A TRUE SCIENTIST AND A MOST AMIABLE PERSON

( To the centenary of the birthday of H.A.Timofeeff-Ressovsky)

V.I. Ivanov
Research Centre for Medical Genetics, Moscow

The name of an outstanding Russian scientist, a contemporary of the XX century Nikolay Wladimirovich Timofeeff-Ressovsky is well known in the academic circles and among lay people. The reasons for such popularity may be found not only in his successful scientific work and public educational activities, but also in the wide public discussion of his life in mass media, biographic books, films and on TV.
Much less is known that for more than fifty years Nikolay Wladimirovich shared his life with Helene Timofeeff-Ressovsky, his wife, his best friend, colleague, and heavenly guardian angel. In 1998 it was her hundredth birthday. Elena Aleksandrovna was not only one of of her husband's co-workers, she was an outstanding personality - a geneticist, an evolutionist, a hydrobiologist, a radiobiologist - who made a profound contribution to the Natural Science, being an author of more than 60 excellent publications,.
Elena Aleksandrovna Timofeeva-Ressovskaya (maiden name - Fiedler) was born on 21 June 1898 to a big Moscovite family of Russian-German-Italian origin. Her father Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Fiedler, was a prominent Moscow teacher, the director of a high school for boys.
Elena Aleksandrovna Graduated first from Alferov high school in Moscow and then from the Department of natural science of the Division of Physics and Mathematics of the Moscow University. During her academic years E.A. established her main scientific interests - invertabrate zoology, experimental biology, genetics, hydrobiology and hydrophysiology. The choice of these fields was much influenced by the University professors N.N. Koltsoff, S.S. Tschetverikoff, S.N. Skadovsky.
The whirlwind of the civil war brought about stringent complications and forced migration. For some time Elena Aleksandrovna was a student of Sympheropole University, where she made acquaintance with Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky, one of the University rectors at the time. By then he had nearly compiled the basic principles of biogeochemistry and the concept of biosphere. Later, these contacts with Vernadsky reflected in numerous papers by Nikolaj Wladimirovich and Elena Aleksandrovna , which they called experimental radiation biogeocenology" (nicknamed vernadskology with a sukachevian flavour). After many years passed this field is known now as radioecology.
  On return to Moscow, to the Koltsoff-Tschetverikoff school, Elena Aleksandrovna completed her University course and plunged into phenogenetic studies ( tracing the paths from genes to characters, which had been started by S.S.Tschetverikoff, and worked in close contact with one of his senior disciples Nikolay Wladimirovich Timofeeff-Ressovsky. Their contacts were more tense than academic and resulted not only in a number of research papers, but also their wedding at the Church of Assumption on Mogiltsy, the birth of two sons, Dmitry and Andrey (who were nicknamed Fomka and Eremka, like in the town verses of those days; quite by chance, the funny name stuck only to the older brother), and more than fifty years (not accounting for the years of forced separation) of excellent marital union, which had terminated only when Elena Aleksandrovna had died on the Easter Day, 29 April 1973.
  In 1925 the Timofeeff-Ressovskys moved to Germany, on the invitation by a Berlin neuroanatomist professor Oscar Fogt. They worked at the Brain Research Institute of the Kaiser Wilhelm Society for Scientific Research Support in Buch near Berlin until 1945. The Department of Genetics then headed by N.W. Timofeeff-Ressovsky has expanded now to a large and famous centre of molecular biology named after Max Delbruck (a researcher in the pre-war Timofeeff-Ressovsky's team).
  During her work in Berlin-Buch E.A.Timofeeva-Ressovskaya published 15 scientific papers on phenogenetics, population genetics and mutagenesis. The first paper (it was quite big - about 25 pages), published in 1926, was on the variation in phenotypic manifestation of genetic features in Drosophila funebris. This Drosophila species was rarely used as an object for phenogenetic investigations at the time, so the above mentioned article and other papers by E.A.Timofeeva-Ressovskaya on gynandromorphs and genetic genital anomalies (1928), on detailed phenogenetic analysis of a highly pleiotropic mutation Polyphaen, discovered by her, (1931), and on polar variation of phenotypic manifestations of a number of mutations (1934), were very important then and are still now.
  In the same years Elena Aleksandrovna published a number of papers on phenogenetics and genetic variation in populations of a ladybird Epilachna chrysomelina: on temperature dependent variation of pigmentation and pattern variations of spots on the elytrae in different races of this species (two papers in 1932, one paper in 1941), and, beside that, a description of a newly discovered by her Epilachna mutation named divergens (1935).
