Nikolai
Vavilov (1887-1943). Not a name familiar
to many people. Vavilov is, however, one of my
scientific Teacher and Heroes.
He collected more
seeds, tubers and fruits from around the world than any other person in
history. Yet the plant explorer, who endeavored to end famine, starved to death
in a gulag.
Vavilov
is recognized as the foremost plant geographer of contemporary times. To
explore the major agricultural centers in this country and abroad, Vavilov
organized and took part in over 100 collectingmissions. His major
foreignexpeditionsincluded those to Iran (1916), the
United States, Central and South America (1921, 1930, 1932), the Mediterranean
and Ethiopia (1926-1927). For his expedition to Afghanistan in 1924 Vavilov was
awarded the N.M. Przhevalskii Gold Medal of the Russian Geographic Society.
From 1931 to 1940 Vavilov was its president.
These
missions and the determinedsearchfor plants were based on the Vavilov's
concepts in the sphere of evolutionary genetics, i.e. the Law of Homologous Series
in Variation (1920) and the theory of the Centers of Origin of Cultivated
Plants (1926).
·
Major N.I.Vavilov's Expeditions
1916
Expedition to Iran (Hamadan and
Khorasan) and Pamir (Shungan, Rushan and Khorog).
1921
Acquaintance trip to Canada
(Ontario) and USA (New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, North and
South Carolina, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota,
North and South Dakota, Wyoming, Colorado, Arizona, California, Oregon,
Maine).
1924
Expedition to Afghanistan (Herat,
Afghan Turkestan, Gaimag, Bamian, Hindu Kush, Badakhshan, Kafiristan,
Jalalabad, Kabul, Herat, Kandahar, Baquia, Helmand, Farakh, Sehistan),
accompanied by D.D. Bukinich and V.N. Lebedev.
1925
Expedition to Khoresm (Khiva,
Novyi Urgench, Gurlen, Tashauz).
1926-1927
Expedition to Mediterranean
countries (France, Syria, Palestine, Transjordan, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia,
Greece, Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus and Crete, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and
Egypt, where Gudzoni was explored by Vavilov's request) and to Abyssinia
(Djibouti, Addis Ababa, banks of Nile, Tsana Lake), Eritrea (Massaua) and
Yemen (Hodeida, Jidda, Hedjas).
1927
Exploration of mountainous regions
in Wuertemberg (Bavaria, Germany).
1929
Expedition to China (Xinjiang -
Kashgar, Uch-Turfan, Aksu, Kucha, Urumchi, Kulja, Yarkand, Hotan) together
with M.G. Popov, then alone to Chine (Taiwan), Japan (Honshu, Kyushu and
Hokkaido) and Korea.
1930
Expedition to USA (Florida,
Louisiana, Arizona, Texas, California), Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras.
1932-1933
Trip to Canada (Ontario, Manitoba,
Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia), USA (Washington, Colorado, Montana,
Kansas, Idaho, Louisiana, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Nebraska, Nevada,
New Mexico, North and South Dakotas, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah);
Expedition to Cuba, Mexico (Yucatan), Ecuador (Cordilleras), Peru (Lake
Titicaca, Puno Mt., Cordilleras), Bolivia (Cordilleras), Chile (Panama
River). Brazil (Rio de Janeiro, Amazon), Argentina, Uruguay, Trinidad and
Porto Rico.
1921-1940
Systematic explorations of the
European part of Russia and the whole regions of the Caucasus and the Middle
Asia.
In the stifling atmosphere of the totalitarian USSR, the institute headed by Vavilov turned into a resistance point to the pseudo-scientific concepts of Trofim D. Lysenko. As a result of this controversy, Vavilov was arrested in August 1940, and his closest associates were also sacked and imprisoned.
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