Short answers, pulled from the story.
Alexander Michael Prochoroff entered the world on the 11th of July 1916 at Russell Road in Peeramon, Queensland. His parents Mikhail Ivanovich and Maria Ivanovna had fled Russia to escape Tsarist repression before raising their son near Butchers Creek.
World War II began for him in June 1941 when he joined the Red Army infantry and fought directly in battles where he sustained two separate wounds. He received three medals for his service including the Medal For Courage awarded in 1946 despite remaining active until demobilization in 1944.
In 1957 Prokhorov studied ruby while examining chromium-doped aluminium oxide lattices and realized this material could serve as an active medium for laser technology. The following year he proposed an open type cavity design for resonators that remains widely used today in optical systems.
The Nobel Committee awarded him the Physics prize in 1964 alongside Charles Hard Townes and Nikolay Basov. Recognition came for fundamental work leading to the development of both masers and lasers.
Alexander Prokhorov held the title of honorary director at the General Physics Institute until his death after 1998. Between 1982 and 1998 he served as acting director of the General Physics Institute before taking on this final role.