Boris Balinsky

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Borys Balinsky
Борис Балінський
Борис Балінський (1936).png
Born(1905-09-23)23 September 1905
Died1 September 1997(1997-09-01) (aged 91)
Johannesburg, South Africa
Nationality
Alma mater
Spouse(s)Catherine Singaiivska, Elizabeth Stengel
ChildrenJohn Balinsky, Helen David
Scientific career
FieldsEmbryology, entomology
Institutions
Doctoral advisorIvan Schmalhausen
Notable students

Borys Ivanovych Balinsky (23 September 1905 – 1 September 1997) was a Ukrainian and South African biologist, embryologist, entomologist, professor of Kyiv University and University of the Witwatersrand. Pioneer researcher in the field of experimental embryology, electron microscopy and developmental biology. He was author of popular textbook in embryology An Introduction to Embryology.[1]

Balinsky was born 23 September 1905, in Kyiv, Russian Empire (now Ukraine). He was a student of Ivan Schmalhausen and one of the first to experimentally induce organogenesis in amphibian embryos. Balinsky was a full university professor and the deputy director of the Institute of Biology in Kyiv (now I. I. Schmalhausen Institute of Zoology) at 28 years of age. He became a recognized expert in fish and amphibian development. Being a victim of Soviet repressions, he remained under German occupation during World War II and fled to Poznań, Poland and later Munich, Germany. Balinsky briefly worked in Scotland in Conrad Hal Waddington's laboratory on mice embryology. Finally, he went to South Africa to become one of the founders of South African experimental bioscience.

Balinsky also worked in entomology and described new species of Plecoptera, Odonata and moths from the family Pyralidae, mainly from Caucasus and South Africa.

He died in Johannesburg 1 September 1997. He had a son John Balinsky who is also a scientist.

Insects described

Plecoptera

Dragonflies

Lepidoptera

New species

New genera

References

  1. ^ Balinsky, Boris (1970). An Introduction to Embryology (3rd ed.). Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders Company. ISBN 0721615171.

Sources