  In addition, Elena Aleksandrovna took part in the studies on evolution of populations. It was a genetic analysis of free living population of Drosophila melanogaster (1927) and three papers of 1940 in co-authorship with her husband on: 1) spatial and temporal parameters of distribution of individuals in populations of different species of Drosophila, 2) "activity regions" of individuals in populations of Drosophila funebris and Drosophila melanogaster, and 3) dynamics of populations size. The fundamental character of the results obtained was the reason why these papers were included into a volume of selected papers by N.W.Timofeeff-Ressovsky in 1996 when both co-authors were long dead.
  E.A.Timofeeva-Ressovskaya was one of the first scientists who published data on genetic effects of X-ray radiation (three papers in 1930) after the report of H. Muller presented at the V International Genetic Congress in 1927 in Berlin. In her radiation experiments Drosophila funebris was also used.
  Twenty years in Germany comprised a lucky period in Timofeeffs' life: they were young, healthy, happy in their family life and at work, had close scientific and friendly ties with colleagues in Russia and other USSR republics, in Germany and other countries of Europe, America and Asia.
  The gravest personal grief at that time for Elena Aleksandrovna and Nikolay Wladimirovich was the arrest and imprisonment of their elder son Dmitry-Foma in a concentration camp (where he perished, in the end of the war). This tragedy carved bleeding wounds in the hearts of the parents, especially, in the mother's heart, until the last days of their lives. The only thing that kept Elena Aleksandrovna optimistic and cheerful was her deep faith that her lost first son would come back one day. Actually, it was a gift of Providencee that the reliable documents verifying the death of Dmitry were revealed after his parents had died.
  In Octoder 1945 Nikolay Wladimirovich disappeared. As it cleared out later, he was arrested and detained in the 'depths' of NKVD-MVD (State Ministry for Internal Affairs). It was a tragic period in the life of Elena Aleksandrovna. A professor of genetics at the Berlin University, Nachtsheim, invited her to work with him as his assistant, and it supported the unhappy mother and her second son Andrey. Luckily, Nikolay Wladimirovich's via dolorosa - after Lubyanka, Butyrka prison, Karlag concentration camp; after dystrophia, pellagra - led in 1947 to a secret MVD atomic laboratory (among prisoners it was called "sharashka") in Sungul near Chelyabinsk, where Nikolay Wladimirovich was to head a large department consisting of prisoners-scientists, captives of war and civilians. They were to study biological consequences of nuclear explosions, radiations and radioactive contamination to animals and plant organisms, human beings, terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.
  In Berlin, when Elena Aleksandrovna received a letter with an invitation from her husband in his autentic handwriting, she packed immediately (including his huge library) and left with no hesitation for a distant mountainous corner in the South Urals, on the coast of the beautiful lake Sungul. They lived and worked there until 1955.
  Years of top secrecy of radiobiological data in the USSR passed and, with revealing the information which had already been well known in the world press, the department of N.W.Timofeeff-Ressovsky was moved to the Institute of Biology of the Ural Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences in Sverdlovsk (now, Ekaterinburg). Biophysical, radiobiological and radiation genetic research were continued there. One of the key roles in this research was played by Elena Aleksandrovna.
  The results of the seven-year work at a secret laboratory, which had been presented only in "top-secret" reports, were allowed now to be published in the "open" journals. Together with newly-obtained results, they laid the basis for a cascade of publications in the next ten years, in the cenral and the Urals scientific press.
  About thirty scientific papers were written by E.A.Timofeeva-Ressovskaya, alone, and with colleagues. Some of the papers were dedicated to biological effects of radiation on organisms. The bulk of the papers covered mainly migration, concentration and dispersion of radioisotopes of different chemical elements in fresh-water reservoirs and the evaluation of radioactive contamination damage and its effect on the biomass dynamics and species structure of the terrestrial and fresh-water biopopulations.
  General summary of radiohydrobiological research conducted by Elena Aleksandrovna was presented in her main work - "Radioisotope distribution among the main components of fresh-water reservoirs". It was issued as a separate edition in Volume 30 of Proceedings of the Institute of Biology of the Ural Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Sverdlovsk, in 1963. The fundamental character of this publication was evidenced by the fact that it was twice published in the USA in English, in the shortest period of time. On 12 November 1963 the Scientific Council of the Institute of Biology, the Ural Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences, conferred Elena Aleksandrovna the Degree of Doctor of Biology, having taken into consideration the amount of scientific works in this monograph.
