PASSINGS : Boris Nikolayevich Naumov; Soviet Computer Pioneer

Boris Nikolayevich Naumov, 61, a pioneer of Soviet computer science who was responsible for efforts to develop his specialty as part of Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev’s economic reforms and openness to the West. In May, Naumov and members of a Soviet delegation requested a visa to the United States to solicit joint venture offers from American companies. When the U.S. government turned them down, Naumov wrote a letter of protest to President Reagan that was published in the weekly Moscow News. The U.S. government restricts the sale of advanced computer technology to the Soviet Union, which is believed to be five to 10 years behind the West in developing advanced computer hardware. In 1983, Naumov was appointed head of the Institute of Informatics Problems, which researches computer technology. In 1987, he also became director of the Intersectorial Scientific and Technological Complex, whose purpose was to link the research with manufacturing. The official Soviet news agency Tass reported that Naumov died Saturday in Moscow but did not provide a cause of death.