View source for Oleg Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky

{{Short description|Soviet ornithologist (1906–1990)}}
'''Oleg Ismailovich Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky''' (October 15, 1906 – September 21, 1990) was a Soviet [[Ornithology|ornithologist]], naturalist and a founder of the [[Lapland Nature Reserve|Lapland nature reserve.]]
== Life and work ==
Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky was the son of Ishmael Petrovich, a [[meteorologist]] and his wife, who was the daughter of a [[Moscow]] physician.  He was a grandson of the explorer [[Pyotr Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky]] and a nephew of the entomologist [[Andrey Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky]].  He grew up in [[Petrograd]] until 1917, when his family moved to Petrovka in [[Tambov Oblast|Tambov]].  In 1929, the family returned to [[Leningrad]], where his father got work as a meteorologist.
In 1930, Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky moved to the [[Kola Peninsula]] as a research assistant and was then sent to the Lapland reserve to make scientific observations. Here he examined [[reindeer]] populations, was involved in the introduction of [[Muskrat|muskrats]] and [[Beaver|beavers]];<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.15298/rusjtheriol.15.1.07|title=The history and legacy of reintroduction of beavers in the European North of Russia|year=2016|last1=Danilov|first1=P.I.|last2=Fyodorov|first2=F.V.|journal=Russian Journal of Theriology|volume=15|pages=43–48|doi-access=free}}</ref> and wrote several reports.
During [[World War II]] Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky was considered unfit for field service but was enrolled in a reserve rifle regiment and taught English to officers. After the war, he received an [[Order of the Red Star]] for his military service.
After the war, Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky worked at Leningrad at the Zoological Institute of the [[Russian Academy of Sciences]], along with his wife, Maria Ivanovna Vladimirskaya, an [[Ichthyology|ichthyologist]] . The couple went on several expeditions including to the [[Curonian Spit]]. In 1951 he worked at the [[Pechora-Ilych Nature Reserve]] while the Lapland reserve was denotified. He then worked to restore the reserve which happened in 1965.
As an ornithologist Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky studied [[black grouse]] and studied the hatching of their eggs using a special instrument that he designed.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.rbcu.ru/PDF/Semenov-Tyanshnsky.pdf |author=Bianchi, VV |title=[ Naturalist-ecologist Oleg Izmailovich Semenov-Tyan-Shansky (1906-1990): on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of birth]| journal=Русский орнитологический журнал |year=2006|volume= 15|issue=335|pages= 1007–1025|language=ru}}</ref>
== References ==
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[[Category:Soviet biologists]]
[[Category:1906 births]]
[[Category:1990 deaths]]