown at the Museum of Natural History in 1952.

Purpose of Art
Dr. Winogradow, an erect and scholarly-looking man, with a neat beard, said the purpose of his art was “to produce some sort of permanent glow — something that speaks to you.”

A native of Leda, Russia, he received a doctoral degree in physical chemistry at the University of Freiberg, Germany, and came to the United States in 1924, working as a research and consulting chemist until 1947.

As a research chemist, he developed an industrial process for making fire‐resistant wood, which was later used in the construction of the Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, the Chrysler Building and the steamships Manhattan and Washington. Fabrics similarly treated were used for curtains in the American Clipper of Pan American Airways.

In an interview after the Morro Castle burned off As bury Park, N. J. in 1934, killing 125 people, he declared:

“Abandon the word fireproof so far as wood and fabric are concerned. Neither wood nor fabric can ever be made fireproof. But they can be fire-resistant, which means that they can be so impregnated with chemicals that, while they may char, they will prevent flames from spreading.”

Surviving is his widow, Esther, and a brother.

A funeral service was held yesterday.