As far as I know, Norman Borlaug, who died on Saturday, and Nikolay Vavilov never met, although Borlaug was awarded the Memorial Centennial Medal of the N.I. Vavilov Research Institute of Plant Industry in 2000. A tenuous link, I know, but it seems fitting to acknowledge here the contributions Borlaug made in the fight to improve agricultural yields. Had Vavilov lived, I’m sure he would have been as feted as Borlaug. [1] Rather than cobble together my own obituary, I’ll link to a piece by John Hawks, who made his own link between Borlaug and Vavilov. Hawks’ review of The Murder of Nikolai Vavilov is also worth a read.
Notes:
- I’ve been in the same place as Borlaug twice, most memorably when he was a guest speaker at CIMMYT, during the CGIAR’s Annual General Meeting in 2004. That’s when I snapped the picture, and I can only hope I’m as sound of mind as he was. [↩]