Nikolai Ivanovich is a genius,
and we are not aware of this only because
that he is our contemporary.

D.N. Pryanishnikov

N.I. Vavilov is a world-famous scientist who made a huge contribution to the development of genetics, agronomic science, taxonomy and geography cultivated plants, development scientific foundations selection. He created the theory of plant introduction, enriched the theory and methods of genetic breeding research. His works have been translated into many languages ​​and published in many countries.

Nikolai Ivanovich was born on November 25, 1887 in Moscow. His father, Ivan Ilyich, came from a peasant family. Assigned in early childhood to a Moscow merchant as an errand boy, he eventually became a clerk and then one of the directors of the famous Trekhgornaya Manufactory company. In 1884, Ivan Vavilov married the daughter of the artist-engraver of the manufactory Mikhail Asonovich Postnikov, Alexandra. The groom was 21 years old, the bride was 16. Alexandra graduated primary school and learned drawing from her father.

The Vavilovs had seven children, of whom four survived: Alexandra, Nikolai, Sergei and Lydia.

Nikolai grew up healthy, inventive, and could stand up not only for himself, but also for his little brother. Sergei Ivanovich wrote in his memoirs: “We lived on friendly terms with my brother Kolya, but he was much older and had a different character than me: brave, decisive, a “fighter” who constantly got into trouble. street fights. WITH early years He enjoyed serving in Nikola Vagankov’s church. But this was “social” work, and not religiosity at all. Nikolai very early became both an atheist and a materialist.”

Nikolai received his secondary education at the Moscow Commercial School, where his father assigned him, apparently hoping that over time his eldest son would become his successor. This educational institution was one of the best for its time in Moscow. It thoroughly taught natural science, physics, chemistry, modern languages. Among the teachers were famous professors S.F. Nagibin, Ya.Ya. Nikitinsky, A.N. Reformatsky and others.

At school, Nikolai became interested in natural science. In the garden behind the house, together with his younger brother, he set up a laboratory where he tried to independently conduct experiments in chemistry and physics.

In 1906, after graduating from college, despite his father’s persuasion to become a businessman, Nikolai entered the Moscow Agricultural Institute, the former Petrovsky Agricultural Academy. But why Petrovka? “The ardent propaganda for the Petrine Academy,” Nikolai Ivanovich later recalled, “was carried out by Ya.Ya. Nikitinsky and S.F. Nagibin is our teacher in high school.”

In addition, while studying in high school, Nikolai often came to the Lubyanka, to the Polytechnic Museum, where many famous scientists spoke to the general public. He especially liked the lectures of Professor N.N. Khudyakov, who taught in Petrovka. “The tasks of science, its goals, its content have rarely been expressed with such brilliance,” wrote Vavilov. – The fundamentals of bacteriology and plant physiology turned into a philosophy of existence. Brilliant experiments complemented the spell of words. Both old and young listened to these lectures.”

All attempts by Ivan Ilyich to somehow influence the choice of his eldest son were unsuccessful. On this occasion, Vavilov told his friends that one day his father, wanting to persuade his son, invited a former master’s student in history home, and for a whole week he lectured especially for him about the “respectability and necessity for society” of commerce and industry.

During his student years, Vavilov stood out among his comrades for his knowledge and ability for independent scientific thinking. As a 3rd year student, he spoke at a gala meeting of the academy dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin (1909), with a report “Darwinism and experimental morphology.” His first scientific work, “Naked slugs (snails) damaging fields and vegetable gardens in the Moscow region,” dedicated to the problems of plant pathology, was awarded a prize named after the founder of the Moscow Polytechnic Museum, Professor A.P. Bogdanov and published in 1910 as having great practical significance.

In 1911–1912 Vavilov lived in St. Petersburg, where he worked as an intern at the Bureau of Applied Botany under R.E. Regel and in the Bureau of Mycology and Phytopathology with the famous mycologist A.A. Yachevsky. He worked with extraordinary intensity: during the day - studying extensive collections, in the evenings (and nights) - studying in the library. And so every day... And in the summer, in his words, “viewing hundreds of vessels and thousands of plots with descriptions and reflections.” Nikolai Ivanovich was lucky to meet with outstanding scientists. Communication with them had a huge impact on the formation of Vavilov’s personality as a scientist.

In 1913, he was sent abroad “to complete his education” and get acquainted with latest achievements world science. Having received such an opportunity, Vavilov went first of all to London to the well-known English geneticist V. Batson, the author of the book “Mendelian Foundations of Heredity” (1902), which, for the sake of fidelity, he subtitled “In Defense of Mendelism.” Nikolai Ivanovich went on a long and distant journey not alone, but with his young wife Ekaterina Nikolaevna Sakharova, whom he married in April 1912 (their life together did not last long - the characters turned out to be too dissimilar. Soon after the birth of their son Oleg, the family broke up).

Communication with Batson and his students was truly invaluable for Vavilov. In the “Mecca and Medina of the genetic world,” as he later called the Bateson Institute, a spirit of intense intellectual exploration reigned. Special attention focused on key issues in the science of heredity. Here he continued his research on the immunity of cereals.

Then Nikolai Ivanovich worked for several months in the laboratory of genetics at the University of Cambridge with professors Punnett and Beaven. During a trip to France, he got acquainted with the latest achievements in breeding in seed production at the famous breeding and seed production company Vilmorins. In Germany, Vavilov visited the laboratory of the famous evolutionary biologist E. Haeckel in Jena. Started First World War

forced him to return home.

