Vavilov Nikolay Ivanovich Life and scientific activity
From 1906 to 1917, N. Vavilov, an outstanding scientist, the founder of new scientific directions in botany, plant growing, breeding, and genetics, studied and worked at our academy. He made a number of theoretical generalizations that received worldwide recognition: the law of homological series of hereditary variability, the doctrine of the centers of origin of cultivated plants, the ecological and geographical principle of intraspecific taxonomy, the doctrine of plant immunity, and the theory of introduction. It is very difficult to talk briefly about the life of such an outstanding person as Vavilov. We will try to highlight the main milestones of his biography.
Nikolai Ivanovich Vavilov was born on November 25, 1887 in Moscow. After graduating from the Moscow Commercial School, he entered the Moscow Agricultural Institute, in 1913-1914 he trained in the leading plant-growing and genetic institutions in Western Europe. From 1916 his famous expeditions began.
Many of his travels were truly heroic. For the expedition to Afghanistan, Vavilov received the gold medal named after Przhevalsky "For a geographical feat." In travels, he was helped by knowledge of about 20 foreign languages and the ability to easily find a common language with different people.
Vavilov's trips abroad ceased in the mid-thirties at the behest of Stalin. At a meeting with a group of scientists, Iosif Vissarionovich said that Russian scientists should think not about trips abroad, but about the harvest. Nikolai Ivanovich could no longer travel abroad.
The result of all Vavilov's expeditions was one of the main discoveries of the scientist - the establishment of the main centers of origin of cultivated plants, which are also the centers of ancient civilizations.
Another of his most important theoretical generalizations was the law of homological series of hereditary variability. Nikolai Vavilov reported on him in 1920 in Saratov at the third All-Russian Congress of Breeders.
The scientist deduced the formula for this law: L 1 * (a+ b+ c+…) , where L 1 - species radical, a feature common to all forms of linneon (large species), which distinguishes it from related species, and a , b , s, ... - varying characters that can be identical in different linneons.
In 1923, Vavilov was elected a corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Sciences and director of the Institute of Experimental Agronomy, in 1924 the scientist headed the All-Union Institute of Plant Growing, he set a difficult task for his employees: to collect all cultivated cultivated plants and their wild varieties, to learn how to grow and store their seeds . In 1929, he was elected a full member of the Academy of Sciences, organized the VASKhNIL (Lenin Academy of Agricultural Sciences), and became a laureate of the Lenin Prize. In 1930, Nikolai Ivanovich headed the country's first academic institution in genetics - a laboratory that three years later became the Institute of Genetics of the USSR Academy of Sciences. He was also elected a foreign member of the Royal Society of London, the Czechoslovak, Scottish, Indian, German Academies of Sciences, the Linnean Society in London, and the American Botanical Society. Accordingly, in the thirties the greatness of the scientist was obvious, which is why he became the object of cruel persecution and unworthy criticism from Lysenko, Prezent and their associates. Nikolai Ivanovich responded to this disrespect with a courageous defense of the foundations of science. He could not be defeated, and he died in the struggle for the truth.
On August 6, 1940, Vavilov was arrested at Lysenko's insistence. He was charged with sabotage and espionage. On July 9, 1941, the scientist was tried. He was sentenced to capital punishment - execution, later the sentence was "mitigated" - now the scientist was threatened with 20 years of hard labor. In prison, Vavilov wrote a book on the history of agriculture, the manuscript of which, unfortunately, has not survived to this day.
When the German troops approached Moscow, Nikolai Ivanovich, along with other prisoners, was transferred from the Butyrka prison to the Saratov one.
On January 26, 1943, at the age of 55, Vavilov died of exhaustion in a prison hospital, but for several more years his fate was not unknown to his relatives and work colleagues. Only in 1970 did a modest monument appear on the site of his alleged burial.
The scientist, who provided the country with millions of tons of grain thanks to his work and discoveries, who created a theoretical basis for researchers around the world, died of starvation in prison. Such is the tragic paradox of the fate of this remarkable man.
