Alexey Andreyevich Byalynitsky-Birulya (November 2, 1864, Babkovo village, Orsha County, Mogilev Province – June 18, 1937, Leningrad) was a Russian and Soviet[1] zoologist, corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Sciences (1923). His father Andrei Simplitsianovich Byalynitsky-Birulya was the organizer of the weather station Novoye Korolevo near Vitebsk, which operated from 1864 to 1941.
Alexey Andreevich graduated from classical gymnasium in Vyazma. He got higher education at the Natural Department of Physics and Mathematics Faculty of St. Petersburg University (Degree I, 1891); many times he visited biological station at Solovetsky Islands. He was a zoologist at the Zoological Museum of the Imperial Academy of Sciences. In 1899 he participated in the Spitsbergen expedition.
In 1900-1903 he participated in the polar expedition of Baron Toll as a senior zoologist. The future Admiral Kolchak participated in the same expedition. At the interrogations of the Extraordinary Investigative Commission, Kolchak made the following statement on January 21, 1920:
“Alexeevsky. Can you tell me who of the members of this expedition is currently alive and in touch with you? Kolchak. All communications with all of them have now been broken off. Baron Toll died together with Seeberg, Dr. Walter died, and before the war I kept in constant touch with zoologist Birulia; where Birulia is now, I do not know.
Bialynicki-Biruli’s scientific research concerned mainly the systematics, morphology, and zoogeography of invertebrate animals, especially spiders, and later mammals.
Director of the Zoological Museum of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR (acting since 1923, director since 1927). He had promoted organization of the Standing Commission on the Study of Malarial Mosquitoes at the Museum, expedition to the Central Asia (1928), which initiated extensive expeditionary research on parasitology in the USSR. Arrest
On the 23rd of November, 1929 he was dismissed from the post of the director of the Zoomuseum by the resolution of the commission for the inspection of the Academy of Sciences. On the 15th of November, 1930 he was arrested as a result of the “academic case”. On February 10, 1931 he was sentenced by the Troika of the OGPU of the Leningrad Military District under article 187 (counterrevolution) for three years in prison. Served time as lecturer (doctor’s assistant) in the Belbaltlag (on a business trip to Segezha). Was released early and sent into exile in Arkhangelsk.
After his release, enrolled at the Arkhangelogorod Branch of the State Oceanographic Institute (SOIN), released from his post in 1935. Worked under contract at the Zoological Institute of the USSR Academy of Sciences. In 1935 was awarded the degree of Doctor of Biological Sciences without defence. In 1935-1936 he was the senior specialist, later the head of the zoology sector of the Kazakh branch of the Academy of Sciences. Died in Leningrad.
Main works:
- Essays on the life of birds on the polar coast of Siberia // Notes of the Acad. of Sciences, Physics and Mathematics Department, 1907, Vol. 18, № 2
- Arthropods and spiderworts of Caucasian Region // Notes of Caucasian Museum, Series A, no. 5, 1917
- Scorpions // Fauna of Russia, vol. I, Petrograd, 1917 (djvu)
- Phalanges // Fauna of the USSR. Spiderworms, vol. 1, vol. 3, M.-L., 1938.
Literature:
Bialynitskiy-Birulya, Alexey Andreevich // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 vol. (82 vol. and 4 ext.). – St. Petersburg, 1890-1907.
References:
Profile of A. A. Byalynitsky-Biruli on the official website of the RAS Birulia Lubarsky G. Yu. History of the Zoological Museum of Moscow State University. Ideas, people, structures. – MOSCOW: KMK, 2009. – С. 499. A. A. Bialynitskiy-Birulya: Letters from the Russian Polar Expedition // Historical and Biological Studies. – 2014. – Vol. 6. – Issue. 1