Stoycho Vassilev Breskovski ( bg, Стойчо Василев Бресковски) (December 25, 1934, Granit,

Stara Zagora Province Stara Zagora ( bg, Област Стара Загора), formerly known as the Stara Zagora okrug, is a province of south-central Bulgaria. It is named after its administrative and industrial centre—the city of Stara Zagora—the sixt ...

, Bulgaria – January 15, 2004, Sofia, Bulgaria) was a Bulgarian paleontologist.

Biography

Stoycho Breskovski was the only son of

educator A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

s Vassil Stoychev Breskovski (1902 - 1978) and Paraskeva () Breskovska (1906 - 1988). After receiving his primary and secondary education in

Plovdiv Plovdiv ( bg, Пловдив, ), is the second-largest city in Bulgaria, standing on the banks of the Maritsa river in the historical region of Thrace. It has a population of 346,893 and 675,000 in the greater metropolitan area. Plovdiv is the c ...

, he studied geology at Sofia University and graduated in 1958. Then, he took active part in Bulgarian geological survey and in the preparation of the

geologic map A geologic map or geological map is a special-purpose map made to show various geological features. Rock units or geologic strata are shown by color or symbols. Bedding planes and structural features such as faults, folds, are shown with st ...

of Bulgaria at scale of 1:200,000. Later Dr. Breskovski was noted for his research on Lower Cretaceous, Barremian fauna. He was also credited for discovering, identifying and discerning several families,

subfamilies In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...

genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...

and species of ammonites. From 1974 to 1995 Breskovski had been research associate and curator of the paleontology collection at the National Museum of Natural History in Sofia. He contributed to the collections at the natural history museums in the Bulgarian cities of Elena, Rousse, Razgrad, and

Shumen Shumen ( bg, Шумен, also romanized as ''Shoumen'' or ''Šumen'', ) is the tenth largest city in Bulgaria and the administrative and economic capital of Shumen Province. Etymology The city was first mentioned as ''Šimeonis'' in 1153 by t ...

. In later age he tried to reconcile his various hobbies of collecting stamps, pocket calendars, phillumeny and

philately Philately (; ) is the study of postage stamps and postal history. It also refers to the collection and appreciation of stamps and other philatelic products. Philately involves more than just stamp collecting or the study of postage; it is poss ...

with science. His older sister,

Vesselina Breskovska Vesselina Vassileva Breskovska (Bulgarian: Веселина Василева Бресковска) (December 6, 1928, Granit, Stara Zagora Province, Bulgaria – August 12, 1997, Sofia, Bulgaria) was a 20th-century Bulgarian geologist, min ...

, was professor of

mineralogy Mineralogy is a subject of geology specializing in the scientific study of the chemistry, crystal structure, and physical (including optical) properties of minerals and mineralized artifacts. Specific studies within mineralogy include the proces ...

, dean and vice rector at Sofia University. He was survived by his wife of 42 years and fellow paleontologist, Nona Motekova, a son and a daughter, a granddaughter and a grandson, and a siamese cat.

Honors

A genus and two species of Lower Cretaceous ammonites bear his name.

Selected bibliography

* V. Tzankov, S. Breskovski (1985), Ammonites des familles ''Holcodiscidae'' Spath, 1924 et ''Astieridiscidae'' Tzankov & Breskovski, 1982. II. Description paléontologique, ''Geologica Balcanica'', 15.5, 3-53. * V. Tzankov, S. Breskovski (1985), Ammonites des familles ''Holcodiscidae'' Spath, 1924 et ''Astieridiscidae'' Tzankov & Breskovski, 1982. I. Stratigraphie et notes phylogénétiques, ''Geologica Balcanica'', 15.3, 45-62. * V. Tzankov, S Breskovski (1982), Volume et contenu de la famille ''Holcodiscidae'' Spath, 1924, ''C.R. Acad. bulg. Sci.'', 35, 4, 491-93. * St. Breskovski (1980), Des genres nouveaux du Crétacé inférieur de la famille ''Desmoceratidae'' Zittel, 1895 (Ammonoidea). ''C.R. Acad. bulg. Sci.'', 33, 2; 245-48.
St Breskovski (1977), Sur la classification de la famille ''Desmoceratidae'' Zittel, 1895 (Ammonoidea, Crétacé), ''C. R. Acad. bul. sci'', 30, 6: 891-4