Vavilov's doctoral dissertation was devoted to plant immunity. The same problem formed the basis of his first scientific monograph, “Plant Immunity to Infectious Diseases,” which contained a critical analysis of world literature and the results of his own research. It was published in the Izvestia of the Petrovsk Agricultural Academy in 1919. This is a classic work, and is now of theoretical and practical interest. The study of immunity showed Vavilov how important it is to study the entire world diversity of cultivated plants in order to isolate from it and develop immune varieties of agricultural crops. This has led to an interest in collecting more and more more plants, their differentiation, intraspecific systematics.

In 1916, Nikolai Ivanovich made his first major trip to Asia, visiting Northern Iran, Fergana and the Pamirs. It gave him interesting material, which was later used to substantiate the law of homological series for cultivated rye.

In the fall of 1917, Vavilov received an invitation to head the department of genetics, selection and private agriculture of the agronomic faculty of Saratov University. At the same time, on the recommendation of R.E. Regel, head of the Department (formerly Bureau) of Applied Botany, he was elected to the post of his assistant.

Difficult years came: the devastation after the First World War, the October Revolution, Civil War... But it was during the Saratov period, although it was short, that the star of Vavilov the scientist rose. There he gathered a team of young followers of his ideas, university students, and together with them he conducted research in the regions of the Middle and Lower Volga region. These works formed the basis of the work “Field Crops of the South-East”, which was published only in 1922. In the preface to it, Vavilov wrote: “Issues of choosing cultivated plants, varieties, replacing one crop with another, replacing old varieties with new ones, evaluating varieties - These are mainly the problems to which this essay gives a brief answer.” The book has become a model for the study of plant resources. It was in Saratov that the scientist summarized the results of observations of many collection crops at the Moscow Breeding Station and during a visit to the Vilmorin company, studies of the world collection of wheat at Percival in England, and his own collections.

At the III All-Union Selection Congress (June, 1920), held in Saratov, Vavilov made a report “The Law of Homologous Series in Hereditary Variation,” which was perceived by the audience as a major event in world biological science. Thus, plant physiologist Professor V.R. Zalensky uttered the well-known words: “The congress has become historic. These are biologists greeting their Mendeleev.”

Having studied many species and varieties of plants, Vavilov for the first time established a pattern in the chaos of variability of the plant kingdom. He systematized all its diversity in the form of a table (really reminiscent of Mendeleev’s), with the help of which he was able to predict the existence of forms not yet discovered by science. Thanks to him, breeders could no longer blindly, as was before, but purposefully lead selection work. It really was a revolution in genetics, selection, and biology.

Today, Vavilov’s law, like the theory he created, plant immunity, belongs to the most fundamental discoveries of natural science. It no longer applies only to the plant world - homologous series are found in the animal kingdom and microorganisms. It serves as an important theoretical and methodological tool in constructing a model of hereditary changes.

The last 20 years of Nikolai Ivanovich’s short life are connected with St. Petersburg. In March 1921, he was elected head of the Department of Applied Botany and Selection. “I’m sitting in the office at Robert Eduardovich Regel’s desk, and sad thoughts rush by one after another. Life here is difficult, people are starving, you need to put your living soul into the business, because there is almost no life here... We need to rebuild everything.

Only books and good traditions remained immortal...” – Vavilov wrote from Petrograd.

Many of his Saratov colleagues moved to the city together with Nikolai Ivanovich, and he proudly said: “We are a united group that allows us to guide the ship to the goal.” In 1924, the department was transformed into the All-Union Institute of Applied Botany and New Crops (since 1930 - the All-Union Institute of Plant Growing - VIR), and Vavilov was approved as its director. The institute became the basis for the formation of the All-Union Academy of Agricultural Sciences named after. IN AND. Lenin (VASKhNIL), and Nikolai Ivanovich became its first president. A network of institutions throughout the country was created in the VASKhNIL system. Vavilov supervised numerous departments and experimental stations of VIR, as well as institutes of the All-Russian Academy of Agricultural Sciences, in the most direct manner.

He was an extraordinary person, and the usual standards of life, when applied to him, lose all meaning. According to the testimony of his closest employees who communicated with the scientist for a long time, he had absolutely phenomenal performance. The working day, scheduled, as he put it, by half an hour, usually lasted 16–18 hours a day. When Nikolai Ivanovich was traveling, a few hours of travel or flight were enough to sleep, and already at 4 a.m. he began inspecting the crops, which often continued almost without interruption until late in the evening. And in the evenings - discussion and evaluation of what was seen, business meetings, viewing literature, new plans... And so every day, all my life...

Arriving at a selection station or laboratory, he set its employees such a pace that after his departure, it happened that some of them were given a week's leave, and Vavilov, as if nothing had happened, moved on to the next laboratory.

Despite this pace of life, Nikolai Ivanovich managed to follow not only scientific, but also cultural news, and was a friendly person, always ready to help. He often received scientists or production workers who came for consultations at home; conversations with them sometimes dragged on until the night.

VIR was engaged in a comprehensive study, search and collection of seeds of cultivated plants and their wild relatives, clarification of the boundaries and characteristics of agriculture in various regions of the Earth for the use of plant resources and the experience of world agriculture in improving Agriculture our country. It is important to emphasize that the search was not carried out blindly, but was based on a coherent theory of the centers of origin of cultivated plants developed by Vavilov (the book “Centers of Origin of Cultivated Plants” was published in 1926, and for this work N.I. Vavilov was awarded the Lenin Prize). Subsequently, not only domestic, but also numerous foreign expeditions set out along the routes outlined by Nikolai Ivanovich.

The importance of this teaching has especially increased at the present time, when there is a massive disappearance of natural landscapes and primitive farming systems. The attention of not only specialists, but also the general public is now drawn to the problem of preserving the gene pools of cultivated and wild flora: the impoverishment or loss of this hereditary potential will be an irreparable loss for humanity.

