Ivan Polunin (1920–2010) was a
medical doctor
A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the ...
, author, teacher, documentary filmmaker, and photographer. He is best known for his rare
colour films, which document cultural traditions and wildlife in Singapore
and
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
from the 1950s.
The films contain important historical and sociological information, and were recently the subject of a local documentaries ''Lost Images''
and "
Invisible City" which showed his well-preserved film archive. His work has been featured in
National Geographic magazine
''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widel ...
; aired on the
BBC and stored in the
Smithsonian.
Early life and education
Polunin was born to an English mother,
Elizabeth Polunin (née Hart) and Russian father
Vladimir Polunin
Vladimir Polunin (1880 – 11 March 1957) was a scene painter.
Born in the Russian Empire, in 1908 Polunin moved to London to work as a designer for the ''Ballets russes''. He was Diaghilev's chief scene-painter and worked with Picasso. Amon ...
in 1920, near London. He had two brothers:
Nicholas Polunin
Nicholas is a male given name and a surname.
The Eastern Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Anglican Churches celebrate Saint Nicholas every year on December 6, which is the name day for "Nicholas". In Greece, the name and its d ...
, who later became an
arctic explorer
Arctic exploration is the physical exploration of the Arctic region of the Earth. It refers to the historical period during which mankind has explored the region north of the Arctic Circle. Historical records suggest that humankind have explored ...
and environmentalist, and
Oleg Polunin who was a
botanist, author, teacher and traveller. He also had a sister, Tanya Polunin, who owned a music school and taught piano.
Polunin visited his uncle's farm during holidays, where he developed and interest in wild flowers and animals. He later studied classics, natural sciences and medicine.
Career
Polunin's travelled to Singapore in 1948 to complete his
National Service
National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939.
The ...
in hospitals in Singapore and
Malaya
Malaya refers to a number of historical and current political entities related to what is currently Peninsular Malaysia in Southeast Asia:
Political entities
* British Malaya (1826–1957), a loose collection of the British colony of the Straits ...
.
He remained in Asia, and spent most of his working life teaching medical students in
Social Medicine & Public Health in Singapore and researching disease patterns in tribal peoples in Malaya.
Polunin bought an
8 mm film camera for personal use in 1951, and filmed
Negrito tribespeople living in limestone caves, and the East Coast Malay fishermen who fished from
Siglap
Siglap is a neighbourhood located in Bedok in the East Region, Singapore, East Region of Singapore. The area also encompasses the Frankel and Opera Estates and their names have sometimes been used interchangeably to refer to the approximate sam ...
in big sailing perahus during the
Northeast Monsoon
A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal oscill ...
.
Polunin began working as a lecturer in 1952 at the
University of Malaya
The University of Malaya ( ms, Universiti Malaya, UM; abbreviated as UM or informally the Malayan University) is a public research university located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is the oldest and highest ranking Malaysian institution of highe ...
, which then became the
National University of Singapore
The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national public research university in Singapore. Founded in 1905 as the Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States Government Medical School, NUS is the oldest autonomous university in th ...
. He used the Department's
16 mm camera to film the way of life and environment of
Malayan Tribes,
and later of the
Muruts
The Murut are an indigenous ethnic group, comprising 29 sub-ethnic groups inhabiting the northern inland regions of Borneo. The Murutic languages are a family of half a dozen closely related Austronesian languages. The Murut can be found mainl ...
of
North Borneo
(I persevere and I achieve)
, national_anthem =
, capital = Kudat (1881–1884);Sandakan (1884–1945);Jesselton (1946)
, common_languages = English, Kadazan-Dusun, Bajau, Murut, Sabah Malay, Chinese etc.
, gover ...
(
Sabah
Sabah () is a state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah borders the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and the North Kalimantan province of Indonesia to the south. The Federal Territory ...
). The Government there had asked him to inquire into the apparent depopulation of the Interior Tribes, and he started the work by doing extensive disease surveys of
Longhouse
A longhouse or long house is a type of long, proportionately narrow, single-room building for communal dwelling. It has been built in various parts of the world including Asia, Europe, and North America.
Many were built from timber and often rep ...
populations. He documented this with a
16mm silent film camera loaded with
Kodachrome reversal colour film. For sound he used a
Nagra
Nagra is a brand of portable audio recorders produced from 1951 in Switzerland. Beginning in 1997 a range of high-end equipment aimed at the audiophile community was introduced, and Nagra expanded the company’s product lines into new markets. ...
2C tape recorder. Polunin also contributed a number of articles and book chapters in the field of
medical anthropology
Medical anthropology studies "human health and disease, health care systems, and biocultural adaptation". It views humans from multidimensional and ecological perspectives. It is one of the most highly developed areas of anthropology and applied ...
.
In 1955, Polunin returned to England and showed some of his footage to the
BBC which then ran only a single Black and White TV station. They reformatted the
16mm colour film to
35 mm 35 mm may refer to:
* 135 film, a type of still photography format commonly referred to as 35 mm film
* 35 mm movie film, a type of motion picture film stock
* 35MM 35 mm may refer to:
* 135 film, a type of still photography format ...
black and white and televised it. From then until 1973 Polunin created a small amount of television footage each year, by shooting silent colour film and then recording a separate narration. The film was edited and assembled at
Ealing Studios
Ealing Studios is a television and film production company and facilities provider at Ealing Green in West London. Will Barker bought the White Lodge on Ealing Green in 1902 as a base for film making, and films have been made on the site ever ...
. The
BBC series were ''Adventure'', ''Travellers Tales'', ''People of Many Lands'' and ''World About Us''. For Jack Douglas Productions in
Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywoo ...
, Polunin shot ''I Search for Adventure''.
and ''Seven League Boots''
Polunin authored texts on
botany
Botany, also called plant science (or plant sciences), plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "bot ...
including the ''Plants & Flowers of Singapore'' and a counterpart edition on
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
. He also contributed to various publications and academic studies including
The William Farquhar Collection of Natural History Drawings
The William Farquhar Collection of Natural History Drawings consists of 477 watercolour botanical drawings of plants and animals of Malacca and Singapore by unknown Chinese (probably Cantonese) artists that were commissioned between 1819 and 18 ...
.
Polunin retired as Associate Professor in 1980. He continued to collect
Asian ceramics, and made an extensive study of
fireflies. He was fondly remembered by friends and colleagues as "the Father of Fireflies". He wrote a book documenting his work, which is as yet unpublished.
Polunin died in 2010. Many of his papers and images have been archived at the Institute of South Asian Studies.
Collection of Dr. Ivan Polunin.
Institute of South Asian Studies.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Polunin, Ivan
1920 births
2010 deaths
20th-century English medical doctors
21st-century English medical doctors
English people of Russian descent
British people in British Malaya