His father , Natan Yakovlevich , an emigrant from Lithuania , was a pharmacist and seller of scientific instruments .
Lunts was born in Saint Petersburg , the capital of the Russian Empire , into a middle - class Jewish family on May 2 , 1901 .
family 's father , Natan Yakovlevich , an emigrant from Lithuania , was a pharmacist and seller of scientific instruments .
Lunts was born in Saint Petersburg , the capital of the Russian Empire , into a middle - class Jewish family on May 2 , 1901 .