Aleksandr Vasiljevich Fomin (1869-1935) was a botanist. He studied ferns and seed plants. He was also a director of the Kiev University Botanical Garden; which was renamed after him, when he died. He was a subject of the Russian Empire and later the Soviet Union.
Biography
He was born in the village of Ermolevka in
Petrovsk, Saratov Oblast
Petrovsk (; ) is a town in Saratov Oblast, Russia, located on the Medveditsa River (left tributary of the Don) northwest of Saratov, the administrative center of the oblast. It had a population of
History
Petrovsk is an old merchant city, f ...
on (.
From 1888 to 1890, Fomin along with Nicolaĭ Adolfowitsch Busch and Nikolai Ivanovich Kuznetsov, funded by the
Russian Geographical Society
The Russian Geographical Society (), or RGO, is a learned society based in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It promotes geography, exploration and nature protection with research programs in fields including oceanography, ethnography, ecology and stati ...
, took several botanical and geographical expeditions to the Caucasus.
In 1893, he graduated from
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 ...
.
In 1896, he became a graduate assistant at the Universität Dorpat (now known as the University of Tartu,
Estonia
Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...
).
Foin, Busch and Kuznetsov later wrote 'Flora Caucasica critica' (Materially dlia flory Kavkaza : kriticheskoe sistematichesko-geograficheskoe izsliedovanie), which was published between 1901 and 1913. It was written as a special supplement to the journal 'Trudy Sankt-Peterburgskogo obshchestva estestvoispytatelei', v. 31, pt. 3, 1901, and v. 34, pt. 3 1905–1908. This published several new species of plant including, Arabidopsis pumila,
In 1902 he became a botanist at the
Tbilisi Botanical Gardens
The National Botanical Garden of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს ეროვნული ბოტანიკური ბაღი), formerly the Tbilisi Botanical Garden ( ka, თბილისის ბოტანიკუ ...
.
Between 1907 and 1919, he wrote 'Kavkaza i Kryma' (Flora of the European part of Russia, An illustrated key to the wild plants of European part of Russia and Crimea) with
Yury Nikolaevich Voronov
Yury Nikolaevitch Voronov (; 1 June 1874 in Tiflis – 10 December 1931 in Leningrad) was a Russian botanist. He worked at the Botanical Garden in Leningrad.
Alternative transcriptions of his name into the Latin alphabet include Jurij Nikolaew ...
, about plant species in the
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 ...
. Although, it was unfinished due to the start of the First World War.
He also wrote in 1907 'Cucurbitaceae i Companulaceae flory Kaukaza'.
In 1914, Fomin became a professor at the
University of Kiev
The Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (; also known as Kyiv University, Shevchenko University, or KNU) is a public university in Kyiv, Ukraine.
The university is the third-oldest university in Ukraine after the University of Lviv and ...
, (under O. Fomin).
Between 1914 and 1935, he served as director of the
Saint Vladimir University
The Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (; also known as Kyiv University, Shevchenko University, or KNU) is a public university in Kyiv, Ukraine.
The university is the third-oldest university in Ukraine after the University of Lviv and ...
Botanical Garden,
Kiev
Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...
, Ukraine. During the severe winter of 1919–1920, he and his team saved many green-house plant collections from the frost.
In 1921, he founded the National Herbarium of Ukraine, which holds his specimens.
In 1922, Fomin founded the botany department at the Botanical Garden, that was reorganized in 1927 into the 'Scientific-Research Botany Institute' (now the Institute of Botany named after Kholodny Academy of Sciences of Ukraine).
When he died in 1935, the university renamed the garden, the A.V. Fomin Botanical Garden.
An extensive collection of species collected from the Caucasus is stored within the sheltered herbarium at
University of Tartu
The University of Tartu (UT; ; ) is a public research university located in the city of Tartu, Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is also the largest and oldest university in the country.
, in
Estonia
Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...
Galanthus transcaucasicus
''Galanthus'' (from Ancient Greek , (, "milk") + (, "flower")), or snowdrop, is a small genus of approximately 20 species of bulbous perennial herbaceous plants in the family Amaryllidaceae. The plants have two linear leaves and a single sm ...
,
Iris acutiloba
''Iris acutiloba'' is a species in the genus '' Iris'', it is also in the subgenus of '' Iris'' and section ''Oncocyclus''. It is a rhizomatous perennial, from the mountains of the Caucasus and found in Turkey, Armenia
Armenia, officially ...
var. schelkowinkowii,
Myriophyllum spicatum
''Myriophyllum spicatum'' (Eurasian watermilfoil or spiked water-milfoil) is a submerged perennial aquatic plant which grows in still or slow-moving water. Eurasian watermilfoil is native to Europe, Asia, and North Africa, but has a wide geograph ...
,
Pseudomuscari forniculatum
''Pseudomuscari'' is a genus of bulbous perennials in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae. They were formerly included in the genus ''Muscari'' (as the Pseudomuscari group, section or subgenus). Species of ''Pseudomuscari'' have flowe ...
. Tulipa schmidtii
Although, he has collaborated on some publications with
Alexander Alfonsovich Grossheim
Alexander Alfonsovich Grossheim (6 March 1888 – 4 December 1948) was a Soviet botanist of German descent. He traveled widely over the Caucasus region collecting and studying various different plant life. He is most known for Pteridophytes and ...