In preparing the article, the following literature was used :
1.N.P.Dubinin “Genetics. Pages of history”, Chisinau, “Shtiintsa”, 1990.
2.I.A.Zakharov "Brief essays on the history of genetics", Moscow, "Bioinformservis", 1999
3. Journal "Science and Life", Moscow, publishing house "Pravda",
No. 2/1979, B. Mednikov "The law of homological series today", p.32
Krasnova Maria
Nikolay Ivanovich Vavilov
- Soviet biologist (geneticist, breeder, botanist).
Not all scientists get a place in school textbooks. After all, only the most important and major facts and topics of the subject being studied are covered in the school curriculum. Vavilov's contribution to biology is such, so he deserved a place in the school curriculum and the exam.
N. I. Vavilov Began to be interested in natural sciences in childhood. I decided to go in this direction when choosing a profession. And, no doubt, he achieved some success in it.
While still a student, Vavilov participated in scientific expeditions. There were high hopes for him. Upon graduation from the institute, the scientist is trained abroad (in France, England, Germany). During this period he studies plant immunity.
And the first serious scientific work of Nikolai Ivanovich Vavilov was the science of plant immunity. It was a monograph, it was published in 1919. At that time, Vavilov was already known as a scientist, held some high positions, and was a professor.
Vavilov took part in various botanical expeditions around the country and abroad, some of which he himself organized. Studied related plant species.
The result of these studies was
law of homologous series of hereditary variability
Vavilov found that related species have the same mutations, the same hereditary changes .
- It turns out that one can, knowing a certain mutation, a certain genetic disease, a useful trait in a wild plant, predict the same thing in a cultivated relative
In 1920, Nikolai Ivanovich delivered a report on this topic at the All-Russian Congress on Breeding and Seed Production. The scientific community responded very positively to the discovery. Moreover, this discovery is recognized as a significant event in the history of world science.
The 1920s were not an easy time for our Fatherland. Hunger threatened. All breeders, not excluding Vavilov, were engaged in solving this problem. The scientist participated in conferences, organized a system of selection stations. Cultivated plants were studied.
Vavilov developed a system for testing cultivars. So that only proven varieties are sown. That is, Nikolai Vavilov dealt with the problems of agriculture, and the accusations of Comrade Stalin himself (which we will talk about a little later) that the scientist allegedly deals with all sorts of useless nonsense is absurd.
Nikolai Vavilov continues to take part in expeditions and repeatedly risks his life. The scientist began to collect a collection of plant seeds from different parts of the world. Vavilov's travels were recognized by the Geographical Society of the USSR as a feat, for which the scientist received the N. M. Przhevalsky Medal.
In the same 1920s, Nikolai Vavilov made another major discovery.
In the early stages of human development began species domestication processes. The domestication of wild plants, which began independently in different corners of the earth, led to the emergence of cultivated plants.
- Vavilov established that m The area where the largest number of species of wild relatives of a cultivated plant is observed, where their genetic diversity is higher, is the focus (center) of the origin of this crop .
Nikolai Vavilov established 7 centers of origin of cultivated plants:
- South Asian Tropical Center: rice, cucumber, citrus fruits, sugarcane, eggplant.
- East Asian Center: millet, radish, soybean, buckwheat, plum, cherry, walnut, persimmon.
- Southwest Asian center: soft wheat, rye, legumes, hemp, turnip, carrots, grapes, garlic, melon, flax.
- mediterranean center: cabbage, carrots, clover, olives, sugar beets, lentils, Brussels sprouts.
- Abyssinian (Ethiopian) center: coffee, durum wheat, barley, banana, sesame, cola.
- Central American Center: corn, cocoa, pumpkin, tobacco, beans, sunflower.
- Andean (South American) Center: potato, pineapple, coca bush, tomato.
The discovery of centers of origin makes it possible to enrich the gene pool of cultivated plants, better understand the patterns of their distribution, and also establish the most favorable conditions content for these plants.
