Oleg Vladimirovitch Polunin (November 1914 – July 1985) was an English

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

, teacher and traveller. He was one of three sons to the artists

Vladimir Vladimir (, , pre-1918 orthography: ) is a masculine given name of Slavic origin, widespread throughout all Slavic nations in different forms and spellings. The earliest record of a person with the name is Vladimir of Bulgaria (). Etymology ...

(born in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

) and Elizabeth Polunin. All three sons were interested in the natural sciences: Nicholas Polunin (1909–1997) was an arctic explorer and environmentalist, and Ivan Polunin (1920–2010) was a medical doctor, photographer and ethnographist. Educated at

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by Bishop of Winchester William of Waynflete. It is one of the wealthiest Oxford colleges, as of 2022, and ...

in biology faculty, Oleg Polunin taught at

Charterhouse School Charterhouse is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Godalming, Surrey, England. Founded by Thomas Sutton in 1611 on the site of the old Carthusian monastery in Charter ...

Godalming Godalming ( ) is a market town and civil parish in southwest Surrey, England, around southwest of central London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, at the confluence of the Rivers Wey and Ock. The civil parish covers and includes the settl ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

, for over 30 years, later devoting his time to writing popular and authoritative guides to the flora of Europe and the

Himalaya The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than 100 pea ...

. His most well-known work is ''Flowers of Europe'' (1969), a classic text for both botanists and general readers. Polunin travelled widely in pursuit of samples and photographs, and he discovered several new species. He was awarded the

Linnean Society The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature collec ...

’s H. H. Bloomer Award in 1983.Recipients of the H. H. Bloomer Award

Selected books

* ''Flowers of the Mediterranean'' (Chatto & Windus, 1967) * ''Flowers of Europe: a field guide'' (Oxford University Press, 1969) * ''A Concise Flowers of Europe'' (Oxford University Press, 1972) * ''Flowers of South West Europe'' (Oxford University Press, 1973, ) * ''Trees and Bushes of Europe'' (Oxford University Press, 1976) * ''Flowers of Greece and the Balkans'' (Oxford University Press, 1980, ) * ''Flowers of the Himalaya'' (Oxford University Press, 1985) * ''A Guide to the Vegetation of Britain and Europe'' (Oxford University Press, 1985, ) * ''Concise Flowers of the Himalaya'' (Oxford University Press, 1987) * ''Collins Photoguide to Wild Flowers of Britain and Northern Europe'' (Collins, 1988, )

References

1914 births 1985 deaths 20th-century British botanists English people of Russian descent Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford English schoolteachers Teachers at Charterhouse School {{UK-botanist-stub