Vera Aleksandrovna Balts (1866–1943), sometimes published as V.A. Balts, or Baltz, was a

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the structure, composition, and History of Earth, history of Earth. Geologists incorporate techniques from physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and geography to perform research in the Field research, ...

and

soil scientist Soil science is the study of soil as a natural resource on the surface of the Earth including soil formation, classification and mapping; physical, chemical, biological, and fertility properties of soils; and these properties in relation t ...

. Balts was one of the first female soil scientists in the Russian Empire and the later

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, the latter of which suppressed her work.

Biography

Balts was born in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

in 1866.

Education

In 1882 she graduated with a gold medal from the St. Petersburg Alexandrovskaya female gymnasium. She knew German, French and English. In 1894, the family moved to Warsaw, to the place of service of her father, General A.F. Balts (1841–1899), a high-ranking officer in the

Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army () was the army of the Russian Empire, active from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was organized into a standing army and a state militia. The standing army consisted of Regular army, regular troops and ...

. Balts was educated at the Tenishevsky School in Saint Petersburg. She became interested in biology and the field of soil science, eventually working at the

Soviet Academy of Sciences The Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union was the highest scientific institution of the Soviet Union from 1925 to 1991. It united the country's leading scientists and was subordinated directly to the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union (un ...

in Saint Petersburg and the V.V. Dokuchaev Central Museum of Soil. In the 1920s, she became the director of the Museum of Soil Science. Specializing in soil structure, engineering geology and road construction, she attended several international conferences of soil scientists in the late 1920s. She also published a number of scientific works during this time.

Arrest

In December 1930, Balts was arrested as part of a group of people considered to be antigovernmental agitators by the Soviet government. Although some authorities demanded her execution, she was sentenced to five years of forced labor at

Solovki prison camp The Solovki special camp (later the Solovki special prison), was set up in 1923 on the Solovetsky Islands in the White Sea as a remote and inaccessible place of detention, primarily intended for socialist opponents of Soviet Russia's new Bolshev ...

, where she was able to continue her work as a soil scientist. She even took part in the work of the Northern Base of the USSR Academy of Sciences for the study of tundra and peat bogs near Arkhangelsk. Balts was released from prison in 1933 on account of her advanced age, though the Soviet government levied additional restrictions on her and suppressed her work. Balts then settled in

Arkhangelsk Arkhangelsk (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies on both banks of the Northern Dvina near its mouth into the White Sea. The city spreads for over along the ...

with her niece, Leontina Arturovna, and her husband. Balts and her family was eventually forced to move to

Syktyvkar Syktyvkar (, , ; , ) is the capital city of the Komi Republic in Russia, as well as its largest city. It is also the administrative center of the Syktyvkar Urban Okrug. Until 1930, it was known as Ust-Sysolsk after the Sysola, Sysola River. Ety ...

. After the ration card for her niece and family was stolen, Balts gave them hers. She died in 1943 of decompensated myocarditis brought on by starvation at 76.

References

External source

* Prikhod’ko, V.E. Role of women in Russian soil science. ''Eurasian Soil Sc.'' 39, 342–343 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1134/S106422930603015X {{DEFAULTSORT:Baltz, Vera Geologists from the Russian Empire Soviet geologists 1866 births 1943 deaths Scientists from Saint Petersburg Russian people of German descent Women scientists from the Russian Empire Soviet women scientists Soil scientists from the Russian Empire Soviet soil scientists Women soil scientists