For this discovery, N. I. Vavilov received the Lenin Prize.
in 1929, Vavilov took over as president of VASKhNIL (All-Union Academy of Agriculture named after Lenin). In the same year, the scientist became a member of the People's Commissariat for Agriculture of the USSR. Later he headed the Institute of Genetics of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR.
Nikolay Vavilov becomes famous all over the world. He is the author of several dozen articles, monographs, and reports. Vavilov is a member of many foreign academies and scientific societies.
Vavilov's seed collection is the richest collection of its kind in the world. Such collections are created to preserve cultivated plants and their genetic diversity. You never know, suddenly a war, a cataclysm, will destroy all cultivated plants: famine will come. Seed collections allow, in case of loss, to restore them.
The Vavilov collection has been preserved to this day; it is located in St. Petersburg. She survived the Great Patriotic War and the occupation. Even in the hungriest months of the blockade, the seeds were not eaten. To date, the value of Vavilov's collection is 10-11 trillion. dollars!
In the 30s he comes to biology. He climbs the career ladder, occupies leadership positions, removes Vavilov from the post of president of VASKhNIL.
From this moment in the USSR begin. Pseudoscience reigns in the country. Stalin believes that Lysenko is engaged in useful activities: he saves the country from starvation, and Vavilov not only does some nonsense, but also interferes with Lysenko.
Vavilov and Lysenko have disagreements that have grown into an open conflict. In the end, Vavilov was arrested. At first they were sentenced to death, but then they were replaced with a long term.
Nikolai Ivanovich Vavilov died in the hungry year 43 in the camp.
He was posthumously rehabilitated in 1955.
Scientific achievements of Vavilov:
1. The doctrine of plant immunity.
2. The law of homologous series of hereditary variability.
3. The doctrine of the centers of origin of cultivated plants.
4. The largest collection of seeds of cultivated plants.
5. Vavilov described several types of plants. And after the Latin naming of these species, according to the rules of taxonomy, the name of the scientist who described this species is written - Vavilov.
N.I. Vavilov is rightfully considered a scientist who has made a huge contribution to the development of evolutionary doctrine, the concept of a biological species, and, of course, to the practical one.
And of all the foreign academies and societies in which N. Vavilov was a member, it is worth noting the German genetic society - this is in the late 30s, when entire institutions there were adjusted to a racial theory based on genetics (and Jews, gypsies, Slavs were already declared etc. people of the 2nd class). Any decent person would have left such a society, but alas... By the way, this is about the persecution of geneticists in the USSR and the arrest of N. Vavilov.
All this does not make N. Vavilov a bad scientist, but he also does not pull on an innocent martyr.
I do not agree with you.
1) That's why it is a community, that issues were resolved collectively. And the concept of "president" of the community in those days, and now, oh, how different 🙂
2) The German genetic community until the 35th somewhere (!) gathered the outstanding minds of the planet, engaged in research and published wonderful scientific works. Then - yes, under the influence of ideology, the direction became purely racist. and openly declare about the people of the "second class" began in 1938. Vavilov had nothing to do with this.
At the expense of martyrdom ... Of course, no one elevates them to the rank of saints, but I think that people who worked in exile, in Russian exile (this is not for you to sit on the Elbe 🙂), did not ride in oil. And in general, it is somehow strange for us in warm home conditions to judge how these people lived and worked then.
But this is IMHO.
In numerous expeditions, he collected the richest bank of plant genes
Vavilov participated in 180 botanical and agronomic expeditions around the world and became one of the outstanding travelers of his time. Thanks to these trips, he amassed the richest collection of cultivated plants in the world, amounting to 250,000 specimens. In breeding practice, it has become the world's first important gene bank. The first expedition went deep into Iran, where Vavilov collected the first samples of cereals: they helped the scientist to come to the conclusion that plants have immunity, which depends on environmental conditions ... Subsequently, Vavilov's expeditions covered all continents except Australia and Antarctica, and the scientist found out where different cultivated plants come from. It turned out that some of the most important plants for humans come from Afghanistan., And near India they saw great rye, wild watermelons, melons, hemp, barley, carrots.
