PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Andrey Leman

Also known as Andrey Lehman, Andrey Andreevich Leman

Andrey Leman was a Soviet mathematician and computer scientist whose work included graph isomorphism, computer chess, and OCR software. He graduated from Moscow State University and joined the first AI lab in the USSR in 1962. With Boris Weisfeiler, he developed a graph-isomorphism test in 1968 and contributed to Kaissa, the chess program that won the world's first tournament between computer programs in 1974. His work on the INES database earned him the USSR Council of Ministers Prize in 1990, and he contributed to Cuneiform OCR in the 1990s. He emigrated to the United States, programmed at American startups, and died in 2012.

Badges

Timeline

  1. 1962

    Moscow State and the AI lab

    He graduates from Moscow State University in 1962 and joins the first AI lab in the USSR.

  2. 1968

    The Weisfeiler–Leman test

    The Soviet mathematician and computer scientist develops the Weisfeiler–Leman graph-isomorphism test with Boris Weisfeiler in 1968.

  3. 1974

    Kaissa and computer chess

    He contributes to Kaissa, which wins the world's first chess tournament between computer programs in 1974.

  4. 1990

    The INES database prize

    He receives the USSR Council of Ministers Prize in 1990 for his work developing and implementing the INES database.

  5. 1990s

    Cuneiform OCR

    He contributes to Cuneiform OCR in the 1990s, a system used by notable companies.

  6. 2012

    American startup programming

    He leaves the USSR in 1990, works as a programmer at American startups, and dies in 2012.

Career

  1. From 1962First AI lab in the USSR

Education

  1. 1962Lomonosov Moscow State University

From the biography.

  1. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes Lomonosov Moscow State University. Our estimates of where the people shaping AI studied and where their careers led, from education records in cited biographies.
  2. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers rose from 3% to 32%Includes Lomonosov Moscow State University. We estimate where leading AI researchers worked when their most-cited papers appeared. The company share rose from 3% in 1975–1979 to 32% in 2020–2024.
  3. Google had the most people shaping AI every year from 2014 to 2025Our estimates of which organizations employed the most people shaping AI from 1961 to 2025, with a year-by-year chart.
  4. The United States employs an estimated 53% of people in our data with a known employment countryOur estimates of where AI careers are concentrated now and how countries’ shares of dated positions changed over time.

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of Andrey Leman yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. A forgotten story of Soviet AI readmedium.com. Checked 18 October 2026.
  2. Andrey Andreevich Leman - Panoptic panoptic.wiki. Checked 18 October 2026.
  3. Andrey Leman - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org. Checked 18 October 2026.
  4. Symmetry vs. Regularity: Origins of Algebraic Combinatorics PPT | SlideOrbit slideorbit.com. Checked 18 October 2026.
  5. Towards Geometric Deep Learning thegradient.pub. Checked 18 October 2026.