All-Union Botanical Society VBO

All-Union Botanical Society (VBO) 

a scientific society uniting Soviet scientists working in the fields of botany.

The VBO was created by the initiative of a group of Kiev botanists in December 1915. During 1915–32 it was called the Russian Botanical Society of the Academy of Sciences; during 1932–45, the State All-Russian Botanical Society under the direction of the Narkompros of the RSFSR; and in 1945 it was named the All-Union Botanical Society of the USSR (AN SSSR). At the end of 1969 there were more than 5,000 active members, with 49 divisions (including those in all the Union republics), sections, and standing commissions. The VBO had three ail-Union botanical congresses (1921, 1926, 1928), four delegate congresses (1950, 1957, 1963, 1969), and many symposia and regional conferences and meetings.

It began publishing the Botanicheskii zhurnal in 1916 and the series Problemy botaniki in 1950. In addition, the VBO and its divisions published a series of anthologies and monographs, including the 12–volume Flora of Western Siberia by P. N. Krylov. The VBO facilitates the mutual exchange of information among Soviet botanists, the coordination of their research, and the growth of scientific discussions. It represents the botanical community of the USSR at international congresses. Its presidents have been I. P. Borodin (1916–30), V. L. Komarov (1930–45), V. N. Sukhachev (1946–63), and E. M. Lavrenko (since 1963).

REFERENCES

Lavrenko, E. M., and A. A. Iunatov. “50 let Vsesoiuznogo botanicheskogo obshchestva.” Botanicheskii zhurnal, vol. 50, no. 9, 1965.
Andreeva, V. A. “Spisok izdanii Vsesoiuznogo botanicheskogo obshchestva.” Botanicheskii zhurnal, vol. 50, no. 9, 1965. (For the 50th anniversary of the society.)

D. V. LEBEDEV