Alexander M. Poniatoff
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Alexander Matveevich Poniatoff (Александр Матвеевич Понятов) (1892-1980); engineer. He emigrated from Russia to China, where he worked for the Shanghai Power Company until he emigrated to the United States in 1927. He founded, in 1944, the Ampex company, using his initials, A.M.P., plus "ex" for "excellence" to create the name. In 1956, engineers of Ampex created the world's first rotary head recorder, the VR-1000 videotape recorder. Poniatoff served as president of Ampex until 1955 when he was elected chairman of the board.
