Boris Uvarov

Boris Uvarov
Born Boris Petrovitch Uvarov
5 November 1889
Ural'sk
Died 18 March 1970 (aged 80)[1]
London
Alma mater Saint Petersburg State University
Notable awards Fellow of the Royal Society (1950)[1]

Sir Boris Petrovitch Uvarov KCMG FRS (born 1889, – died 1970) was a Russian-British entomologist.[1]

Biography

Boris Petrovitch Uvarov was born in Ural'sk, in the Russian Empire (now Oral, Kazakhstan[2]), the son of Pyotr P. Uvarov, a state bank employee, and his wife, Aleksandra. He studied biology in the Saint Petersburg State University, graduating in 1910. He worked as entomologist in Stavropol and put locust control on a sound scientific basis. From 1915 he worked in Tiflis, which after the Russian revolution of 1917 had become the capital of the short-lived Democratic Republic of Georgia.

Starting in 1945, Dr. Uvarov and his small team received official designation as the Anti-Locust Research Centre. During the next fourteen years, the Centre developed into the foremost laboratory in the world for research on locusts. He made important contributions in the areas of taxonomy, population biology and locust control.

Honours

Uvarov was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1950,[1] his nomination readsreads:

His researches on taxonomy, morphology, biometrics and behaviour of locusts led him to formulate the phase theory respecting those insects, greatly influencing locus research throughout the world. It has also provided a basis for international policy of prevention of locust outbreaks. His studies of outbreaks in Africa contributed much towards establishing correlation between seasonal weather conditions and locus migrations thus providing a basis for forecasting. Other work includes over 150 papers on taxonomy of Orthoptera and many on Orthopterous faunas. Has also done much to encourage locust research and played a leading part in planning international anti-locus measures.[3]

Personal life

His niece was Dame Olga Uvarov.

Works

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 "Uvarov, Sir Boris Petrovich". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Retrieved 10 April 2014.
  2. Lockwood, Jeffrey A. (2004). Locust: The Devastating Rise and Mysterious Disappearance of the Insect That Shaped the American Frontier. p. 139. Retrieved 10 April 2014.
  3. "Library and Archive Catalogue: Uvarov, Sir Boris Petrovich". London: The Royal Society. Retrieved 2013-12-06.