Nikolai Turczaninow

Nikolai Stepanovich Turtschaninow (Russian Николай Степанович Турчанинов, * probably in May 1796 in Nikitowka at Birjutsch, .. † December 26 1863jul / January 7 1864greg in Kharkiv ) was a Russian botanist and Decker First of several genera and many species. Some species have been named after him, including Connarus turczaninowii, Hydrocotyle turczaninowii, and Sisymbrium turczaninowii. His botanical author abbreviation is Turcz.

Life

Nikolai Stepanovich Turtschaninow was born to a landowner family. Since his childhood he was interested in nature and he put on herbaria. On the initiative of the university professor Ilya Fyodorovich Timkowskis he moved to Kharkov, where he heard lectures on zoology since 1811 and general botany at FA Delavigne. In 1814, at the age of 18 years, Turtschaninow finished the course with the degree of candidate of sciences.

After graduating from the University in 1814, he moved to St. Petersburg, where he worked in the Ministry of Justice and then to 1828 in the Ministry of Finance. Then he was transferred to Irkutsk, which allowed him to study the fauna of Lake Baikal. Here is his Catalogus plantarum was in regionibus Baicalensibus et in Dauria sponte crescentium, a description of nearly 1,000 plants, for which he was awarded the Demidov Prize in 1857.

1830 Turtschaninow was a corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences. This allowed him extensive botanical activities. Until 1835, he traveled around in Southeast Siberia and took on the fauna.

In 1837 he returned to the civil service back in 1845 he retired and moved to Taganrog, where he opened a large herbarium.