Nikolai Ivanovitch Vavilov was an extraordinarily gifted agriculturalist and academic. Born in Moscow 1887, he is probably best known for his discovery of the centres of origin of cultivated plants.
While developing his theory on the centres of origin of cultivated plants, Vavilov organized a series of expeditions to collect seeds from every corner of the globe. He created the world’s largest collection of plant seeds at the All-Union Institute of Plant Industry in Leningrad, where he was director from 1921-1940. This seedbank was carefully protected during the 28 month siege of Leningrad from 1941-1944. As starvation raged through the city, killing thousands of citizens, many workers at the seedbank slowly starved to death, surrounded by thousands of packs of the seeds of rice, peas, corn and wheat. They chose death in order to keep the collection safe.
Vavilov repeatedly criticized the pseudo-scientific concepts of scientist Trofim Lysenko. Far more politically astute than Vavilov, Lysenko managed to have his rival imprisoned in 1940, charged with wrecking Soviet agriculture. Shortly after his arrest, Vavilov’s health deteriorated rapidly and he died in prison. He was one of thousands of Soviet geneticists to be wiped out in the Stalinist purges.
Today, Vavilov is recognized as the foremost plant geographer of contemporary times. The All-Union Institute of Plant Industry was named after him in 1967. The N.I. Vavilov Institute in Plant Industry in St Petersburg still maintains one of the world’s largest collections of seeds.
