Anna Semenovna Schchian (russian: Анна Семёновна Шхиян, 9 July 1905 – 15 May 1990) was a Soviet botanist, working in the Tbilisi Botanical Institute. She is known for her studies of the flora of the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia (country), Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range ...

. The plant '' Allium schchianiae'' is named after her.

Biography

Anna Semenova Schchian was born on 9 July 1905 in

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura River with a population of approximately 1.5 million p ...

to a family of teachers. Her passion for natural history led her to the agricultural faculty of Tbilisi State Polytechnic Institute, later named Tbilisi State University. In 1929 she moved to Armenia, where she took part in reforesting around the resort of

Arzni Arzni ( hy, Արզնի, aii, ܐܪܙܢܝ, Russian language, Russian: Арзни), is a resort village in the Kotayk Province of Armenia located on in the Hrazdan canyon. Modern village was founded on the place of old Armenian village called Arzni ...

. In 1933 she moved to work in the biological section of the Transcaucasian branch of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR in Tbilisi, which in 1934 became the newly established Botanical Institute, Tbilisi. At this time she engaged in significant scientific research, including floristic and geobotanical expeditions across the Caucasus, working up systematic descriptions of complex genera and families, and defending a dissertation. A great deal of work was done by her on activities of general economic importance to the people of

Transcaucasia The South Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia or the Transcaucasus, is a geographical region on the border of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Arme ...

, this included studying the certification process of winter pastures in a number of districts in the

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of t ...

SSR, conducting a geobotanical survey of the forests of the southern Caucasus, mapping and listing of the plants of region, and conducting research into wild fruiting trees of the forests of eastern

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. The results of this work appear in her collection "Useful Plants." Of particular importance in Schchian's scientific career was her work in systematics. Her master's thesis, which she defended in 1944, was devoted to the systematics and geography of the Caucasian populations of grape hyacinth ( Muscari), a work which remains scientifically current. Data from this research was included in various works, especially the eight volume ''Flora of Georgia'' (1941–1952), which Schchian helped to edit. Her doctoral dissertation, which consisted of a systematic investigation of the family ''Dipsacaeae'' in the Caucasus, was defended in 1974, and came to be widely cited in floras of the Caucasus region. A. S. Schchian gave lectures in Armenian on systematics and general botany at the Armenian branch of the natural-geographical department of the Pushkin Pedagogical Institute in Tbilisi. From 1975 she lived in

Erevan Yerevan ( , , hy, Երևան , sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerevan is the administrative, cultural, and i ...

and worked in the fields of systematics and geography at the Botanical Institute of the Armenian branch of the Academy of Sciences. In the fall of 1989 she participated in the publication of the ''Flora of Armenia'' by working up several complex genera. Towards the end of her life she helped to plan preparations for a ''Flora of the Caucasus''. She has approximately 50 publications. The plant
''Allium schchianae'' Ogan
, is named after her.

Works

* * Schchian, A. S. ''Sistematika i geografiia kavkazskikh vidov roda'' Muscari mill''..'' Doctoral Dissertation, 1944. * Schchian, A. S. (1947), "Zametka o kavkazskikh vidakh roda ''Cicerbita''," in: ''Zametki po sistematike i geographii rastenii'', v. 13, pp. 85–92. n Georgian* Schchian, A. S. (1953), "Novye vidy Kavkazskoi flory," in: ''Zametki po sistematike i geografii rastenii'', v. 17, pp. 111–118. n Georgian* Schchian, A. S. (1951). "Novye vidy roda ''Scabiosa'' iz Gruzii," in: ''Zametke po sistematike i geografii rastenii'', v. 16, pp. 89–94. n Georgian* Schchian, A. S. (1953), "Novyi vidy roda ''Ulmus L.'' iz Vostochnoi Gruzii," in: Zametki po sistematike i geografii rastenii, v. 17, pp. 77–83. n Georgian* Schchian, A. S. (1949), "Obzor kavkazskikh predstavitelei roda ''Sonchus L.''," in ''Zametki po sistematike i geografii rastenii'', v. 15, pp. 61–74. * Schchian, A. S. (1946), "Sistematika i geografiia kavkazskikh vidov ''Musari Mill''," in: ''Trudy Tbilisskogo botanicheskogo instituta,'' v. 10, pp. 203–235. n English

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schchian, Anna Botanists from Georgia (country) Soviet botanists 1905 births 1990 deaths Soviet women scientists Women botanists Georgian people of Armenian descent Soviet Armenians Scientists from Tbilisi People from Tiflis Governorate