Aleksandr Vasiljevich Fomin was a Russian botanist that lived during the reign of the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
. He studied ferns and seed plants.
He was also a director of the Kiev University Botanical Garden; which was renamed after him, when he died.
Biography
He was born in the village of Ermolevka in
Petrovsk, Saratov Oblast
Petrovsk (russian: Петро́вск) is a town in Saratov Oblast, Russia, located on the Medveditsa River (left tributary of the Don) northwest of Saratov, the administrative center of the oblast. Population:
History
Petrovsk is an old mer ...
on (.
From 1888 to 1890, Fomin along with Nicolaĭ Adolfowitsch Busch and Nikolai Ivanovich Kuznetsov, funded by the
Russian Geographical Society
The Russian Geographical Society (russian: Ру́сское географи́ческое о́бщество «РГО»), or RGO, is a learned society based in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It promotes geography, exploration and nature protection wi ...
, took several botanical and geographical expeditions to the Caucasus.
In 1893, he graduated from
Moscow University
M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU; russian: Московский государственный университет имени М. В. Ломоносова) is a public research university in Moscow, Russia and the most prestigious ...
.
In 1896, he became a graduate assistant at the Universität Dorpat (now known as the University of Tartu,
Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
).
Foin, Busch and Kuznetsov later wrote 'Flora Caucasica critica' (Materially dlia flory Kavkaza : kriticheskoe sistematichesko-geograficheskoe izsliedovanie), which was published between 1901 and 1913. It was written as a special supplement to the journal 'Trudy Sankt-Peterburgskogo obshchestva estestvoispytatelei', v. 31, pt. 3, 1901, and v. 34, pt. 3 1905–1908. This published several new species of plant including, Arabidopsis pumila,
In 1902 he became a botanist at the Tbilisi Botanical Gardens.
Between 1907 and 1919, he wrote 'Kavkaza i Kryma' (Flora of the European part of Russia, An illustrated key to the wild plants of European part of Russia and Crimea) with
Yury Nikolaevich Voronov
Yury Nikolaevitch Voronov (; 1 June 1874 in Tiflis – 10 December 1931 in Leningrad) was a Russian botanist. He worked at the Botanical Garden in Leningrad.
Alternative transcriptions of his name into the Latin alphabet include Jurij Nikolaew ...
, about plant species in the
Caucasus
The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range, have historically ...
. Although, it was unfinished due to the start of the First World War.
He also wrote in 1907 'Cucurbitaceae i Companulaceae flory Kaukaza'.
In 1914, Fomin became a professor at the
University of Kiev
Kyiv University or Shevchenko University or officially the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv ( uk, Київський національний університет імені Тараса Шевченка), colloquially known as KNU ...
, (under O. Fomin).
Between 1914 and 1935, he served as director of the
Saint Vladimir University
Kyiv University or Shevchenko University or officially the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv ( uk, Київський національний університет імені Тараса Шевченка), colloquially known as KNU ...
Botanical Garden,
Kiev
Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...
, Ukraine. During the severe winter of 1919–1920, he and his team saved many green-house plant collections from the frost.
In 1921, he founded the
National Herbarium of Ukraine
The National Herbarium of Ukraine is a repository of plant specimens, in Kyiv, Ukraine. It was established in 1921 by Professor O. Fomin, who was its first Curator. It is now part of the M.G. Kholodny Institute of Botany, at the National Acade ...
, which holds his specimens.
In 1922, Fomin founded the botany department at the Botanical Garden, that was reorganized in 1927 into the 'Scientific-Research Botany Institute' (now the Institute of Botany named after Kholodny Academy of Sciences of Ukraine).
When he died in 1935, the university renamed the garden, the
A.V. Fomin Botanical Garden
The A.V. Fomin Botanical Garden (sometimes translitterated as O.V. Fomin Botanical Garden) is one of the oldest botanical gardens in Ukraine, located in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine.http://www.botanic.kiev.ua/#eng/ , (Ukrainian) In 1839 the Sain ...
.
An extensive collection of species collected from the Caucasus is stored within the sheltered herbarium at
University of Tartu
The University of Tartu (UT; et, Tartu Ülikool; la, Universitas Tartuensis) is a university in the city of Tartu in Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is the only classical university in the country, and also its biggest ...
, in
Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
Iris acutiloba
''Iris acutiloba'' is a species in the genus ''Iris'', it is also in the subgenus of ''Iris'' and section ''Oncocyclus''. It is a rhizomatous perennial, from the mountains of the Caucasus and found in Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, D ...
var. schelkowinkowii,
Myriophyllum spicatum
''Myriophyllum spicatum'' (Eurasian watermilfoil or spiked water-milfoil) is native to Europe, Asia, and north Africa, but has a wide geographic and climatic distribution among some 57 countries, extending from northern Canada to South Africa. It ...
Alexander Alfonsovich Grossheim
Alexander Alfonsovich Grossheim (6 March 1888 – 4 December 1948) was a Soviet botanist of German descent. He traveled widely over the Caucasus region collecting and studying various different plant life. He is most known for Pteridophytes and S ...
Juncus fominii
''Juncus'' is a genus of monocotyledonous flowering plants, commonly known as rushes. It is the largest genus in the family Juncaceae, containing around 300 species.
Description
Rushes of the genus ''Juncus'' are herbaceous plants that superfici ...