YURY NIKOLAYEVICH VORONOV

(1 June 1874 – 10 December 1931)

Yury Nikolayevich Voronov was born in Tbilisi (also known as Tiflis), Georgia, on 1 June 1874. In 1894 he finished secondary education in Kutaisi. Interrupting study at the University (Novorossijsk or may be Moscow), Y.N. Voronov went to Montpelier, France. Here he took lectures at the Agricultural Institute and the University and was a progeny of Professor Ch. Flahault.

After returning to Russia, Y.N. Voronov studied at St Petersburg Forestry Institute and attended lectures at St Petersburg University.

In 1903 he took part in Captain Popov's Mongolian Expedition. Removing to the Caucasus, Y.N. Voronov at first worked at Sukhumi Botanic Garden, then in 1900-1914 and in 1921-1925 he worked at Tiflis Botanical Garden (except short period of time, when Y.N. Voronov got a job at the Botanical Museum of Academy of Sciences in St Petersburg). Since 1914 till 1921 Y.N. Voronov worked at the Caucasian Museum in Tiflis, being the head of this Museum since 1918 till 1921.

In 1925 Y.N. Voronov moved to Leningrad, where he worked at first as expert on subtropical plants at the All-Union Institute of Applied Botany and New Cultures (later on the All-Union Institute of Plant Culturing) and then - at the Main Botanical Garden, where he managed the Caucasian Herbarium. Almost every year Y.N. Voronov went to field trips into different regions of the Caucasus to collect botanical material. As a result, he created a rich herbarium, which now is storing at BIN of Russian Academy of Sciences and also at Caucasian herb storehouses. Y.N. Voronov was reputed as one of the best experts in Caucasian flora and vegetation. Hee described many new species of plants - representatives of more then 10 families.

Besides flowering (vascular) plants Y.N. Voronov investigated also mosses, lichens and fungi of the Caucasus. These data were generalized in the work of many authors " Summary information on Caucasian mycoflora" (Vol. I, 1915, Vol. II, 1922-1923), where 1743 species of fungi were listed.

In 1925-1926 Y.N. Voronov on the instructions and under funding of The Rubber Trust and Chemical Directorate, he with a group of colleagues made a trip to Central and Southern America. Besides rubber-bearing plants (the aim of the trip), expedition of Voronov brought from Mexico and other countries numerous dried preserved collections, which are storing now at BIN RAS.

Y.N. Voronov was a scientist-naturalist. In sphere of his interests were included systematics, floristics, mycology, bryology, botanical geography and applied botany.

Y.N. Voronov died in Leningrad on 10 December 1931.

This page is a brief synopsis of the article in "Russian botanists (botanists of Russia - USSR). Biographic-Bibliographic Dictionary. Moscow: Moscow Society of Naturalists, 19....., P. 178-182.

Lists. Taxa. Kirk & Ansell form of name: Woronow.


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