Measures for the conservation of gene pools should be based on the study of regions where the diversity of cultivated plants and their wild relatives is greatest.

By 1940, the collection of plant samples collected by Vavilov and his colleagues was the largest in the world and consisted of 250 thousand items, of which 36 thousand were wheat, 10 thousand were corn, 23 thousand were fodder, etc. On its basis, many domestic varieties of agricultural crops have been created and continue to be created. By the 1920s–early 1930s. include numerous expeditions by Vavilov and his collaborators to collect and study cultivated plants. “If you have ten rubles in your pocket, travel!” - Nikolai Ivanovich, who visited more than 30 countries, laughed. It is difficult to even imagine how one person could travel around so many countries and collect tens of thousands of samples of seeds and plants. “If you have taken the path of a scientist,” said Vavilov, “then remember that you have doomed yourself to an eternal search for something new, to a restless life until your death. Every scientist must have a powerful worry gene. He must be possessed." Obsession was one of the

Many of his travels involved great risk. Back in 1923, he wrote: “...I don’t feel sorry for giving my life for the sake of the smallest thing in science... Wandering through the Pamirs and Bukhara, I had to be on the verge of death more than once, it was scary more than once... And somehow It was even, in general, pleasant to take risks.” The expeditions to Afghanistan (1924) and Ethiopia (1927) were especially difficult and dangerous. For the first, the scientist was awarded the gold medal of the Russian Geographical Society “For Geographical Feat.”

Vavilov's expeditions attracted the interest of scientists from many countries. They began to imitate him, realizing the enormous importance of collecting plant material. The name of Nikolai Ivanovich was mentioned along with the names of the most famous travelers in the world.

Vavilov’s activities have received wide recognition in our country and abroad. In 1923, he was elected a corresponding member, and in 1929, a full member of the USSR Academy of Sciences.

Nikolai Ivanovich was elected a member of the Royal Society of England, the Czechoslovak, Scottish, Indian, and German Academies of Sciences, the Linnean Society in London, the American Botanical Society and a number of other national and international organizations. The famous American geneticist G. Meller, more than 20 years after the death of Nikolai Ivanovich, wrote: “He was truly great in all respects - an outstanding scientist, a rare organizer and leader, unusually integral, open, mentally healthy... In work, in business, in solving all kinds of problems he was characterized by extraordinary insight and breadth of mind, and at the same time I have never met a person who loved life so much, spent himself so generously, created so generously and a lot.” However, starting from the mid-1930s. Vavilov and his collaborators were involved in “discussions” on problems of genetics and selection, which quickly ceased to be scientific and came down to persecution of the scientist. The first open public confrontation imposed by T.D. Lysenko and his like-minded people, happened in 1936 at a session of the All-Russian Academy of Agricultural Sciences. Here the Lysenkoites, having demonstrated their “achievements,” accused genetics of practical and theoretical worthlessness. It was a completely demagogic, but precisely calculated political provocation that had dire consequences (you can learn more about the development of genetics in Russia from the book:

T.D. Lysenko, Hero of Socialist Labor, holder of seven Orders of Lenin, was apparently the only scientist in history who earned the title “great” during his lifetime. His portraits hung in all scientific institutions, and busts of the “people's academician” were sold in art salons.

The State Russian Choir sang the majestic “Glory to Academician Lysenko,” and the songbooks, published in 200,000 copies, included ditties:
Play more fun, accordion,
Me and my friend together
Academician Lysenko
Let's sing eternal glory!
He's on Michurin's road
He walks with a firm step,
Mendelists-Morganists

He won't let us be fooled!

Lysenko's theoretical platform was Lamarckism, the idea of ​​the inheritance of acquired characteristics. He used them by creating a “teaching” about breeding the desired varieties and properties by “educating” plants and animals by changing environmental conditions and calling it “Michurin biology.” At the same time, the existence of genes, mutations, and chromosomes was denied. Soon, promising to quickly restore agriculture, Lysenko became a favorite of the head of state. And Stalin believed him, believed more than the greatest scientists.

Lysenko’s career was secured under those conditions. Soft, delicate, friendly, compliant, Nikolai Ivanovich showed great strength of spirit when he had to fight for scientific truth. “I am struggling, pressed against the wall, but I will never give up,” he wrote in 1938 to his friend, the American scientist Harland. And a year later he said from the podium: “We’ll go to the stake, we’ll burn, but we won’t give up our convictions.” These words of his turned out to be prophetic.

Beginning in 1930, a personal file was opened against Vavilov, which swelled with denunciations every year. Since 1934, he was not allowed to travel abroad on business trips; in 1935, the celebration of the anniversary of VIR and the 25th anniversary of his scientific activity were prohibited; since 1935, Nikolai Ivanovich, a recent member of the Central Executive Committee, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, and the Leningrad City Council, was no longer elected anywhere.

Vavilov’s fate was also decided. He was arrested on August 6, 1940 in Chernivtsi. Nikolai Ivanovich spent a whole year in solitary confinement, enduring endless interrogations. We do not know and are unlikely to find out what he was thinking and experiencing during these days. At the very beginning of the war, the case was transferred to the military collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR, and on July 9, 1941, the trial took place.

Vavilov was judged by V.V. himself. Ulrich, chairman of the military board. What kind of trial it was can be understood at least from the protocol.

The start and end times of the meeting are not marked, the text is two pages. Nikolai Ivanovich pleaded not guilty. The arrest warrant, in particular, stated that he was one of the leaders of the anti-Soviet, espionage, counter-revolutionary organization “Labor Peasant Party” and, on his instructions, VIR conducted special research that refuted the new theories of Michurin and Lysenko.

