A. I. Ipat’ev, was a cousin of Nikolay and the Vavilov family historian. He remembered [1] his cousin’s departure:
One clear summer day in 1916 an automobile, a great rarity then, pulled up to the house. Nikolai Ivanovich came up to me while I was sitting in the garden and greeted me. He was, as always, radiant and happy, only his appearance was unusual and strange. He was wearing a cream-colored summer suit, across his shoulders was a full pack, and on his head was the strangest thing of all, a white hat with a double brim, which he called a “hello-good-bye’’ hat. He got into the auto and drove off.
Notes:
- Quoted in B.M. Cohen (1991) Nikolai Ivanovich Vavilov: The explorer and plant collector, Econ. Bot. 45:38-46. [↩]
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Not so many days ago we were wondering what have happened would Vavilov have had access to the internet. I guess it would have been more or less like this:
http://www.seedhunter.com
An interesting site that takes you to exotic landscapes and, sometimes, to comic situations. Enjoyable!
For readers in Rome, the star of that site — Dr Ken Street — is giving a lecture in Rome on 23 October. Contact me for details.
I look forward to Ken’s blog, and I’m hoping he’ll have a message for Vavilov.