Oleg Vladimirovitch Polunin (November 1914 – July 1985) was an English

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

, teacher and traveller. He was one of three sons to the artists

Vladimir Vladimir may refer to: Names * Vladimir (name) for the Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Macedonian, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak and Slovenian spellings of a Slavic name * Uladzimir for the Belarusian version of the name * Volodymyr for the Ukr ...

(born in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

) and

Elizabeth Polunin Elizabeth Violet Polunin (née Hart; 21 May 1887- 1950) was a British artist and theatre designer, most notably for her work with Sergei Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes. Life and work Polunin was born in Ashford, Kent and when she was a ...

. All three sons were interested in the natural sciences:

Nicholas Polunin Nicholas is a male given name and a surname. The Eastern Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Anglican Churches celebrate Saint Nicholas every year on December 6, which is the name day for "Nicholas". In Greece, the name and its d ...

(1909–1997) was an arctic explorer and environmentalist, and

Ivan Polunin Ivan Polunin (1920–2010) was a medical doctor, author, teacher, documentary filmmaker, and photographer. He is best known for his rare colour films, which document cultural traditions and wildlife in Singapore and Malaysia from the 1950s. The ...

(1920–2010) was a medical doctor, photographer and ethnographist. Educated at

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College (, ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million as of 2019 and one of the s ...

in biology faculty, Oleg Polunin taught at

Charterhouse School (God having given, I gave) , established = , closed = , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , president ...

Godalming Godalming is a market town and civil parish in southwest Surrey, England, around southwest of central London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, at the confluence of the Rivers Wey and Ock. The civil parish covers and includes the settleme ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

, for over 30 years, later devoting his time to writing popular and authoritative guides to the flora of Europe and the

Himalaya The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...

. His most well-known work is ''Flowers of Europe'' (1969), a classic text for both botanists and general readers. Polunin travelled widely in pursuit of samples and photographs, and he discovered several new species. He was awarded the

Linnean Society The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature colle ...

’s

H. H. Bloomer Award The H. H. Bloomer Award is an award of the Linnean Society, established in 1963 from a legacy by the amateur naturalist Harry Howard Bloomer, which is awarded to "an amateur naturalist who has made an important contribution to biological knowledge. ...

in 1983.Recipients of the H. H. Bloomer Award

Selected books

* ''Flowers of the Mediterranean'' (Chatto & Windus, 1967) * ''Flowers of Europe: a field guide'' (Oxford University Press, 1969) * ''A Concise Flowers of Europe'' (Oxford University Press, 1972) * ''Flowers of South West Europe'' (Oxford University Press, 1973, ) * ''Trees and Bushes of Europe'' (Oxford University Press, 1976) * ''Flowers of Greece and the Balkans'' (Oxford University Press, 1980, ) * ''Flowers of the Himalaya'' (Oxford University Press, 1985) * ''A Guide to the Vegetation of Britain and Europe'' (Oxford University Press, 1985, ) * ''Concise Flowers of the Himalaya'' (Oxford University Press, 1987) * ''Collins Photoguide to Wild Flowers of Britain and Northern Europe'' (Collins, 1988, )

References

1914 births 1985 deaths 20th-century British botanists English people of Russian descent Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford English schoolteachers {{UK-botanist-stub