The Resume

(January 12, 1907-January 14, 1966)
Born in Zhytomyr, Ukraine
Rocket scientist and spacecraft designer
Designed the Soviet Union's first intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs)
Oversaw the Soviet space program
Died while undergoing surgery to remove an intestinal polyp

Why he might be annoying:

The first three moon probes launched under his command failed (1958).
Cosmonaut Alexey Leonov said, 'Everyone around him was on tenterhooks, afraid of making a wrong move and invoking his wrath.'
His favorite expression was, 'We are all going to be whacked, and there will be no obituary.'
He ignored his doctors' orders to cut back on work, leading to cardiac arrhythmia, gallbladder inflammation and other health problems.
Due to state secrecy policies, his role in the Soviet space program was not revealed until after his death.

Why he might not be annoying:

He lost most of his teeth while imprisoned in a gulag during the Great Purge of the late 30s.
He was described as 'a man with unlimited devotion to his job and his ideas.'
Under his leadership, the Soviet space program achieved a number of firsts, including the first man-made satellite (Sputnik I, 1957), the first successful moon probe (Luna 2, 1959) and the first man in space (Yuri Gagarin, 1961).
Some historians suggest his sudden death was a key reason the Soviets lost the race to put the first man on the moon.
He was given a state funeral with his ashes interred in the Kremlin wall.

Credit: C. Fishel

Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

• 20th Century Scientists
• An Asteroid was Named in My Honor (Ranked: 1855)
• C. Fishel's Profiles [Series 52]
• I am a Colonel
• I Died in 1966 (Ranked: 59)
• I Have Hemorrhoids
• I was Cremated
• I was Tortured
• I'm a Communist
• I'm Buried at the Kremlin Wall Necropolis [Moscow]
• Look at Me, My Picture Is Art
• Profiles 35251-35500 (Ranked: 35311)
• Scientists

Year In Review:

In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
In 2022, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
In 2021, Out of 15 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
In 2020, Out of 6 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2019, Out of 25 Votes: 52.00% Annoying
In 2018, Out of 103 Votes: 61.17% Annoying
In 2017, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
In 2016, Out of 32 Votes: 100% Annoying
In 2015, Out of 10 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
In 2014, Out of 13 Votes: 61.54% Annoying