Wikipedia

Boris Balinsky

Borys Ivanovych Balinsky (23 September 1905 – 1 September 1997) was a Ukrainian-South African biologist, embryologist, entomologist.

Borys Balinsky
Борис Балінський
Born(1905-09-23)23 September 1905
Kyiv, Russian Empire
Died1 September 1997(1997-09-01) (aged 91)
Johannesburg, South Africa
Nationality
Alma mater
Spouses
  • Catherine Singaiivska
  • Elizabeth Stengel
ChildrenJohn Balinsky, Helen David
Scientific career
FieldsEmbryology, entomology
Institutions
Doctoral advisorIvan Schmalhausen

A professor at Kyiv University and later the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg,[1] Balinsky was a pioneer researcher in the field of experimental embryology, electron microscopy and developmental biology and the author of a popular textbook in embryology An Introduction to Embryology.[2][3]

Early life and education

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Balinsky was born 23 September 1905, in Kyiv,[3] then part of the Russian Empire (now the capital of present day, Ukraine). His father, Ivan Balinsky, was a historian, lawyer and teacher at Galen College. His mother, Elizaveta Radzymovska was a biology teacher. Her aunt, Valentyna Radzymovska, was a biologist who was involved in Ukrainian independence movements. His parents loved English literature and spoke Ukrainian, Russian and English at home.[4] His love of etymology began with a book he received in 1916 on collecting butterflies, as well as with the summers he spent in the village of Severinovka, where his grandfather kept bees.[5]

He was a student of the Soviet zoologist and evolutionary biologist, Ivan Schmalhausen,[1] and one of the first people to conduct experiments inducing organogenesis in amphibian embryos. His distinguished himself by having his first scientific paper published while he was only 20 and still an undergraduate.[5]

Career

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Balinsky became a full university professor at Kiev University in 1933 at age 28 and the deputy director of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences two years later in 1935.[5] He became a recognised expert in fish and amphibian development.

His wife was arrested October 7, 1937 for engaging in counter-revolutionary propaganda and was sentenced to ten years in a gulag.[5] Therefore Balinsky lost his post as professor and as deputy director of the Institute

A victim of Soviet repressions, Balinsky remained in Kiev under German occupation during World War II while others evacuated. He and his family fled to Poznań, Poland after the German evacuation and later Munich, Germany.[1][3] Balinsky also briefly worked in Scotland in Conrad Hal Waddington's laboratory on mice embryology.[3] Later, in 1949, he migrated to South Africa where he become one of the founders of South African experimental bioscience.[1]

Balinsky also worked in entomology and described new species of Plecoptera, Odonata and moths from the family Pyralidae, mainly from Caucasus and South Africa.

Death and legacy

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He died at home in Johannesburg on 1 September 1997, aged 91.[1] His son John Balinsky was also a scientist.

Insects described

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Plecoptera

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Dragonflies

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Lepidoptera

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New species

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New genera

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Fabian, B (2009). "Balinsky's Darwinian roots". South African Journal of Science. 105 (Nov-Dec 2009): 410–414.
  2. ^ Balinsky, Boris (1970). An Introduction to Embryology (3rd ed.). Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders Company. ISBN 0721615171.
  3. ^ a b c d Korzh, Vladimir (2005). "Boris Balinsky: transition from embryology to developmental biology" (PDF). BioEssays. 27: 970–977 – via Wiley.
  4. ^ Kliuchkovska, Iryna; Pyatkovska, O.; Marusyk, Y.; Hoisan, V.; Zhylych, K. (2020). "Ukrainians, Ukrainian places and the Ukrainian community in South Africa". Ukrainians of South Africa : Society, identity and future (BORIS BALINSKY p12-13). Translated by Biletskyi, Mykola. Cape Town: UAZA. ISBN 9780620961431.
  5. ^ a b c d E.S. Grossman (2005). "Borys Balinsky 10 September 1905 — 1 September 1997". South African Journal of Science. 101 (May/June): 309–312. hdl:10520/EJC96417.

Sources

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