Leon Theremin

Leon Theremin
Lev Termen demonstrating the theremin, December 1927
Born	Lev Sergeyevich Termen 27 August [O.S. 15 August] 1896 Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire
Died	3 November 1993(1993-11-03) (aged 97) Moscow, Russia
Occupation(s)	Engineer, physicist
Known for	Theremin, The Thing

Lev Sergeyevich Termen (Russian: Лев Сергеевич Термен, IPA: [ˈlʲef sʲɪrˈɡʲejɪvʲɪtɕ tʲɪrˈmʲen]; 27 August [O.S. 15 August] 1896 – 3 November 1993), better known as Leon Theremin, was a Russian inventor, most famous for his invention of the theremin, one of the first electronic musical instruments and the first to be mass-produced. He also worked on early television research. His secret listening device, "The Thing", hung for seven years in plain view in the United States ambassador's Moscow office and enabled Soviet agents to eavesdrop on secret conversations.