Professor of astronomy of Saratov State University Joseph Fedorovich Polak (1881–1954)

For the first time, the article provides a systematic biography of the professor of Moscow and Saratov Universities, Joseph F. Polak (1881-1954), an astronomer and teacher, the author of many textbooks and popular science publications on astronomy. In total, about 60 editions and reprints of his books were published, the total circulation of which is 2 million copies. J. F. Polak worked at the University of Saratov in 1919-1930 at the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics and at the Pedagogical Faculty, he headed the Department of Astronomy organized by him. His works are of interest from a historical and methodological point of view, reflecting the history of the development of astronomy both in science and in its teaching in universities and schools of the USSR. The history of the development of astronomy, astrophysics, and geophysics at Saratov State University over the past 100 years is dotted.