175 YEARS TO DEPARTMENT OF BOTANY OF THE KAZAN UNIVERSITY
Phytology teaching at the Kazan university has begun a year later after its discovering – in 1805, and is bound to K.F.Fuks's name – the first professor of natural history and phytology. Actually the department (a botanic office) has been organized only in 1836; it was headed by P.Ja.Kornuh-Trotsky who also was engaged in arrangement of the Botanic garden and studying of flora of the Kazan province much. A. O.Janovich who has essentially filled up the educational equipment of department became its successor, but with its departure from Kazan in 1863 phytology teaching at the Kazan University has been stopped.
In 1867 the department was headed by N.F.Levakovsky at whom development was received some by scientific directions. Itself Levakovsky has created school of physiologists of plants (E.F.Votchal, V.A.Rotert, M.S.Tsvet, V.R.Zalensky, V.V.Lepeshkin), subsequently precipitated out in separate department. Outstanding mycologist N. V.Sorokin (managing department in 1888-1901) has begun studying of "inferior plants". The World fame was received by K.S.Merezhkovsky – algologist and lichenologist, the author of the theory simbiogenesis. At last, at Levakovsky on department the botaniko-geographical direction (P.N.Krylov, S.I.Korzhinsky, A.Ja.Gordjagin) has started to educe. Heading department in 1901-1909 and in 1914-1932 A.Ja.Gordjagin, has created the Kazan geobotanic school (N.A.Bush, V.I.Taliev, I.I.Sprygin, B.A.Keller, V.I.Smirnov, D.E.Janishevsky and many other things), the played outstanding role in development of Russian botanic geography.
Since 1932 over department V.I.Baranov supervised. It promoted appearance on department of such scientific directions, as bryologic (N. P.Ariskina), phytopathologic (T.A.Bystrakova), cytoembryologic (N. G.Afanaseva). Itself Rams has begun paleobotanic to a direction (L. M.Jatajkin, V.T.Shalandina, K. V.Nikolaeva). It also has continued the best traditions of the Kazan geobotanic school.
Since 1964 the management of department has passed to M.Vas. Маркову (in 1945-1964 he headed department of geobotany of the Kazan university). Marks were led by the powerful contribution to studying of flora and vegetation of the east of the European Russia. It also educed experimental geobotany (in 1962 at university 1st All-Union conference on questions of experimental geobotany has been made) and has played the big role in building the USSR agrophytocenologies (in 1967 at university 1 Interuniversity meeting concerning agrophytocenology has been made).
In 1974 department E.L.Lyubarsky became managing. Along with biology and plant ecology studying, on department the great attention began to be given to questions of preservation of a vegetative integument of region. The department has achieved appreciable successes in the field of population phytobiology (M.Vit. Markov) and embryology of plants (A. G. Smirnov, A. P. Sitnykov – in different years are awarded by a commemorative medal of S. G. Navashin).
Since 1999 department A. P. Sitnykov under the direction of whom morphologo-systematic and botanico-geographical directions educe manages.