Discovered the law of homologous series in hereditary variability
This law with a complex name has a rather simple essence: closely related plant species have similar heredity and similar variability during mutation. That is, by tracing several forms of the same species, it is possible to predict possible mutations of a closely related species. For selection, this discovery turned out to be very important, and for Vavilov it was also quite difficult. Indeed, at that time there were no chemicals or radiation that cause mutation, so all samples and forms of plants had to be sought in nature. Here again one can recall the numerous expeditions of the breeder, which made it possible to study a huge number of plant species and their forms.
Created a network of scientific institutions
At first, Vavilov headed the new State Institute of Experimental Agronomy, which investigated the most important problems of agriculture, forestry, fish farming, and improved the farming system. Under his leadership, they began to select crops and their varieties in a new way, to fight pests and diseases. And later Vavilov became the head of VIR - the All-Union Institute of Plant Industry. Another high post held by Vavilov was the president of the Lenin All-Union Academy of Agricultural Sciences (VASNILKh). Here he organized a whole system of scientific institutes of agriculture: grain farms appeared in the North Caucasus, Siberia and Ukraine, institutes dedicated to each culture separately appeared. In total, about 100 new scientific institutions were opened.
He proposed to breed tropical plant species in our climate
Such an opportunity, according to Vavilov, was represented by the idea of the young agronomist Lysenko. He proposed the idea of vernalization - the transformation of winter crops into spring crops after exposure to low temperatures on seeds. This made it possible to control the duration of the growing season, and Vavilov saw this as new opportunities for domestic breeding. It would be possible to use the entire huge collection of seeds collected by Vavilov to develop new resistant hybrids and plants that did not ripen at all in the climate of the Soviet Union. Lysenko and Vavilov began to cooperate, but soon parted ways. Lysenko sought to use his idea to increase the yield, while refusing experiments and experiments, of which Vavilov was a supporter. After some time, both breeders became scientific opponents, and the Soviet authorities were on the side of Lysenko. It is possible that this also influenced the decision to arrest Vavilov during the repressions. There, in prison, the life of a great geneticist tragically ended.
(1887-1943 y.y.)
Vavilov Nikolai Ivanovich (November 25, 1887, Moscow - January 26, 1943, Saratov), Soviet geneticist, plant breeder, geographer, creator of the modern scientific foundations of breeding, the doctrine of the world centers of origin of cultivated plants, their geographical distribution.
One of the first organizers and leaders of the biologist. and agricultural science in the USSR, public figure. Academician of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR (1929, Corresponding Member 1923), Academician of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR (1929). President (1929-1935) and Vice-President of VASKhNIL (1935-1940). In 1926-1935. member Central Executive Committee of the USSR, in 1927-1929. member of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. In 1931-1940. President of the All-Union Geographical Society.
Born into a businessman's family. In 1911 graduated from the Moscow Agricultural Institute (now the Moscow Agricultural Academy named after K.A. Timiryazev), where he was left at the department of private agriculture, headed by D.N. Pryanishnikov, to prepare for scientific and pedagogical activity.
In 1917 was elected a professor at the Saratov University. Since 1921 headed the Department of Applied Botany and Breeding (Petrograd), which in 1924. was reorganized into the All-Union Institute of Applied Botany and New Cultures, and in 1930. - to the All-Union Institute of Plant Growing (VIR), headed by N.I. Vavilov remained until August 1940. Since 1930 Vavilov is the director of the genetic laboratory, which was later transformed into the Institute of Genetics of the USSR Academy of Sciences.
In 1919-20. Vavilov explored the South-East of the European part of the USSR and in the book "Field cultures of the South-East" (1922) he gave a summary of all the cultivated plants of the Volga and Trans-Volga regions. In 1925 made an expedition to the Khiva oasis (Central Asia).
