Andrey Petrovich Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky () (9 June 1866 – 8 April 1942) was a Russian

entomologist Entomology (from Ancient Greek ἔντομον (''éntomon''), meaning "insect", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study") is the branch of zoology that focuses on insects. Those who study entomology are known as entomologists. In ...

specializing in

beetle Beetles are insects that form the Taxonomic rank, order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Holometabola. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 40 ...

s. He was the son of

Pyotr Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky Pyotr Petrovich Semyonov or Semenov (; 2 January ''(New style: 14 January)'', 1827 – 26 February ''(New style: 11 March)'', 1914) was a Russian geographer and statistician who managed the Russian Geographical Society for more than 40 years. H ...

. He was among the first entomologists to consider the protection of insects and the risk of their extinction. USSR 17041938 cover

Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky was the son of the famous explorer Pyotr Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky and was born in St. Petersburg where he graduated from the 8th St. Petersburg gymnasium in 1885. At home he was trained in music and illustration. He could also speak Latin. He then joined the St. Petersburg University. Apart from his father, he was influenced by N. A. Severtsov and the entomologist August Feodorovitsh Morawitz (1837–1897). In 1888 and 1889 he traveled to the Trans-

Caspian Caspian can refer to: *The Caspian Sea *The Caspian Depression, surrounding the northern part of the Caspian Sea *The Caspians, the ancient people living near the Caspian Sea *The Caspian languages spoken in northern Iran and southeastern Azerbaij ...

and

Turkestan Turkestan,; ; ; ; also spelled Turkistan, is a historical region in Central Asia corresponding to the regions of Transoxiana and East Turkestan (Xinjiang). The region is located in the northwest of modern day China and to the northwest of its ...

regions in search of insects, then in 1890 became a

curator A curator (from , meaning 'to take care') is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the particular ins ...

of entomology at the

Imperial Academy of Sciences The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across the Russian Federation; and additional scientific and social units such ...

. He worked at the museum only until 1896 and then worked at his home. He studied mainly the Hymenoptera and Dermaptera. Citations of this author most frequently bear the Germanized spelling Semenov-Tian-Shanskij (e.g

. He also took an interest in the poetry of Pushkin, the protection of nature, and a range of other subjects. He lost his vision at the age of 55 but continued to work, making use of his memory and assistants to help describe species, which he then transcribed. He died from pneumonia during the

siege of Leningrad The siege of Leningrad was a Siege, military blockade undertaken by the Axis powers against the city of Leningrad (present-day Saint Petersburg) in the Soviet Union on the Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern Front of World War II from 1941 t ...

and his death date is uncertain, noted as 7 March or 8 April according to sources.

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Bio with photos
1866 births 1942 deaths Entomologists from the Russian Empire Coleopterists Saint Petersburg State University alumni Soviet entomologists Victims of the Siege of Leningrad Deaths from pneumonia in the Soviet Union {{entomologist-stub