Witnesses in the case were not questioned. The accused was sentenced to capital punishment.

Vavilov was sent to prison No. 1 in Saratov, the execution was replaced by pardon with 20 years of imprisonment. Witnesses of the last months of the scientist’s life said that Nikolai Ivanovich tried to raise the spirits of the prisoners, encouraged them, and gave them lectures on genetics. Those who survived remembered them for many years.

He died on January 26, 1943. Burial place of N.I. Vavilov is still unknown. In August 1955, the military collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR made a decision on the rehabilitation of the scientist. Soon after, the republication of his works began. In 1964, the attitude towards genetics finally changed in our country, which received the opportunity for further development. The name of Nikolai Ivanovich was given to the All-Union Institute of Genetics (1967), the Institute of General Genetics of the USSR Academy of Sciences (1983), as well as the Saratov Agricultural Institute and the All-Union Society of Genetics and Breeders. His name adorns the first page of the largest international magazine “Heredity” along with the names of Charles Darwin, G. Mendel, C. Linnaeus, and other luminaries of science. he received from their authors - the world's greatest scientists. Vavilov had a phenomenal memory: while looking at the crops in the field, he could immediately dictate entire chapters of his books to successive stenographers, with precise digital calculations and quotes... Numerous scientific, documentary and artistic publications are devoted to Vavilov’s activities, his scientific and human feats , movies. Professor P.A. was right. Baranov, a participant in several Vavilov expeditions, when he wrote: “The bright and wonderful life of Nikolai Ivanovich will long attract the attention of researchers and inspire writers... Our youth should know this great life, which can rightfully be called a feat of a scientist, should learn from it how you need to work selflessly and how you need to love your homeland and science.”

Life and work of N.I. There are many books devoted to Vavilov, of which the following can be recommended to students.

Zigunenko S.N., Malov V.I. N.I. Vavilov: Book. for students in grades 9–10. Wed school – M.: Education, 1987. – 125 p. (People of science.)

A fascinating story about the short but colorful life of N.I. awaits the young reader. Vavilov: his childhood, years of study, teachers, development as a scientist. “Life is short, you have to hurry,” Nikolai Ivanovich liked to repeat. What he did alone would be enough for a dozen other researchers.

All this is reflected on the pages of the book. And, of course, endless travels filled with risk and adventure, where he went to bring as much benefit as possible to his country in the business he was engaged in. Unfortunately, the authors practically omitted the last years of the scientist’s life, the dramatic history of the defeat of genetics in our country, the murder of many of the best representatives of Russian science, the tragic end of N.I. Vavilova... Nikolai Ivanovich Vavilov

In essays and articles by employees and associates, students and foreign colleagues of N.I. Vavilov, in the most complete collection of memoirs of contemporaries and archival materials published for the first time, almost all periods of the scientist’s life and work are revealed. They contain comprehensive information about the Vavilov family, childhood, student years, talk about the Saratov period, the organization of the All-Union Institute of Plant Growing, the Institute of Genetics of the USSR Academy of Sciences and their leadership, about the activities as president and vice-president of the All-Union Academy of Agricultural Sciences, president of the All-Union Geographical Society, talks about numerous expeditions, the appearance of this charming man is recreated.

At the end, the necessary notes on articles, memoirs and materials, as well as information about the authors, are given.

Works of N.I. Vavilova Nikolai Ivanovich Vavilov.

Five continents. – L.: Nauka, 1987. – 213 p.: ill. Vavilov N.I.

Five continents. – L.: Nauka, 1987. – 213 p.: ill. Five continents // Vavilov N.I. Five continents; Krasnov A.N. Under the tropics of Asia. M., 1987. – p. 7–171.

Five continents. – L.: Nauka, 1987. – 213 p.: ill. Genetics and agriculture: Sat. articles. – M.: Knowledge, 1968. – 60 p.

Five continents. – L.: Nauka, 1987. – 213 p.: ill. Genetics and agriculture: Sat. articles. – M.: Knowledge, 1967. 60 p.

Five continents. – L.: Nauka, 1987. – 213 p.: ill. The law of homological series in hereditary variability // Classics of Soviet genetics. – M., 1968. P. 9–57.

Five continents. – L.: Nauka, 1987. – 213 p.: ill. The law of homological series in hereditary variability. – L: Nauka, 1987. – 259 p.

Five continents. – L.: Nauka, 1987. – 213 p.: ill. Organization of agricultural science in the USSR. – M.: Agropromizdat, 1987. – 383 p.

Five continents. – L.: Nauka, 1987. – 213 p.: ill. Ways of Soviet selection // Classics of Soviet genetics. – M., 1968. – 58–84 p.

Five continents. – L.: Nauka, 1987. – 213 p.: ill. Theoretical foundations of selection. – M.: Nauka, 1987. – 511 p. Plant immunity to

Five continents. – L.: Nauka, 1987. – 213 p.: ill. infectious diseases

Five continents. – L.: Nauka, 1987. – 213 p.: ill.. – M.: Nauka, 1986. 519 p.: ill.

Works of N.I. Vavilova Selected works: In 2 volumes. in 2. L.: Nauka, 1967.

Works of N.I. Vavilova Life is short, you have to hurry. – M.: Soviet Russia, 1990. – 702 p.

From the epistolary heritage: 1911–1928. T. 5. – M.: Nauka, 1980. – 425 pp.: ill.

All this is reflected on the pages of the book. And, of course, endless travels filled with risk and adventure, where he went to bring as much benefit as possible to his country in the business he was engaged in. Unfortunately, the authors practically omitted the last years of the scientist’s life, the dramatic history of the defeat of genetics in our country, the murder of many of the best representatives of Russian science, the tragic end of N.I. Vavilova... From the epistolary heritage: 1929–1940. T. 10. – M.: Nauka, 1987. – 490 p.

