Aleksandr Mikhailovich Prokhorov (July 11, 1916 – January 8, 2002) was a Soviet/Russian physicist born in Australia.

He was born in Atherton, Queensland, to a family of Russian immigrants. He and his parents relocated to the Soviet Union in 1923.

In June 1941, he started to serve in the Soviet Army. He took part in the Second World War. He was wounded twice. After his second injury in 1944, he was demobilized.

Prokhorov (also known as Alexander Prochorow, depending on the spelling system) was a physicist and professor at the Moscow State University. In 1964 he received the Nobel Prize in Physics, for his pioneering work on lasers and masers. He was also the chief editor of the Great Soviet Encyclopedia since 1971-1990. Since 1973-2001 Prokhorov was a Chairman at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology[1]. In 2001 he was also honoured with the Demidov Prize.

He died in Moscow. After his death the "General Physics Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences" was renamed the "A. M. Prokhorov General Physics Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences."

- Wikipedia.org