Ivan Borodin is a popularizer of science, Russian botanist, academician, founder of the Russian nature conservation movement. One of the founders of the ethical and aesthetic approach to nature conservation and wildlife conservation developed the ideas of Hugo Convention on the cultural and moral component of nature conservation. He studied the physiology and anatomy of plants, including the distribution of chlorophyll in their green parts.
Ivan Parfenievich was born into the family of a hereditary noblewoman and a staff captain. The scientist's brother Alexander became one of the founders of the domestic steam locomotive building, a scientist in the field of railway transport.
Successful choice of the future
The biography of the future scientist began in 1847. On January 18 (30), he was born in Krechevitsy. The early childhood of the future academician passed there. The life of Ivan Parfenievich can be compared to the gripping narrative of scientific longevity. This was facilitated by adherence to a favorite work, hard work, gentle and delicate character.
Borodin showed in practice how it is possible to transform botany, which seems boring to many, into a business that is most useful for the Fatherland, turning it into a promising scientific direction. After the father's death, the mother raised her sons alone. She gave the children an education, taught them to work. In the gymnasium, Ivan not only studied diligently, but also worked as a tutor to help the family.
After successfully completing his studies, Borodin continued his education at the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics in the Department of Natural Sciences at St. Petersburg University. Immediately after completing his studies, Ivan Parfenievich was invited to teach botany at the Forest Institute.
At 33, the young man became a professor, and in 1902 he was elected an academician of the Imperial Academy of Sciences. The students loved the new teacher very much. His lectures were notable for their imagery and brightness. Borodin treated his students strictly, but kindly and fairly. At his home student societies gathered.
Soon the members of the "Little Botany" circle were named an honorary member of the educator.
Scientific creativity
Ivan Parfenievich created the Botanical Cabinet. For the first time in the Russian system of higher education, practical and excursion classes were introduced.
The famous textbooks "Short course of botany" and "Course of plant anatomy" belong to the authorship of the scientist. The students called them "Little and Big Borodin". The works that survived more than 10 reprints were a huge success in the country. Ivan Parfenievich became famous as the founder of scientific forestry and botanical schools, as well as the study of the ecological physiology of plants.
His specialization, the scientist chose one of the most unexplored processes, the respiration of plants. For his dissertation "Physiological research on the respiration of leaf shoots" in 1876 he received a master's degree in botany.
In 1896 Borodin organized and helped to equip a freshwater biological station on Lake Bologoye in the Novgorod province, which became one of the first in the country.
Worldwide recognition
Borodin was brought by his discovery of chlorophyll crystals, later called "Borodin crystals". Also, the scientist established a "breathing curve". He also realized himself as a universal scientist of a new type. New business Borodin created the national Russian herbarium. It includes over 5,000 plant species from all over the country in 40 thousand copies.
The collection is kept and used at the Forestry Academy at the Department of Botany and Dendrology. The herbarium is recognized as a reference. It serves to compare the species that have survived and have already disappeared in nature. Becoming the director of the Botanical Museum of the Academy of Sciences in 1890, Ivan Parfenievich turned the collection-warehouse into a scientific laboratory of floristry and plant taxonomy.
At the suggestion of the scientist, the Russian Botanical Society was founded in 1915. The academician remained its president until his death. The organization united botanists from all over the country on a mission of research and education. Since 1916, the Journal of the Russian Botanical Society was published. In the publication, Borodin, who became the editor-in-chief, introduced readers to the works of Mendel, acting as a popularizer of science and disseminator of knowledge about genetics.
An outstanding merit of the professor was the organization of environmental protection in the country. He started it in 189 on the basis of the activities of Hugo Convent, a German scientist, creator of nature reserves. In 1909, the academician made a report at the congress of naturalists "On the preservation of areas of vegetation that are interesting from a botanical and geographical point of view." The following year, the article "Protection of Natural Monuments" was written, which became one of the first national books on environmental protection.
According to the project of the scientist, it was created in 1912 at the Imperial Geographical Society. Permanent Environmental Commission, the country's first coordinating environmental organization. Two years later, a draft law on the protection of natural monuments was developed, and an All-Russian Environmental Exhibition was prepared.
Vocation and family
In 1915, the principles of nature reserve management were developed. The Barguzinsky Nature Reserve was created on Lake Baikal. Projects have been proposed for the creation of steppe reserves, as well as the Caucasian one for the preservation of the local variety of bison. The activities of societies for the protection of nature in the country began, the publication of periodicals.
The famous figure passed away on March 5, 1930.
It was Borodin who laid the foundations of the national reserve management. Many plants are named after the academician, for example, the alga Borodinella.
In 2006, the name of the Borodin brothers was given to a street in Krechevitsy. The scientist's personal life was also happily settled. His wife was a publicist and writer Alexandra Peretz.
The firstborn, daughter Inna, was born in the family in 1878. She became a historian, archivist. Mirra, her younger sister, was born in 1882.
