Botanist, Ph.D., professor, academician of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, and honored figure of science of the USSR
Takhtajyan was born on June 10, 1910, in Shushi. From 1929-1930, he studied at YSU Faculty of Biology. In 1932 graduated from Tbilisi All-Union Institute of Subtropical Cultures.
In 1943, Takhtajyan defended a doctoral dissertation. In 1944, he became a professor. In 1945, Takhtajyan was elected a corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, in 1971, as an academician, in 1966 - a corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, and 1972 - an academician of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR.
From 1932-1935, Takhtajyan was a researcher of the Natural History Museum of Armenia, then senior researcher of the Institute of Biology of the Armenian branch of the USSR State Academy of Sciences (1935-1943), head of the Department of Morphology and Taxonomy of YSU (1938-1948), head of the Department of Evolutionary Morphology and Archeology of the Institute of Botany of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR in (1943, also director of the Institute of Botany of the Academy of Sciences of the ASSR (1944-1948), professor of the Department of Advanced Plants of Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) State University (1949-1961), dean of the Faculty of Biology and Soil Science of the same university (1951-1954), Head of the Department of Higher Plants of the Institute of Botany of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR (1954-1977 1977-1986), head of the Department of Flora, Taxonomy and Evolution of Higher Plants of the Institute of Botany named after V. Komarov (1977-1986), then the director of the same institute (1977-1986).
He is the author of about 400 works, including 20 monographs, which were published in different languages of the world. The most important ones are "Higher Plants" (1956), "Die Evolution der Angiospermen" (Yena, 1959), "System and Phylogeny of Flower Plants" (М., 1966), "Flowering Plants: Origin and Dispersal" (Edinburgh, 1969), "Floristic Regions of the World" (California, 1986) and others.
Under Takhtajyan's A. editorship, "The Red Book USSR", "Life of Plants", "Flora Armenia" and other multi-volume works and many newsletters were published.
A. Takhtajyan was one of the greatest botanists of the 20th c. and played a significant role in the development and establishment of a number of branches of botanical science in Armenia and Russia. He is rightly considered the greatest expert on the phylogeny of higher plants.
A. Takhtajyan was a true member of the academies of a number of countries (USA, Germany, Norway, etc.). He was the editor-in-chief of the journal "Botanic Journal".
A. Takhtajyan became an Honored Worker of Science of the USSR (1967). He was awarded the Hero of Socialist Labor, USSR State Prize (1981), Red Banner of Labor (1975), Order of Friendship of Peoples, numerous medals, and an honorary degree of the Supreme Council of the USSR (1947).
Passed away on November 13, 2009, in St. Petersburg.
