Andrei Sergeyevich Famintsyn (russian: Андрей Серге́евич Фаминцын; June 29 ( O.S. June 17), 1835 in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

– December 8, 1918 in Petrograd) was a

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

botanist, public figure, and

academician An academician is a full member of an artistic, literary, engineering, or scientific academy. In many countries, it is an honorific title used to denote a full member of an academy that has a strong influence on national scientific life. In syst ...

of the

Petersburg Academy of Sciences The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; russian: Росси́йская акаде́мия нау́к (РАН) ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across t ...

(1884).

Career

Famintsyn attended Saint Petersburg State University and studied under Russian fungal expert Lev Semionovich Tsenkovsky. In 1861, he continued his scientific career as a teacher at his alma mater and became a professor (1867-1889). In 1890, Famintsyn founded and headed the Laboratory of Plant Anatomy and Physiology of the Academy of Sciences (today's Timiryazev Institute of Plant Physiology of the

Russian Academy of Sciences The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; russian: Росси́йская акаде́мия нау́к (РАН) ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across ...

). Famintsyn is considered the founding father of the Petersburg School of plant physiologists ( Ivan Borodin, Alexander Batalin, Dmitry Ivanovsky and others). In 1887, he authored the first Russian textbook on plant physiology. In 1906-1909, he was the president of the

Free Economic Society Free Economic Society for the Encouragement of Agriculture and Husbandry (russian: Вольное экономическое общество) was Russia's first learned society which formally did not depend on the government and as such came to ...

. In 1915, Famintsyn was elected honorary president of the Russian Botanical Society.

Research

His major works were dedicated to

photosynthesis Photosynthesis is a process used by plants and other organisms to convert light energy into chemical energy that, through cellular respiration, can later be released to fuel the organism's activities. Some of this chemical energy is stored i ...

and

plant metabolism Plant physiology is a subdiscipline of botany concerned with the functioning, or physiology, of plants. Closely related fields include plant morphology (structure of plants), plant ecology (interactions with the environment), phytochemistry (bio ...

. He was the first to use artificial light for plant growing and research (1868). Famintsyn showed that

carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide ( chemical formula ) is a chemical compound made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in the gas state at room temperature. In the air, carbon dioxide is trans ...

conversion by plants and formation of starch may occur under artificial lighting. He and his student Osip Baranetsky were the first to separate unicellular green algae from

lichens A lichen ( , ) is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship.symbiosis of algae with

radiolaria The Radiolaria, also called Radiozoa, are protozoa of diameter 0.1–0.2 mm that produce intricate mineral skeletons, typically with a central capsule dividing the cell into the inner and outer portions of endoplasm and ectoplasm. The el ...

and he developed a theory of

symbiogenesis Symbiogenesis (endosymbiotic theory, or serial endosymbiotic theory,) is the leading evolutionary theory of the origin of eukaryotic cells from prokaryotic organisms. The theory holds that mitochondria, plastids such as chloroplasts, and pos ...

, alongside

Konstantin Mereschkowski Konstantin Sergeevich Mereschkowski ( rus, Константи́н Серге́евич Мережко́вский, p=mʲɪrʲɪˈʂkofskʲɪj; – 9 January 1921) was a prominent Russian biologist and botanist, active mainly around Kazan, Tat ...

Career

Research

References

Further reading