Since 1920 to 1940 led numerous botanical and agronomic expeditions. He organized scientific expeditions to study the plant resources of the Mediterranean (Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, the territories of Egypt, Palestine, Syria and Transjordan), Ethiopia, Iran, Afghanistan, Japan, Western China, Korea, the countries of North, Central and South America and was the leader of many of them.
Versatile research was carried out by Vavilov in Afghanistan (1924), the expedition visited the hard-to-reach and unexplored western part of Kafirstan (modern Nuristan), studied cultivated plants in detail and collected extensive general geographical material. The results of this expedition are summarized in the work "Agricultural Afghanistan" (1929).
Of particular interest was the expedition to Ethiopia (1926-1927): Vavilov established that the center of origin of durum wheat was located there.
During a trip to North, Central and South America (1930, 1932-33) N.I. Vavilov visited Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Bolivia, Brazil and Argentina, where he conducted valuable historical and agronomic research. Expeditions under his leadership discovered new types of wild and cultivated potatoes, taken as the basis for practical selection. As a result of studying various species and varieties of plants collected in the countries of Europe, Asia, Africa, North and South America, he established the centers of morphogenesis, or centers of origin of cultivated plants.
The laws he discovered for the geographical distribution of the species and varietal composition in the primary foci and the dispersal of plants from these foci facilitate the search for the necessary plant material for breeding and experimental botany.
In some areas, plants with signs of precocity are concentrated, in others - drought resistance, etc. The materials and collections of the expeditions made it possible for the first time in the USSR (1923) to carry out experimental geographical sowing of cultivated plants in different zones of the country in order to study their variability and give them an evolutionary and selection assessment. Thus, the foundation was laid for the organization in the USSR of state variety testing of field crops.
Under the leadership and with the participation of Vavilov in the USSR, a world collection of cultivated plants, stored in the VIR, was created, numbering more than 300 thousand items. samples. Many varieties of various agricultural crops common in the USSR are the result of selection work with the corresponding samples from the VIR collection.
N.I. Vavilov paid much attention to the promotion of agriculture in the undeveloped regions of the North, semi-deserts and highlands. The problem of the introduction of new crops turned out to be largely resolved for the wet and dry subtropics of the USSR.
At the initiative of Vavilov, new valuable crops began to be grown in the country: jute, tung tree, perennial essential oil, medicinal, tanning, fodder and other plants. In 1919 substantiated the doctrine of plant immunity to infectious diseases, showing breeders the possibility of breeding immune varieties, among which varieties that are simultaneously immune to several diseases and resistant to pests are of particular importance.
In 1920 formulated the law of homologous series of hereditary variability in closely related species, genera, and even families. This law shows one of the most important laws of evolution, which consists in the fact that similar hereditary changes occur in closely related species and genera. Using this law, according to a number of morphological features and properties of one species or genus, it is possible to foresee the existence of corresponding forms in another species or genus. The law makes it easier for breeders to find new initial forms for crossing and selection.
Vavilov defined the Linnean species as an isolated complex mobile morpho-physiological system associated in its genesis with a certain environment and area (1930). Vavilov substantiated the ecological and geographical principles of breeding and the principles of creating the source material for breeding.
At the initiative of Vavilov, a number of new research institutions were organized. So, in the VASKHNIL system were created; Institute of Grain Economy of the South-East of the European Part of the USSR; Institute of Food, Vegetable and Subtropical Crops; institutes for feed, corn, potatoes, cotton, flax, hemp, oilseeds, soybeans, viticulture and tea. Vavilov created a school of plant growers, geneticists and breeders.
For research work in the field of immunity, the origin of cultivated plants and the discovery of the law of homological series, Vavilov was awarded the Prize. IN AND. Lenin (1926), for research in Afghanistan - a gold medal to them. N.M. Przhevalsky; for work in the field of breeding and seed production - the Big Gold Medal of the All-Union Agricultural Exhibition (1940).
