Ivan Yefremov
| Ivan Antonovich Yefremov | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | 22 April 1908 Vyritsa, Saint Petersburg Governorate, Russian Empire |
| Died | 5 October 1972 (aged 64) Leningrad, RSFSR, USSR |
| Occupation | paleontologist, writer |
| Language | Russian |
| Alma mater | Leningrad Mining Institute |
| Genre | Science fiction, historical novel |
Ivan Antonovich (real patronymic Antipovich) Yefremov (Russian: Ива́н Анто́нович (Анти́пович) Ефре́мов; April 22, 1908 – October 5, 1972), last name sometimes spelled Efremov, was a Soviet paleontologist, science fiction author and social thinker. He originated taphonomy, the study of fossilization patterns.
Born in the village of Vyritsa in Saint Petersburg Governorate on April 9 (22), 1908. His parents divorced during the Russian Revolution. His mother married a Red Army commander and left the children in Kherson to be cared for by an aunt who soon died of typhus. Yefremov survived on his own for some time then joined a Red Army unit as a "son of the regiment" and reached Perekop with it. In 1921, he was discharged and went to Petrograd (today's Saint Petersburg) to study. He completed his school education there while combining his studies with a variety of odd jobs. He later commented that "the Revolution was also my own liberation from philistinism" ("Революция была также и моим освобождением от мещанства").
In 1924, due to the influence of academician Petr Petrovich Sushkin, he became interested in paleontology. Yefremov entered the Leningrad State University but dropped out later. In mid-1930s, he took part in several paleontological expeditions to the Volga region, the Urals, and Central Asia. He headed a research laboratory at the Institute of Paleontology. In 1935, he took exit examinations and graduated from the Leningrad Mining Institute. The same year he got his Candidate of Science degree in Biological Sciences. In 1941, he got his doctorate degree in Biological Sciences.
...
Wikipedia