Vladimir Leontyevich Komarov

Vladimir Leontyevich Komarov (; – 5 December 1945) was a Russian botanist who served as President of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR from 1936 until his death in 1945.

Komarov was senior editor of the Flora of the USSR, a comprehensive catalog of Soviet plant species (in full comprising 30 volumes published between 1934 and 1960).

Biography Of noble birth, Komarov was the son of an officer who died young from a wound sustained during the siege of Ura-Tyube. His godfather was his uncle Vissarion Komarov. Three of his father's brothers were full generals in the Tsarist army. This "socially alien" background made him an easy figure to manipulate during Stalin's regime.

His academic journey began under the mentorship of prominent botanists like Andrey Beketov, Karl Maximovich, Ivan Borodin, and Sergey Korzhinsky. He was a graduate of St. Petersburg University where he received a degree in botany in 1894. Komarov’s magnum opus was his five-volume Flora of Manchuria (1901–07), which described 1,700 plant species (84 of which were newly identified), earning him recognition both in Russia and abroad.

Korzhinsky and Komarov introduced the concept of “race” in botany and made significant contributions to the understanding of plant speciation, as well as the evolution of the plant world.

Awards and legacy Komarov was awarded the Stalin Prize in 1941 and 1942 and the Hero of Socialist Labour in 1943.

The village of Kellomäki near Saint Petersburg was renamed Komarovo after him. The Komarov Botanical Institute and the Komarov volcano were also given his name.

List of selected publications

Coniferae of Manchuria. Trudy Imp. S.Peterburgsk. Obsc. 32: 230-241 (1902). De Gymnospermis nonnullis Asiaticis I, II. Bot. Mater. Gerb. Glavn. Bot. Sada RSFSR 4: 177–181, 5: 25-32 (1923–1924). Florae peninsulae Kamtschatka (1927).