  When Timofeeffs moved from the secret laboratory to Sverdlovsk, a big city, a large industrial, scientific and technological centre, old family and freildly ties started to restore (Moskovite families - Zalogins, Kursanovs, Reformatskys), new acquaintances appeared in Sverdlovsk, Moscow, Leningrad, Novosibirsk and many other Russian cities. The circle of scientific and friendly contacts of Timofeeff-Ressovskys was widening. This was stimulated by summer conferences, held since 1957, at the biostation in Miassovo in the Ilmen National Park with agenda ranging "from astronomy to gastronomy". The station was the main location where Timofeeffs and their co-workers carried out their lab and field research on radiation ecology. Timofeeff's Summer conferences established a stable scientific all-Union school with more than a hundred participants. Nikolay Wladimirovich was, undoubtedly, the Brain of the school, while the Soul of it was Elena Aleksandrovna. It was she who wrote dozens and hundreds of letters, smoothed down all troubles and problems, she was like a buffer between the heads "too hot", including her Kolyusha (that was the name she usually addressed Nikolay Wladimirovich), she stood up for the offended, and did many other things. It should be pointed out that Elena Aleksandrovna was always kind, considerate and amiable, and never unjust or unfair. The rudest word she could afford herself to pronounce was "qiute an abssurd gentleman !"
  At the end of the 1950s the scientific prestige of Timofeeff-Ressovskys was so high in the USSR that they were invited not only to deliver lectures in Leningrad and Moscow Universities and other leading academic centres, but to make reports at various conferences all over the USSR; they were even proposed to move to Novosibirsk Akademgorodok, to Gatchina and Pushchino academic centres, to a new Institute of Medical Radiology of the Academy of Medical Sciences in Obninsk and to other places. After hesitation and much pondering, especially on the side of Elena Aleksandrovna, as their son Andrey remained in Sverdlovsk - he was fond of the Urals and of thes Institute of Physics of Metals he belonged to, the choice was made. They decided to move to Obninsk. Among the motives in favour of this choice were that they could take with them the main group of their co-workers, and that the town was situated in the native for Nikolay Wladimirovich Kaluga region.
  In 1964 Timofeeff-Ressovskys set off for their last location - to settle down in a "town of science" Obninsk. First, their life was rather prosperous. The department under the guidance of Nikolay Wladimirovich had good prospects for research. The team was creative and industrious. Elena Aleksandrovna was the oldest one, but she didn't hesitate to start totally new experiments with a novel object - a "botanical Drosophila" - the cruciferous ephemere Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Hyenh. We were enthusiastic and active, and in 1966-1971 in the USSR and abroad more than a dozen papers on radiobiology and radiation genetics of this model object written by Elena Aleksandrovna and her colleagues were published. Nowadays, Arabidopsis is one of the leading objects in genetic research in the world.
  Timofeeff-Ressovskys always combined intense scientific work with very active private life, and life in Obninsk did not show any difference in their lifestyle. Lively discussions on science, art, literature contrasted to minimal brief talks on politics or routine. Their flat in Solnechnaya street in Obninsk was the place where endless flow of visitors, those who lived in Obninsk and those who came from other places, never stopped; at special parties Elena Aleksandrovna had to "regulate the traffic" of visitors. All the meetings and talks took place at the tea table.
  The idyll  had continued for five years, when Elena Aleksandrovna decided to retire, and Nikolay Wladimirovich was again threatened with political accusations from the communist leaders in Kaluga and Obninsk regional committees. As a result, in order to protect the organizer and director of the Institute of Medical Radiology Georgy Artemievich Zedgenidze, who always supported Timofeeff-Ressovskys, Nikolay Wladimirovich also decided to retire. Soon, however, he was invited by Oleg Georgievich Gazenko as a consultant to the Institute of Medical and Biological Problems, where he remained working till his last days.
  The retirement of Timofeeff-Ressovskys was not complete rest: they did not come to work every day, but they remained very active socially. The last day of Elena Aleksandrovna's life was a true example of it. As usual, on Easter Sunday Timofeeffs had invited for a holiday lunch their friends, pupils and colleagues. The party was in its swing, with kuliches (Russian Easter cakes ), paskhas (special delicacy made of white cottage cheese), ham, caviar and other fish gourmets. Elena Aleksandrovna was joyful and a little more cherubic than usual. Naturally, she spoke about Fomochka, her son. In the afternoon, when almost all guests had left, she felt bad, and then worse and worse. Soon nobody could help her, only Nikolay Wladimirovich pronounced the last prayer.
  Thus, on the Easter Day of the Orthodox holiday, when only holy souls pass away to Heaven, Elena Aleksandrovna Timofeeva-Ressovskaya (Fiedler) left us - a true scientist and a brilliant hearty person.

Translated by Irina V. Kronshtadtova, Division of Radiation and Radiobiological Research, JINR, Dubna, Russia. 01.12.99 1 In English and German "H" stands for Helene, in translations from Russian it was spelt Elena Alexandrovna Timofeeva-Ressovskaya.