Wladimir Besnard (1890,

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 ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

– 1960,

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

) was a French biologist and Brazilian oceanographer, and is considered to be the father of Brazilian

oceanography Oceanography (), also known as oceanology and ocean science, is the scientific study of the oceans. It is an Earth science, which covers a wide range of topics, including ecosystem dynamics; ocean currents, waves, and geophysical fluid dynamic ...

.Homenagem aos mestres: esculturas na USP, vol. 5 of "Cadernos CPC", 2002,
Biographical sketch of W. Besnard
/ref> He was 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. ...

of French parents. As a biologist he is credited (together with Theodore Monod) with the discovery of the skeleton of the

Asselar man Asselar man is a Later Stone Age skeleton discovered by Theodore Monod and Wladimir Besnard (in various sources incorrectly named M.M. Besnard or M.V. Besnard) in 1927, in the Adrar des Ifoghas. The massif is located near Essouk in what is now ...

in 1927 (although various sources refer to him as M.M. Besnard or M.V. Besnard). An oceanographic ship, some undersea features (Besnard Bank, Besnard Passage), and a street in São Paulo (Rua Professor Wladimir Besnard) are named in his honor.

Oceanographic ship

During 1967-2008 Brazil operated ''Professor W. Besnard'', its only

oceanographic vessel A research vessel (RV or R/V) is a ship or boat designed, modified, or equipped to carry out research at sea. Research vessels carry out a number of roles. Some of these roles can be combined into a single vessel but others require a dedicated ...

at that time. The ship was launched on August 18, 1966 from the shipyard Mjellem & Karlsen,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

, and belonged to the Institute of Oceanography of the

University of São Paulo The University of São Paulo ( pt, Universidade de São Paulo, USP) is a public university in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. It is the largest Brazilian public university and the country's most prestigious educational institution, the best ...

. In 1988 the ship suffered damage from a fire. In 2012 a new ship, ''

Alpha Crucis Acrux is the brightest star in the southern constellation of Crux. It has the Bayer designation α Crucis, which is Latinised to Alpha Crucis and abbreviated Alpha Cru or α Cru. With a combined visual magnitude of +0.76, it is the 1 ...

'', has replaced the ''Professor W. Besnard''."Novo navio oceanográfico da USP já está a caminho do Brasil"
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Besnard, Wladimir 1890 births 1960 deaths 20th-century French biologists French oceanographers Brazilian biologists French expatriates in the Russian Empire French emigrants to Brazil

Oceanographic ship

See also

References