Nikolai Knipovich


Nikolai Mikhailovich Knipovich was a Russian ichthyologist, marine zoologist and oceanographer, notable as the founder of fisheries research in the Russian North.

Biography

General

Knipovich graduated from the Saint Petersburg Imperial University in 1886 and went on to defend his master's thesis "Materials for the study of Ascothoracida" in 1892. He was then elected assistant professor of the University in 1893.
From 1894 until 1921 he worked at the Zoological Museum of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. He then became the Professor of biology and zoology in the First Women's Medical Institute in 1911, continuing to fill the position until 1930.
He became an Honorary Member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR in 1935.

Expeditions

Knipovich organised and led the Scientific Murman Expedition from a location on the Barents Sea Murman Coast between 1898 and 1901, which marked the beginning of systematic study of the region's biological resources. A special modern marine research vessel, the steamship Saint Andrew, was built for the expedition and in May 1900 Knipovich led an expedition to undertake hydrographic and biological observations along Kola shores from the Murman Coast to 73°00'N. He then, in Autumn 1901, drew a chart of currents based on the data gathered on water temperature and salinity and identified several warm streams. In 1902 he was the first to draw a conclusion on a relationship between distribution and migration of commercial fish in the Barents Sea and warm currents. From the Saint Andrew and another vessel, Pomor, hydrographic observations were carried out at over 1,500 stations and biological studies at about 2,000.
His other expeditions included some to the Caspian Sea, the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea. His request to carry out a scientific and fisheries related expedition to the Azov Sea and secure the ship "Besstrashny" was approved by Lenin personally.

International work and activities

Knipovich was extensively involved in international collaboration. In 1901 he attended the Second Conference of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea in Christiania and was voted one of the vice-presidents of the Council. Between 1926 and 1927 he was a major proponent of German-Soviet cooperation in the studies of the Barents Sea and was heavily involved in the Polar Commission of the USSR Academy of Sciences.

Legacy

Knipovich authored numerous monographs on hydrology and fisheries in the Arctic Ocean, Barents Sea, Caspian Sea, Azov Sea, and Black Sea, as well as a number of studies on the taxonomy and ecology of marine invertebrates and on the geological history of the northern seas.

Honours

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