TOGETHER WITH ACADEMICIAN N.I. VAVILOV

A colleague at the Institute of Crop Breeding many years ago, S. V. Zonn, recalls the fame abroad of N.I. Vavilov in contrast to the oblivion to which for a time he was consigned in the Soviet Union. Vavilov opposed the harmful adventuristic projects announced by the evil paranoid “scientist” Lysenko. Among the many contributions of Vavilov, those to research for the development of deserts, largely forgotten, are here recalled. Vavilov organized the Office of Deserts, which established the Aral', Repetek, and Kara-Kalinsk experiment stations, which made major contributions to desert studies and which attracted able productive scientists. In practical work he organized work to provide fresh vegetables and fruits and green amenities to workers at the Balkhash copper combine and the urgently needed vegetables and vitamins to workers at the Bekdash salt works of the Kara-Bogaz-Gol of the Caspian Sea. He advocated scientific principles and applications free from the opportunism and adventurism which at one time flourished in Soviet biological sciences but which should not be repeated. “Recalling all that has happened to N.I. Vavilov, we preserve in our hearts his bright and uncompromising manner, which was devoted to science and society” (translated by Jay K. Mitchell, PlanEcon, Inc., Washington DC 20005).     

孟列夫与汉学研究

孟列夫博士是俄罗斯科学院东方学研究所圣彼得堡分所主任研究员 ,俄罗斯当代著名汉学家。孟列夫著述颇丰 ,既翻译中国古典文学名著 ,也进行历史研究。尤其在敦煌学研究领域成就巨大。同时 ,孟列夫博士还积极推动、参加与中国的文化交流、合作活动。本文对俄国这位大汉学家做了全面介绍     

N.I. VAVILOV,GEOGRAPHER AND EXPLORER

Academician N.I. Vavilov had an international reputation as a scientist, agronomist, botanist, geneticist, plant breeder, explorer for wild progenitors of cultivated plants, selector of new crop varieties, organizer of expeditions, administrator of a large research institute, and a statesman. Beginning in 1916 in collection of crop varieties in Iran and the Pamirs, he personally explored large segments of the earth. In 1926 he published his famous study on centers of origin of cultivated plants. While head of the Institute of Applied Botany and New Crops, he organized many expeditions to search for new varieties of crops and their wild ancestors and established an international collection of seeds. While President of the Geographical Society (1931-1940) he arranged to have the society transferred from the People's Commissariat of Education of the RSFSR to the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, thus transforming it from the Russian to the All-Union Geographical Society. He presented many lectures to the Society and greatly expanded its program of public lectures. But while on a scientific expedition to the western Ukraine, he was arrested on August 6, 1940. “An unforgiveable crime was committed. There has hardly been a more tragic fate since Galilee: the man who sought to give bread to the people died of starvation… He was a hero who gave his life for his scientific beliefs” (translated by H. L. Haslett, Birmingham, United Kingdom).     

THE GEOGRAPHICAL THINKING OF N.I. VAVILOV

Much has been published recently about Academician N.I. Vavilov, a seminal scientist with broad horizons. This article is limited to his geographical contributions and interests. His early study of agriculture in Afghanistan revealed his keen powers of field observation and his deep geographic orientation. This work won him the Przheval'skiy Gold Medal of the Geographical Society. He organized a network of experimental stations across the broad and diverse expanses of the Soviet Union to test the geographical limits of crops. He carried out numerous studies of mountain agriculture in many parts of the globe, noting that the isolation and the patchwork of critical environmental conditions in mountains favored the divergence of species, forms, and types of the wild ancestors of cultivated plants. This led to his trail-blazing identification and field investigation of hearths (centers) of origin of cultivated plants, of their diffusion, of areas of ancient agriculture, and to formulation of principles of geographical variability. This work has been continued in recent years by others. Vavilov had close connections with geography, with several geographers, and with the Geographical Society of the USSR (translated by Andrew R. Bond).