Sergei Winogradsky 2150292 225580756 2008-07-14T12:10:58Z UnknownMan52 7462285 {{Infobox Scientist |name = Sergei Winogradsky |box_width = |image = Winogradsky.jpg |image_width = 150 px |caption = |birth_date = [[September 1]], [[1856]] |birth_place = [[Kiev]], [[Russian Empire]] |death_date = {{death date and age|1953|2|25|1856|9|1}} |death_place = [[Brie-Comte-Robert]], [[France]] |residence = |citizenship = |nationality = |ethnicity = |field = [[Microbiology]] |work_institutions = [[Saint Petersburg Conservatory|Imperial Conservatoire of Music in St Petersburg]] (piano)</br>[[University of Saint Petersburg]]</br>[[University of Strasbourg]]</br>[[Pasteur Institute]] |alma_mater = [[University of Saint Petersburg]] |doctoral_advisor = |doctoral_students = |known_for = [[Nitrogen cycle]]</br>[[Chemotroph|Chemoautotrophy]]</br>[[Beggiatoa|Sulfur-oxidizing bacteria]] |author_abbrev_bot = |author_abbrev_zoo = |influences = [[Anton de Bary]]</br>[[Menshutkin reaction|Nikolaj Menšutkin]] (chemistry)</br>Nevskia Famintzin (botany)</br>[[Martinus Beijerinck]] |influenced = [[Selman Waksman]]</br>[[Martinus Beijerinck]] |prizes = [[Leeuwenhoek Medal]] (1935) |religion = |footnotes = }} '''Sergei Nikolaievich Winogradsky''' (or Vinogradskii; {{lang-ru|Сергей Николаевич Виноградский}}) ([[September 1]], [[1856]]- [[February 25]], [[1953]]) was a [[Russia]]n [[microbiologist]], [[ecologist]] and [[soil science|soil scientist]] who pioneered the [[Biogeochemical cycle|cycle of life]] concept and discovered the biological process of [[nitrification]], the first known form of chemoautotrophy. Winogradsky was born in [[Kiev]], in what was then the [[Russian Empire]], and entered the [[Saint Petersburg Conservatory|Imperial Conservatoire of Music in St Petersburg]] in 1875 to study piano.<ref name="thornton">Thornton, H.G. 1953. [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=1479-571X%28195311%298%3A22%3C635%3ASNW1%3E2.0.CO%3B2-P&size=LARGE&origin=JSTOR-enlargePage "Sergei Nicholaevitch Winogradsky. 1856-1953."] ''Obituary Notices of Fellows of the Royal Society''. '''8(22)''':635-644.</ref> However, after two years of music training, he entered the [[University of Saint Petersburg]] in 1877 to study chemistry under [[Menshutkin reaction|Nikolai Menshchutkin]] and botany under [[Andrei Sergeevich Famintzin]].<ref name="thornton"/> He took a diploma in 1881 and stayed at the University of St Petersburg to receive a degree of master of science in botany in 1884. In 1885, he began work at the [[University of Strasbourg]] under the renowned botanist [[Anton de Bary]]; Winogradsky became renowned for his work on sulfur bacteria. In 1888, he relocated to [[Zurich]], where he began investigation into the process of nitrification, identifying the genera ''[[Nitrosomonas]]'' and ''[[Nitrosococcus]]'', which oxidizes [[ammonium]] to [[nitrite]], and ''[[Nitrobacter]]'', which oxidizes nitrite to [[nitrate]]. He returned to St. Petersburg for the period 1891-1905 and there was chief of the division of general microbiology of the Institute of Experimental Medicine; during this period, he identified the obligate anaerobe ''[[Clostridium|Clostridium pastorianum]]'', which is capable of fixing atmospheric nitrogen. In 1901, he was elected honorary member of the Moscow Society of Natural Science and, in 1902, corresponding member of the French Academy of Sciences. He retired from active scientific work in 1905, dividing his time between his private estate and Switzerland. In 1922, he accepted an invitation to head the division of agricultural bacteriology at the [[Pasteur Institute]] at an experimental station at [[Brie-Comte-Robert]], [[France]], about 30 km from [[Paris]]. In this period, he worked on a number of topics, among them iron bacteria, nitrifying bacteria, nitrogen fixation by ''[[Azotobacter]]'', [[cellulose]]-decomposing bacteria, and culture methods for soil microorganisms. Winogradsky retired from active life in 1940 and died in Brie-Comte-Robert. [[Image:Nitrogen Cycle.jpg|left|thumb|350px|[[Nitrogen cycle]]]] Winogradsky is best known for discovering [[Chemotroph|chemoautotrophy]], which soon became popularly known as chemosynthesis, the process by which organisms derive energy from a number of different [[inorganic]] compounds and obtain [[carbon]] in the form of [[carbon dioxide]]. Previously, it was believed that [[autotroph|autotrophic organisms]] obtained their energy solely from [[light]], not from reactions of inorganic chemical compounds. Winogradsky was one of the first researchers to attempt to understand [[microorganisms]] outside of the medical context, making him among the first students of [[microbial ecology]] and [[environmental microbiology]]. The [[Winogradsky column]] remains a fascinating display of chemoautotrophy and microbial ecology, demonstrated in microbiology lectures around the world. ==Further reading== * [[Selman Waksman|Waksman, S.A.]] 1946. "Sergei Nikolaevitch Winogradsky: The study of a great bacteriologist" ''Soil Science'' 62:197-226. * Ackert, L. 2006. "The Role of Microbes in Agriculture: Sergei Vinogradskii’s Discovery and Investigation of Chemosynthesis, 1880-1910” ''Journal of the History of Biology'' 39:373-406. * Ackert, L. 2006. "The 'Cycle of Life' in Ecology: Sergei Vinogradskii's Soil Microbiology, 1885-1940" ''Journal of the History of Biology'' 40:109-145. * Ackert, L. 2004. ''From the Thermodynamics of Life to Ecological Microbiology: Sergei Vinogradskii and the Cycle of Life, 1850-1950'' (Ph.D. Dissertation, The Johns Hopkins University). ==See also== * [[Martinus Beijerinck]] * [[Nitrogen fixation]] ==References== {{Reflist}} <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]] --> {{Persondata |NAME= Winogradsky, Sergei |ALTERNATIVE NAMES= |SHORT DESCRIPTION= [[Microbiology]] |DATE OF BIRTH= September 1, 1856 |PLACE OF BIRTH= [[Kiev]], [[Russian Empire]] |DATE OF DEATH= February 25, 1953 |PLACE OF DEATH= [[Brie-Comte-Robert]], [[France]] }} {{DEFAULTSORT:Winogradsky, Sergei}} [[Category:Russian biochemists]] [[Category:Russian microbiologists]] [[Category:Russian biologists]] [[Category:Russian ecologists]] [[Category:Soil scientists]] [[Category:Nitrogen metabolism]] [[Category:Environmental microbiology]] [[Category:1856 births]] [[Category:1953 deaths]] [[ast:Sergei Winogradsky]] [[de:Sergei Nikolajewitsch Winogradski]] [[et:Sergei Vinogradski]] [[es:Sergei Winogradsky]] [[fr:Sergueï Vinogradski]] [[hu:Szergej Vinogradszkij]] [[oc:Sergei Vinogradskii]] [[pl:Siergiej Nikołajewicz Winogradski]] [[ru:Виноградский, Сергей Николаевич]] [[uk:Виноградський Сергій Миколайович]]