Lev Osipovich Belopolsky (4 July 1907 – 5 November 1990) was a Soviet ornithologist and marine biologist who founded the Biological Station of the Zoological Institute in Rybachiy. He worked extensively on polar ecology, especially in the

Barents Sea The Barents Sea ( , also ; no, Barentshavet, ; russian: Баренцево море, Barentsevo More) is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, located off the northern coasts of Norway and Russia and divided between Norwegian and Russian territo ...

and the

Curonian Spit The Curonian (Courish) Spit ( lt, Kuršių nerija; russian: Ку́ршская коса́ (Kurshskaya kosa); german: Kurische Nehrung, ; lv, Kuršu kāpas) is a long, thin, curved sand-dune spit that separates the Curonian Lagoon from the Balti ...

, and produced works on the biology of the birds of the region. Belopolsky was born in

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

. He studied at the

Moscow State 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 ...

, graduating in 1930. He obtained a doctorate in 1945. He took part in oceanographic research aboard the icebreakers '' A. Sibiryakov'' (1932) and '' Chelyuskin'' (1933–1934); the latter expedition ended in disaster with the ship being crushed by ice and the rescue involved the survivors building a runway on ice for the rescue aircraft to land. The incident was famous in its time and used by

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...

for propaganda. Belopolsky was one of the survivors and he received high honours from the Soviet Union for his participation. In early 1950, Belopolsky's brother was held on trial for allegedly spying for England, and was shot dead. Both of Belopolsky's parents were arrested and sent to labour camps, and he too was sentenced for five years in Siberia in 1952. He had to return his awards, and it was only after Stalin's death that Belopolsky was released from prison camp. He was rehabilitated and joined the Zoological Institute at Leningrad. The director-professor

Yevgeny Pavlovsky Yevgeny Nikanorovich Pavlovsky (russian: Евге́ний Никано́рович Павло́вский ; 22 February (N.S. 5 March) 1884, today's Voronezh Oblast – 27 May 1965, Leningrad) was a Soviet zoologist, entomologist, academician of ...

allowed him to continue his research in the Baltic. In 1956, Belopolsky persuaded the Soviet authorities to reestablish the

Rossitten Bird Observatory The Rossitten Bird Observatory (''Vogelwarte Rossitten'' in German) was the world's first ornithological observatory. It was sited at Rossitten, East Prussia (now Rybachy, Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia), on the Curonian Spit on the south-eastern coa ...

, and then became its director. He described the subspecies '' Parus atricapillus anadyrensis'' in 1932.Belopolski, L. (1932). Parus atricapillus anadyrensis subsp. nov. Ornithologische Monatsberichte. 40(4):122.

References

1907 births 1990 deaths Moscow State University alumni Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Recipients of the Order of the Red Star Soviet ornithologists Soviet marine biologists {{ornithologist-stub