Jaan Einasto (born 23 February 1929, in Tartu) is an Estonian astrophysicist and one of the discoverers of the large-scale structure of the Universe. He is a patriotic Estonian; the name "Einasto" is an anagram of "Estonia" (it was chosen by his patriotic father in the 1930s to replace the family's German name).
Born in Tartu, he attended the University of Tartu, where he received the Ph.D. equivalent in 1955 and a senior research doctorate in 1972. From 1952, he has worked as a scientist at the Tartu Observatory (1977–1998) Head of the Department of Cosmology; in 1992-1995, he was Professor of Cosmology at the University of Tartu. For a long time, he was Head of the Division of Astronomy and Physics of the Estonian Academy of Sciences in Tallinn. Einasto is a member of the Academia Europaea, the European Astronomical Society and the Royal Astronomical Society; he has received three Estonian National Science Awards.
1947 Tartu Secondary School No. 1
1952 University of Tartu
1955 Cand.Sc. in physics and mathematics
1972 D.Sc. in physics and mathematics
1992 Professor
1991 Member of Academia Europaea
1994 Member of the Royal British Society of Astronomy
The asteroid 11577 Einasto, discovered in 1994, is named in his honour.