Vavilov Nikolai

Vavilov, Nikolai [13(25) November 1887, Moscow – 26 January 1943, Saratov] — a geneticist, botanist, and geographer. A full member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR (1929) and of the Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (1929). President of the All-Union Academy of Agricultural Sciences (1929–1935) and its Vice President (1935–1940). From 1931 to 1940, he also served as President of the All-Union Geographical Society.

In 1911, he graduated from the Moscow Agricultural Institute. Vavilov laid the scientific foundations of modern plant breeding.

Between 1920 and 1940, Vavilov organized numerous botanical and agronomic expeditions in South Caucasus, including Georgia. Under his leadership, many new plant species and varieties were discovered in Georgia — among them wheat types such as Zanduri, Dika, Georgicum, and Makha. He also proposed the introduction and cultivation of new plant species in Georgia, including tea and other subtropical crops.

Vavilov was awarded the Lenin Prize (1926) and received the N. Przhevalsky Gold Medal for his geographical research in Afghanistan. He was a member and honorary member of many foreign academies and societies and received numerous state honors.

The N. Vavilov Prize (established in 1965) and the N. Vavilov Gold Medal (established in 1968) were created in his honor. In 1967, the All-Union Institute of Plant Industry was named after him.

In 1940 Vavilov was arrested by Stalin regime and subsequently sentenced to death in 1941.