All this is reflected on the pages of the book. And, of course, endless travels filled with risk and adventure, where he went to bring as much benefit as possible to his country in the business he was engaged in. Unfortunately, the authors practically omitted the last years of the scientist’s life, the dramatic history of the defeat of genetics in our country, the murder of many of the best representatives of Russian science, the tragic end of N.I. Vavilova... Literature about N.I. Vavilov

All this is reflected on the pages of the book. And, of course, endless travels filled with risk and adventure, where he went to bring as much benefit as possible to his country in the business he was engaged in. Unfortunately, the authors practically omitted the last years of the scientist’s life, the dramatic history of the defeat of genetics in our country, the murder of many of the best representatives of Russian science, the tragic end of N.I. Vavilova...//Inspiration. – M., 1988. – S. 1941.

//People of Russian science. – M., 1963. – P. 434–447.//Outstanding Soviet geneticists. – M., 1980. – P. 8–23.

Popovsky M.A. We must hurry! Travels of Academician N.I. Vavilova. – M.: Children's literature, 1968. – 221 p.: ill.

Golubev G.N. The Great Sower Nikolai Vavilov: Pages of the Life of a Scientist. – M.: Mol.

Golubev G.N. Guard, 1979. – 173 p.

Baldysh G.M., Panizovskaya G.I. Nikolai Vavilov in St. Petersburg - Petrograd - Leningrad.

L.: Lenizdat, 1987. – 287 p. Ivin M.E.

//People of Russian science. – M., 1963. – P. 434–447. The fate of Nikolai Vavilov: Documentary story, essays. L.: Soviet writer, 1991. – 411 p.

The case of Academician Vavilov. – M.: Book, 1991. – 303 p. Bakhteev F.Kh.

Nikolai Ivanovich Vavilov: 1887–1943. Novosibirsk: Nauka, 1987. – 269 p. Nikolai Ivanovich Vavilov:

to the 100th anniversary of his birth / V.I. Ivanov. – M.: Knowledge, 1987. – 63 p. Boyko V.V., Vilensky E.R.

Nikolai Ivanovich Vavilov: Pages of life and activity. – M.: Agroproimzdat, 1987. – 187 p. Revenkova A.I.

Nikolai Ivanovich Vavilov: 1887–1943. – M.: Selkhozizdat, 1962. – 271 p. Next to N.I. Vavilov:

Sat. memories. 2nd ed., add. / Yu.N. Vavilov. – M.: Sov. Russia, 1973. – 252 p.

Sinskaya E.N. Memories of N.I. Vavilov.

Sinskaya E.N.– Kyiv: Naukova Dumka, 1991. – 203 p.

Korotkova T.I. N.I. Vavilov in Saratov: 1917–1921. Documentary essays. – Saratov, 1978. – 118 p.

Going ahead of life: Pages of the Saratov biography of N.I. Vavilova. 2nd ed., add. – Saratov, 1987. – 142 p."...from convictions

We will not give up our own” N.I. Vavilov and scientists of the Kharkov region / B.P. Guryev et al. – Kharkov: “Prapor”, 1989. 123 p. Companions

Nikolai Ivanovich Vavilov: Researchers of the plant gene pool / V.A. Dragavtsev et al. - St. Petersburg, 1994. - 615 p.: ill. World

ideas of Vavilov / A.V. Kantorovich. – M.: Knowledge, 1968. – 61 p. Mednikov B.M.

The law of homological variability: To the 60th anniversary of the discovery of N.I. Vavilov law. – M.: Knowledge, 1980. – 63 p. Vavilovskoe

heritage in modern biology /E.V. Levites, A.A. Homeland. – M.: Nauka, 1989. – 365 p. Grumm-Grzhimailo A.G.

In search of the world's plant resources: Some scientific results of the travels of Academician N.I. Vavilova. 2nd ed., add. – L.: Nauka, 1986. – 149 p. Konarev V.G.

N.I. Vavilov and species problems in applied botany, genetics and selection. – M.: Agropromizdat, 1991. – 46 p. N.I. Vavilov

and agricultural science: Dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the birth of Academician Nikolai Ivanovich Vavilov / D.D. Brezhnev and others - M.: Kolos, 1969. - 423 p. Questions

geography of cultivated plants and N.I. Vavilov / L.E. Rodin. M. – L.: Nauka, 1966. – 132 p. Dyachenko S.S.

geography of cultivated plants and N.I. Vavilov / L.E. Rodin. M. – L.: Nauka, 1966. – 132 p. Vavilov's Star: Film script.

geography of cultivated plants and N.I. Vavilov / L.E. Rodin. M. – L.: Nauka, 1966. – 132 p. Ivanovich Vavilov / R.I. Goryacheva, L.M. Zhukova. – M.: 1967. – 130 p.

On numerous expeditions he collected the richest bank of plant genes

Vavilov visited 180 botanical and agronomic expeditions around the world and became one of the outstanding travelers of his time. Thanks to these trips, he collected the world's richest collection of cultivated plants, 250,000 specimens. In breeding practice, it became 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 come to the conclusion that plants have immunity, which depends on conditions environment... 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 ancestral rye, wild watermelons, melons, hemp, barley, and carrots.