St. Breskovski (1977), Genres nouveaux du Crétacé inférieur de la famille ''Desmoceratidae'' Zittel, 1895 (Ammonoidea). ''C.R. Acad. bulg. Sci.'', 30, 10; 1463-65

S. Breskovski (1975), Les zones et sous-zones ammonitiques dans l'étage Barrémien en Bulgarie du Nord-Est, ''Geologica Balcanica'', N.S., 5, 46-66

St. Breskovski (1967), ''Eleniceras'' - genre nouveau d'ammonites hautériviens, ''Bull. Geol. Inst., Ser. Paleontology'', 16: 47-52
* T. Nikolov, St. Breskovski, (1969), ''Abrytusites'' – nouveau genre d’ammonites barrémiennes. ''Bull. Geol. Inst., ser. Paleontology'', 18, 91-96.
Стойчо Бресковски (1966), Биостратиграфия на барема южно от Брестак, Варненско [Biostratigaphie du Barrémien au Sud du village de Brestak, dans la région de Varna
/nowiki>, ''Тр. Геолог Бълг., сер. Палеонтология'', 8, 71-121].

Notes

References

C. W. Wright with J.H. Callomon and M.K. Howarth (1996), ''Mollusca 4 Revised, Cretaceous Ammonoidea'', vol. 4
in '' Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology'', Part L (Roger L. Kaesler et el. eds.), Boulder, Colorado: The Geological Society of America & Lawrence, Kansas: University of Kansas Press, xx + 362 p., 216 fig. * Jost Wiedmann, ''Cretaceous Ammonoidea'', i
M.R. House and J.R. Senior eds (1981), ''Ammonoidea, Environment, Ecology and Evolutionary Change'' , London: Academic Press, Systematics Association Special Volume. 18

Natalia Dimitrova (1967), ''Fosilite na Bulgaria. IV. Dolna Kreda - Glavonogi'' [Fossils of Bulgaria. IV. Lower Crateceous - Cephalopoda (Nautiloidea & Ammonoidea)
/nowiki>, Sofia: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 424 p., 93 pl. (In Bulgarian with French summary)].
Maria B. Aguirre-Urreta, Peter F. Rawson (2003), Lower Cretaceous ammonites from the Neuquén Basin, Argentina: The Hauterivian genus ''Holcoptychites'', ''Cretaceous Research'' 24, 589-613.

M. Matsukawa, I. Obata & K. Sato (2007), Barremian Ammonite Fauna of the Lower Ishido Formation, eastern part of Sanchu Cretaceous, Japan, ''Bull. of Tokyo Gakugei Univ. Nat. Sci''., 59, 77-87.

Hosni Hamama (2010), Barremian and Aptian Mollusca of Gabal Mistan and Gabal Um Mitmani, Al-Malghara Area, Northern Sinai, Egypt, ''Journal of American Science'', 6(12), at 1704.

Zdeněk Vašíček (2010), Early Cretaceous ammonites from the Butkov Quarry (Manin Unit, Central Western Carpathians, Slovakia), ''Acta Geologica Polonica'', Vol. 60, No.3, 393-415.

Peter F. Rawson, M. Beatriz Aguirre-Urreta (2012), Lower Cretaceous ammonites from the Neuquén Basin, Argentina: The Hauterivian genus ''Spidiscus'', ''Cretaceous Research'' 33, 97-105.

External links

* * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Breskovski, Stoycho Bulgarian geologists 1934 births 2004 deaths Bulgarian paleontologists People from Stara Zagora Province Sofia University alumni 20th-century Bulgarian zoologists 20th-century geologists