The Famous Researcher of Lake Baikal

Abstract

This article presents the main biographical data on G.Yu. Vereshchagin—the founder of the Russian and Soviet Limnology—who organized complex scientific research of Lake Baikal, the deepest and oldest freshwater body on the planet. Vereshchagin’s development as an outstanding researcher of lakes is described. He started his activity on Lake Baikal as a participant, and then as the head of the expedition of the Commission for the Study of Lake Baikal of the Imperial Academy of Sciences and as the Scientific Secretary of this Commission. In 1928, the Baikal Expedition was transformed into the Baikal Limnological Station of the USSR Academy of Sciences, which was headed by G.Yu. Vereshchagin until 1944. His scientific heritage is diverse and includes fundamental works on hydrology and hydrophysics of lakes, on plankton studies, and on the problem of the origin of endemic fauna and flora of Lake Baikal, as well as the first methodological guide for field hydrochemical analysis of natural waters and comprehensive bibliographic reports on limnology.