Discovered the law of homological series in hereditary variability

This law with a complex name has enough simple essence: closely related plant species have similar heredity and similar variability during mutation. That is, by tracing several forms of one species, it is possible to predict possible mutations of a similar species. This discovery turned out to be very important for breeding, but also quite difficult for Vavilov. After all, at that time there were no chemicals or radiation that caused mutation, so it was necessary to look for all samples and forms of plants in nature. Here again we 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 studied 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 Growing. Another high position held by Vavilov was the president of the Lenin All-Union Academy of Agricultural Sciences (VASNILH). Here he organized a whole system of scientific institutes of agriculture: grain farms appeared in the North Caucasus, Siberia and Ukraine, and institutes dedicated to each crop separately appeared. In total, about 100 new scientific institutions were opened.

He suggested breeding in our climate tropical species plants

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 influencing the seeds low temperatures. This made it possible to control the length of the growing season, and Vavilov saw in this new opportunities for domestic selection. It would be possible to use the entire huge collection of seeds collected by Vavilov to breed new resistant hybrids and plants that did not ripen at all in the climate Soviet Union. Lysenko and Vavilov began to collaborate, but soon their paths diverged. Lysenko sought to use his idea to increase the yield, while refusing the experiments and experiments of which Vavilov was a supporter. After some time, both breeders became scientific opponents, and the Soviet authorities found themselves on Lysenko’s side. It is possible that this also influenced the decision to arrest Vavilov during the repressions. There, in prison, the life of the great geneticist was tragically cut short.

Vavilov Nikolay Ivanovich(1887-1943) - geneticist, breeder, botanist-geographer, who visited many countries and continents, who considered his scientific goal to be the renewal of the earth with the help of the best cultivated plants that meet the requirements of all geographical zones. N.I. Vavilov was the creator of the doctrine of the centers of origin of cultivated plants and their geographical distribution.

While still a student at the Moscow Institute (now the Moscow Agricultural Academy named after K.A. Timiryazev), in the summer of 1908 he made his first trip, traveling the caravan route through Transcaucasia. From there he brought his first collections. In 1916, N.I. Vavilov, already a well-known specialist, was sent by the military department to find out the causes of mass poisoning of bread in Russian troops. This trip allows him to begin studying the origins of cereals. In 1921-1922 he explored vast grain regions and, and in 1924 -. These expeditions provided rich material for the development of science about the centers of cultivated plants. For his research, the Geographical Society awarded Vavilov N.I. gold medal them. N.M. .

In 1925-1939 the scientist traveled a lot: studied Northwestern, Korea; visited the countries, Central and. The intensity of his work in the field is amazing. Vavilov conducted research in the fields, searched for cultivated and wild varieties of plants, and at the same time gave lectures and reports, and kept field diaries. They were distinguished by scrupulous care and testified to the scientist’s creative activity. In them he noted everything that he managed to observe. The scientist's field diaries contained a lot of information about the population of those he visited, their customs and way of life, the peculiarities of their management and trade. Unfortunately, many diaries have disappeared.

The study of vast areas of the globe allowed the scientist to establish seven centers, centers of cultivated plants: South Asian (the birthplace of rice, sugar cane, many tropical and vegetable crops);

East Asian (soybeans, millet, some vegetables and fruit crops);

South-West Asian (cereals, legumes, grapes, fruit crops);

(olives, fodder and vegetable crops);

(coffee tree, banana);

Central American (corn, cotton, beans, cocoa, pumpkin);

Indian (cultivated types of potatoes).

N.I. Vavilov described the results of his many years of travel in the book “Five Continents”. The scientist wrote that in these studies he himself tried to combine astronomy, botany, and cultural history. He learned about the agricultural culture of many countries, penetrated into their philosophy, studied the plant resources of the Earth in their evolution, tracing the paths and stages of the dispersal of cultivated plants from the centers of initial speciation.

In 1940 N.I. Vavilov began a comprehensive study of the western regions and. This was his last expedition. He was arrested. The monstrous “baldness” of science that occurred at this time destroyed this genius too. N.I. Vavilov, disliked by J.V. Stalin’s favorite “people’s academician” T.D. Lysenko, was declared an enemy of the people. In 1943, he died in a Saratov prison.

VAVILOV Nikolay Ivanovich(1887-1943), Russian geneticist, plant breeder, geographer, creator of the doctrine of the biological foundations of selection and centers of origin and diversity of cultivated plants, academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences and the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences (1929), academician and first president (1929-1935) of the VASKhNIL. Brother . Organized botanical and agronomic expeditions to Mediterranean countries, North Africa, North and South America, established on their territory ancient centers of origin and diversity of cultivated plants. He collected the world's largest collection of seeds of cultivated plants, laid the foundations for state variety testing of field crops. He substantiated the doctrine of plant immunity and discovered the law of homological series in the hereditary variability of organisms (1920). Author of the concept of the Linnaean species as a system (1930). Initiator of the creation of many research institutions. Member of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR (1926-1935), President of the All-Union Geographical Society (1931-1940). Prize named after V.I.Lenin (1926). In August 1940 he was arrested, accused of counter-revolutionary sabotage activities and in July 1941 sentenced to death, which was commuted in 1942 to 20 years' imprisonment. He died in a Saratov prison hospital and was posthumously rehabilitated in 1955.

VAVILOV Nikolay Ivanovich, Russian geneticist, plant breeder, geographer. Author of the law of homological series in the hereditary variability of organisms, the doctrine of the biological foundations of selection and the centers of origin and diversity of cultivated plants.

Family. Years of study

Father, Ivan Ilyich, was born in 1863 in the village of Ivashkovo, Volokolamsk district, Moscow province, into a peasant family and, thanks to his extraordinary abilities, became a major businessman. In 1918 he bought property in Bulgaria and emigrated. In 1928, with the help of his eldest son Nikolai, he returned to Russia, and soon died.

Mother, Alexandra Mikhailovna, née Postnikova, was the daughter of an engraver at the Prokhorov Manufactory.

