S. Vonsovsky and the dawn of the theory of strongly correlated systems

Abstract

A survey of scientific and social activity of S. V. Vonsovsky is presented. His fundamental works on the theory of electronic properties and magnetism of transition and rare-earth metals and their compounds are reviewed. The historical development of the many-electron polar (preceding the famous Hubbard model) and $s-d(f)$ exchange (''Vonsovsky-Zener'', ''Kondo lattice'') models is considered.