October 2014

Timiryazev street was formed in 60-70s in Almaty, is situated in Bostandikskyi District, runs from East to West, from Zheltoksan street to Zhandosov street, crosses Baytursynov street, Auezov, Zharokov, Gagarin Avenue, Radostovsta (old name – Maurice Thorez) and Rozybakiyev street.

Kliment Arkadiyevich Timiryazev(1843 – 1920)

The street is named in honor of the Russian Natural scientist, the founder of the Soviet school of Phytophysiology, the modern Photosynthesis theory of Timiryazev Kliment. The main botanical garden of Institute of Botany of the Kazakhstan Academy of Science, which gives it a unique appearance situated in it.

Kliment Timiryazev was born in June 3, 1843 in St. Petersburg in a noble family. He gained the initial education at home. In 1866 he graduated with distinction the Natural faculty of St. Petersburg University.

The essential role in the world-view formation of Timiryazev played philosophical
views of A.Herzen, N. Chernyshevskyi, writings of D.Mendeleev, I.Sechenov and especially of Ch. Darwin. Being still a student Kliment has published several articles on the social and political issues and on Darwinism:‘Garibaldi on Caprere’, ‘Starvation on Lancashire’, ‘Darwin’s Book, Its Critics and Commentators’.

In 1868 Timiryazev was sent abroad to prepare for the career as a professor where he worked in the laboratories of leading physicists, chemists, physiologists, botanists. The highest value for Kliment was his work with Bussengo, whom he considered to be his teacher.

Having returned to Russia, Kliment defended Master’s thesis and was appointed as the professor of the Petrovsk Agricultural Academy where he gave lectures on all fields of Botany. In the same period Kliment was studying at Moscow University on the Anatomy and Phytophysiology faculty in female ‘collective courses’. Besides, at the University he was the Chairman of the Botanical Society of Naturalists.

From the first steps of his scientific career of young scientist he has set for himself the two goals: ‘To work for science and write for pupil’, which performed with great success. The first popular book of Timiryazev with reproduction of Darwinism ‘Charles Darwin and his teaching’ written in his student years still is not out dated and his book ‘Life of Plants’(1878) republished more than 20 times and arouse a great interest in Russia and abroad.

Timiryazev became one of the founders of the Russian Phytophysiology School, examined the phytosythesis process for which he has developed the special methods and equipment. In Phytophysiology together with Agricultural Chemistry the scientist saw the basis of sustainable agriculture. He was the first who introduced in Russia the culture experiments with plants in artificial soil. The first greenhouse for this purpose has been arranged by him in Petrovsk Academy in the early 1870s.

Timiryazev was one of the first major Russian scientists who welcomed the victory of the Great October Socialist Revolution of 1917. Collection of his articles ‘Science and Democracy’ was published in 1920.The last 10 years of his life he couldn’t teach due his illness but continued his literary and journalistic activities, participated in the People’s Commissariat for Education of the Russian Soviet Federated Socialistic Republic and Socialist Academy of Social Sciences and was elected to the Moscow city Counsil.

Timiryazev was a member of the Royal Society of London, Honorary Doctor of Glasgow University, Cambridge and Geneva, correspondent member of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Botanical Society of Edinburgh, as well as honorary member of many foreign and national universities and scientific societies. He is the author of numerous articles, books, biographical sketches.

The great scientist Kliment Arkadiyevich Timiryazev died on April 28, 1920 in Moscow. He was buried at the Vagankovo Cemetery.