Sergei Nikolaevich Alphéraky (also Alferaki; ; 14 April 1850 – ) was a Greek-Russian

ornithologist Ornithology, from Ancient Greek ὄρνις (''órnis''), meaning "bird", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", is a branch of zoology dedicated to the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related discip ...

and

entomologist Entomology (from Ancient Greek ἔντομον (''éntomon''), meaning "insect", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study") is the branch of zoology that focuses on insects. Those who study entomology are known as entomologists. In ...

who specialised in

Lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) or lepidopterans is an order (biology), order of winged insects which includes butterflies and moths. About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera have been described, representing 10% of the total described species of living organ ...

. Sergei Alphéraky was born in

Kharkov Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ukraine.

into the noble Greek family of Alferakis. He was the brother of composer Achilles Alferaki. His father, Nikos Alferakis, owned the Alferaki Palace in

Taganrog Taganrog (, ) is a port city in Rostov Oblast, Russia, on the north shore of Taganrog Bay in the Sea of Azov, several kilometers west of the mouth of the Don (river), Don River. It is in the Black Sea region. Population: Located at the site of a ...

. Sergei studied at

Moscow University Moscow State University (MSU), officially M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University,. is a public research university in Moscow, Russia. The university includes 15 research institutes, 43 faculties, more than 300 departments, and six branches. Al ...

(1867–1869), then with

Otto Staudinger Otto Staudinger (2 May 1830 – 13 October 1900) was a German entomologist and a natural history dealer considered one of the largest in the world specialising in the collection and sale of insects to museums, scientific institutions, and indi ...

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

(1871–1873). He also studied taxidermy techniques in Paris from

Émile Deyrolle Émile Deyrolle (1838–1917) was a French naturalist and natural history dealer in Paris. The business was originally owned by his naturalist grandfather, Jean-Baptiste Deyrolle who opened his shop in 1831 at 23, Rue de la Monnaie. Émile’s fa ...

. On his return to Russia he worked on the Lepidoptera of the Taganrog,

Rostov-on-Don Rostov-on-Don is a port city and the administrative centre of Rostov Oblast and the Southern Federal District of Russia. It lies in the southeastern part of the East European Plain on the Don River, from the Sea of Azov, directly north of t ...

region. He also collected in the North

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

. After that he devoted himself to the insects, especially Lepidoptera, of

Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...

. He worked on the Lepidoptera collected by

Nikolai Przhevalsky Nikolay Mikhaylovich Przhevalsky (or Prjevalsky;; , . – ) was a Russian geographer and a renowned explorer of Central and East Asia. Although he never reached his ultimate goal, the city of Lhasa in Tibet, he still travelled through regio ...

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...

held by the

Zoological Museum of the Russian Academy of Science The Zoological Museum of the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences is a Russian museum devoted to zoology. It is located in Saint Petersburg, on Universitetskaya Embankment. It is one of the ten largest nature history museum ...

and those collected by Grigorij Nikolaevich Potanin in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

and

Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...

in the same institution. Later he studied the collections made by

Alfred Otto Herz Alfred Otto Herz (14 October 1856 in Hoyerswerda, Silesia – 12 July 1905) was a German entomologist who specialised in Lepidoptera and Coleoptera. He was employed as a collector and preparator by the Otto Staudinger - Andreas Bang-Haas insect d ...

Amur The Amur River () or Heilong River ( zh, s=黑龙江) is a perennial river in Northeast Asia, forming the natural border between the Russian Far East and Northeast China (historically the Outer Manchuria, Outer and Inner Manchuria). The Amur ...

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

and

Kamchatka The Kamchatka Peninsula (, ) is a peninsula in the Russian Far East, with an area of about . The Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Okhotsk make up the peninsula's eastern and western coastlines, respectively. Immediately offshore along the Pacific ...

, and those of Nicholas Mikhailovich Romanoff (Grand Duke Nicholas Mikhailovich), a friend from his two years at Moscow University. He was an honorary member of both the

Russian Entomological Society The Russian Entomological Society is a Russian scientific society devoted to entomology. The Society was founded in 1859 in St. Petersburg by Karl Ernst von Baer, Johann Friedrich von Brandt who was then the director of the Zoological Museum of ...

and the

Royal Entomological Society The Royal Entomological Society is a learned society devoted to the study of insects. It aims to disseminate information about insects and to improve communication between entomologists. The society was founded in 1833 as the Entomological S ...

of London. Alphéraky was arrested in Petrograd during the

Russian revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

in 1917 and according to some sources he was shot dead right there, while others believe he was imprisoned and shot in 1919.

Works

Partial list *1875–1878. "Cheshuekrylyya (Lepidoptera) okrestnostei Taganroga (The Butterflies (Lepidoptera) of the environs of Taganrog)" ''Trudy RusskagoEntomologicheskago obshchestva'', 8: 150–226 (1875); 10: 35–53 (1876); 11: 45–50 (1878) (in Russian). *1881–1883. "Lépidoptères du district de Kouldjà et des montagnes environ-nantes." ''Horae Societatis Entomologicae Rossica'', 16: 334–435, (1881); 17: 15–103 (1882), 156–227 (1883) (in French). *"Lépidoptères rapportés du Thibet par le Général N.M. Przewalsky de son voyage de 1884-1885." ''Mémoires sur les Lépidoptères'', 5: 59-80 Edited by Nicholas Mikhailovich Romanoff. 1889 *1905. ''The Geese of Europe and Asia''. London, Rowland Ward. 1905. 24 plates by

Frederick William Frohawk Frederick William Frohawk (16 July 1861 – 10 December 1946) was an English zoological artist and lepidopterist. Frohawk was the author of ''Natural History of British Butterflies'' (1914), ''The Complete Book of British Butterflies'' (1934) ...

. *1908. "Cheshuekryle Okrenestei Taganroga (The Butterflies of the environs of Taganrog)." Supplément III. ''Horae Societatis Entomologicae Rossica'', 38:558–618 (in French and Russian).

Notes

References

*Korolev, Vladimir A. & Murzin, Vladimir S. (January 30, 2008)
"Alphéraky, Sergei Nikolaevich (1850-1918)"
''Российская наука и мир''.

External links

Genera of moths described by Alphéraky
''Butterflies and Moths of the World''. Natural History Museum, London. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
The geese of Europe and Asia (1905)
Lepidopterists 1850 births 1918 deaths Scientists from Kharkiv 19th-century biologists from the Russian Empire People from the Russian Empire of Greek descent Date of death unknown Ornithologists from the Russian Empire {{entomologist-stub