In 1906, after graduating from the Moscow Commercial School, Vavilov entered the Moscow Agricultural Institute (formerly Petrovskaya, now Timiryazevskaya Agricultural Academy), from which he graduated in 1911.

Beginning of scientific activity. Business trip abroad

Vavilov, while still a student, began studying scientific work. In 1908, he conducted geographical and botanical research in the North Caucasus and Transcaucasia. On the occasion of Darwin’s 100th anniversary, he gave a report “Darwinism and Experimental Morphology” (1909), and in 1910 he published thesis“Naked slugs (snails) damaging fields and vegetable gardens in the Moscow province,” for which he received a prize from the Moscow Polytechnic Museum. After graduating from the institute, D.N. Pryanishnikov left him at the department of private agriculture to prepare for the rank of professor. In 1911-1912, Vavilov taught at the Golitsyn women's higher agricultural courses (Moscow). In 1912 he published a work on the connection between agronomy and genetics, where he was one of the first in the world to propose a program for using the achievements of genetics to improve cultivated plants. During these same years, Vavilov took up the problem of resistance of wheat species and varieties to diseases.

In 1913 he was sent to England, France and Germany to complete his education. Vavilov spent most of his business trip, interrupted in 1914 by the outbreak of the First World War, in England, listening to lectures at the University of Cambridge and conducting experimental work on plant immunity in Merton, near London, under the leadership of William Bateson, one of the founders of genetics. Vavilov considered Bateson his teacher. In England, he also spent several months in genetic laboratories, in particular with the famous geneticist R. Punnett. Returning to Moscow, he continued his work on plant immunity at the breeding station of the Moscow Agricultural Institute.

Vavilov in Saratov. The law of homological series in hereditary variability

In 1917, Vavilov was elected professor of the agronomic faculty of Saratov University, which soon became the Saratov Agricultural Institute, where Nikolai Ivanovich became head of the department of private agriculture and selection. In Saratov, Vavilov began field research on a number of crops and completed work on the monograph “Plant Immunity to Infectious Diseases,” published in 1919, in which he summarized his research previously carried out in Moscow and England.

The Vavilov school of researchers, botanists, plant growers, geneticists and breeders began to be created in Saratov. There, Vavilov organized and conducted an expedition to survey the species and varietal composition of field crops in the South-East of the European part of the RSFSR - the Volga and Trans-Volga regions. The results of the expedition were presented in the monograph “Field Cultures of the Southeast,” published in 1922.

At the All-Russian Selection Congress in Saratov (1920), Vavilov made a presentation on “The Law of Homologous Series in Hereditary Variation.” According to this law, genetically similar plant species are characterized by parallel and identical series of characters; Close genera and even families also show identity in the ranks of hereditary variability. The law revealed an important pattern of evolution: similar hereditary changes occur in closely related species and genera. Using this law, based on a number of signs and properties of one species or genus, one can predict the presence of similar forms in another species or genus. The law of homologous series makes it easier for breeders to find new initial forms for crossing and selection.

Botanical and agronomic expeditions of Vavilov. Theory of centers of origin and diversity of cultivated plants

Vavilov organized and conducted his first expeditions to Persia (Iran) and Turkestan, Mountainous Tajikistan (Pamir), where he repeatedly risked his life and collected hard to reach places previously unknown forms of wheat, barley, rye (1916). Here he first became interested in the problem of the origin of cultivated plants.

In 1921-1922, Vavilov became acquainted with the agriculture of vast regions of the USA and Canada. In 1924, Vavilov made a very difficult expedition to Afghanistan, which lasted five months, studying cultivated plants in detail and collecting a large amount of general geographical material.

For this expedition, the Geographical Society of the USSR awarded Vavilov a gold medal named after. Przhevalsky (“for geographical feat”). The results of the expedition are summarized in the book "Agricultural Afghanistan" (1929).

In 1926-1927, Vavilov organized and conducted a long expedition to the Mediterranean countries: Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Egypt, Syria, Palestine, Transjordan, Greece, the islands of Crete and Cyprus, Italy (including Sicily and Sardinia), Spain and Portugal, Somalia, Ethiopia and Eritrea.

In 1929, Vavilov made an expedition to Western China (Xinjiang), Japan, Korea, and the island of Formosa (Taiwan).

In 1930 - in North America(USA) and Canada, Central America, Mexico.

In 1932-1933 - to Guatemala, Cuba, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador, Uruguay, Trinidad, Puerto Rico.

Soviet expeditions, with his participation and/or leadership, discovered new types of wild and cultivated potatoes that were resistant to diseases, which was effectively used by breeders in the USSR and other countries. In these countries, Vavilov also conducted important research on the history of world agriculture.

As a result of studying the species and varieties of plants collected in Europe, Asia, Africa, North, Central and South America, Vavilov established the centers of formation, or centers of origin and diversity of cultivated plants. These centers are often called centers of genetic diversity or Vavilov centers. The work "Centers of Origin of Cultivated Plants" was first published in 1926.

According to Vavilov, cultural flora arose and was formed in relatively few centers, usually located in mountainous areas. Vavilov identified seven primary centers:

1. The South Asian tropical center (tropical India, Indochina, South China and the islands of Southeast Asia), which gave humanity rice, sugar cane, Asian varieties of cotton, cucumbers, lemon, orange, and a large number of other tropical fruit and vegetable crops.

2. East Asian center (Central and Eastern China, Taiwan Island, Korea, Japan). The homeland of soybeans, millet, tea bush, many vegetable and fruit crops.