Vavilov was a true tribune of science. His struggle against pseudoscientific concepts in biology and for the development of genetics in the USSR, the theoretical basis of crop and animal husbandry, is widely known. He represented Soviet science at many congresses and international congresses.
N.I. Vavilov was a member and an honorary member of many foreign academies, including the English (Royal Society of London), Indian, Argentine, Scottish; corresponding member was elected. Academy of Sciences in Halle (Germany) and the Czechoslovak Academy, an honorary member of the American Botanical Society, the Linnean Society in London, the Horticultural Society of England, etc.
Vavilov's scientific activity was interrupted in 1940. In 1965 The Vavilov Prize was established. In 1967 Vavilov's name was assigned to VIR. In 1968 The Vavilov Gold Medal was established, which is awarded for outstanding scientific work and discoveries in the field of agriculture.
Cit.: Centers of the origin of cultivated plants, "Proceedings on Applied Botany and Breeding", 1925, volume 16, v.2; Problems of new cultures, M.-L., 1932; Scientific foundations of wheat breeding, M.-L., 1935; The doctrine of plant immunity to infectious diseases, M.-L., 1935; Linnean view as a system, M.-L., 1931; Selection as a science, M.-L., 1934; Botanical and geographical bases of selection, M.-L., 1935; The law of homological series in hereditary variability, 2nd ed., M.-L., 1935; The doctrine of the origin of cultivated plants after Darwin, "Soviet Science", 1940, No. 2; World resources of varieties of cereals ... Experience of agroecological review of the most important field crops, M.-L., 1957; World resources of varieties of cereals ... Wheat, M.-L., 1959-65 (volume 1 contains a bibliography of Vavilov's works); Selected works, volume 1-2, L., 1967
Literature: Bakhteev F.Kh., Academician Nikolai Ivanovich Vavilov, "Bulletin of the Moscow Society of Naturalists. Biological Department", 1958, volume 63, c. 3; Questions of geography of cultivated plants and N.I. Vavilov, M.-L., 1966; Nikolai Ivanovich Vavilov, M., 1967 (Materials for the bibliography of scientists of the USSR. Series of biological sciences Genetics, v. 1); Reznik S., Nikolai Vavilov, Moscow, 1968; N.I. Vavilov and agricultural science. Dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the birth ..., M., 1969.
F.H. Bakhteev
GREAT SOVIET ENCYCLOPEDIA
THIRD EDITION
MOSCOW. PUBLISHING HOUSE "SOVIET ENCYCLOPEDIA" 1971
Vavilov Nikolai Ivanovich, the contribution to science of a botanist, plant grower, geneticist, geographer and organizer of science are outlined in this article.
Nikolai Vavilov contribution to biology
In 1920 Vavilov formulated law of homologous series- hereditary variability in families, related genera and species. This law showed one of the most important patterns of evolution, the essence of which was that closely related species and genera have hereditary similar changes. The use of this law makes it possible to foresee the presence of corresponding forms, properties and signs of one species, genus in others. Vavilov's law made it easier for breeders to find the original new forms for selection and crossing.
Another great discovery of Nikolai Vavilov is theory of plant immunity. Today, not a single breeder in the world can do without knowledge of this theory. It is worth noting that the scientist was very worried about the problem of hunger in the world. He believed that with the help of genetics and selection, hunger could be overcome by developing new varieties of cultivated plants. To this end, the geneticist Nikolai Vavilov traveled to many countries, looking for the places of origin of cultivated plants. As a result, he collected a unique collection of tubers and seeds. If it happened that all food plants would disappear in the world, then crop production could be easily restored with the help of the Vavilov collection.
He also redefined the Linnaean species in 1930. The geneticist characterized it as a separate complex mobile morphological and physiological system associated with a certain area and environment in its genesis. Nikolai Vavilov substantiated the principles of creating material for breeding and substantiated geographical and ecological principles.