3. South-West Asian center (Asia Minor, Iran, Afghanistan, Central Asia, North-West India), where soft wheat, rye, legumes, melon, apple, pomegranate, figs, grapes, and many other fruits originated.

4. The Mediterranean center is the birthplace of several types of wheat, oats, olives, many vegetable and fodder crops, such as cabbage, beets, carrots, garlic and onions, radishes.

5. Abyssinian, or Ethiopian, center - distinguished by the variety of forms of wheat and barley, homeland coffee tree, sorghum, etc.

6. Central American center (Southern Mexico, Central America, West Indies Islands), which produced corn, beans, upland cotton (long-fiber), vegetable peppers, cocoa, etc.

7. The Andean center (mountainous regions of South America) is the birthplace of potatoes, tobacco, tomatoes, rubber trees and others.

The theory of centers of origin of cultivated plants helped Vavilov and his collaborators assemble the world's largest collection of seeds of cultivated plants, numbering 250 thousand samples by 1940 (36 thousand samples of wheat, 10,022 of corn, 23,636 of grain legumes, etc.). Using the collection, breeders have developed over 450 varieties of agricultural plants. The world collection of seeds of cultivated plants, collected by Vavilov, his collaborators and followers, serves the cause of preserving the genetic resources of useful plants on the globe.

Who is Nikolai Ivanovich Vavilov, what contribution to the science of biology did he make, what did this outstanding naturalist become famous for?

Nikolai Vavilov - brief biography

N.I. Vavilov (1887-1943) - an outstanding Russian biologist, the founder of genetics, a famous plant breeder, one of the founders of Russian agricultural science.

The future great Soviet biologist was born into a very wealthy family for those times. His father was a fairly wealthy merchant, which provided Nikolai Ivanovich with an excellent education.

Having received a commercial education, the future outstanding biologist did not work in his specialty, since he did not feel the desire to become a merchant. The young man was more interested in the flora and living world of Russia, to the study of which he intended to devote his life.

Nikolai Ivanovich enters the Moscow Agricultural Institute, where he receives excellent knowledge that forms the “foundation” of his worldview. After graduating from this higher educational institution in 1911, he was left at the department of private agriculture, where Vavilov actively studied the flora, combining scientific and teaching activities.

The young scientist’s career is developing rapidly. Already in 1917, Vavilov became a professor at Saratov University. In 1921, he headed the department of applied botany in St. Petersburg. It is with this scientific institution that the entire subsequent life of the biologist will be connected.

Later, the department of applied botany was transformed into the All-Union Institute of Botany and New Crops, then into the All-Union Institute of Plant Growing, better known to a wide circle of gardening enthusiasts under the abbreviation VIR. Nikolai Ivanovich will head this scientific society until his arrest in 1940.

For more than 20 years of practical activity, under the leadership of an outstanding scientist, several dozen scientific expeditions were carried out, the purpose of which was to study the rich flora Russia and foreign countries, including: India, Greece, Portugal, Spain, Japan and so on.

The scientific expedition to Ethiopia carried out in 1927 brought particular value to science. During research activities Nikolai Ivanovich, it was established for certain that it was on these lands that the first varieties of wheat were first grown.

Last years life

Talent is good for those who have it. Around such people there are always a lot of spiteful critics who consider it their duty to harm and deal with the more gifted and capable people.
Noticing that Vavilov was bringing something new to science, such ignoramuses became jealous.

The outstanding abilities of brilliant people often brought only misfortune to their owners. Alas, history is replete with such examples. The difficult fate of Nikolai Ivanovich Vavilov confirms this statement.

Already an authoritative scientist, Vavilov supported the scientific works of his younger colleague Trofim Denisovich Lysenko. After some time, this once simple agronomist, with the support of Soviet ideologists, would launch an ongoing persecution of the great scientist, accusing him of participating in an anti-Soviet organization and branding his work as pseudoscience.

On false charges, Nikolai Ivanovich was arrested in 1940, and thanks to the swift execution of the court of those difficult times, after a short time Vavilov was sentenced to death. Later, for outstanding services to science, the scientist’s sentence was commuted, and capital punishment was replaced by 20 years of hard labor.

The scientist will spend little time in prison. In 1942, the heart of the great biologist stopped from hard labor conditions and constant hunger. The camp doctor, examining the body of the deceased, will make a conclusion about death as a result of a decline in cardiac activity.

In 1955, after the death of Joseph Stalin, Nikolai Ivanovich was completely rehabilitated. All charges of treason against him were dropped. The bright name of the outstanding biologist was restored, albeit posthumously. The masses of people were told what Vavilov had done for science, and his contribution to the general treasury of human knowledge received official recognition.

What new did Vavilov bring to biology?

Vavilov’s contribution to biology is difficult to overestimate. While studying the plant world, the scientist revealed to the world several thousand new plants previously unknown to mankind. The VIR research institution has created a collection of more than 300,000 plant specimens.

The law of homological series, discovered by Vavilov, determines the characteristics of hereditary variability in closely related species. According to this doctrine, similar hereditary changes occur in related plants.

It was thanks to the works of Nikolai Ivanovich that the world learned about the existence of immunity in plants. Under the leadership of the scientist, several hundred new species of zoned plants were bred, capable of growing even in atypical areas and producing significant yields.

Conclusion

The scientist’s merits have been repeatedly noted with numerous medals and recognitions. For the discovery of immunity in plants, Vavilov received the Lenin Prize, for research work in Afghanistan - the Przhevalsky medal. After rehabilitation, he was reinstated in the list of academicians of the USSR Academy of Sciences. In 1965, grateful descendants established a gold medal named after the great biologist. It was awarded for outstanding achievements in the field of agriculture. In 1967, VIR, headed by the scientist for many years, began to bear his great name.