About Entomologist and Artist
Geektime regularly publishes geek posts. As a rule, these are physicists and mathematicians, sometimes chemists. But the geeks of biology, for some reason, are very few, although among them there are very interesting people, not characters.
I would like to tell you about the idol of my childhood - Victor Stepanovich Grebennikov.
In the eighties of the last century, in many home libraries in Novosibirsk and, I believe, other cities, Grebennikov’s books began to appear. They equally attracted both adults and children. My father-frayed specimens with pleasure borrowed into dashing nineteen classmates, very far from the subject of insects.
The first thing that attracted was vivid, sometimes photorealistic, and sometimes Roerich's illustrations. The invisible world of insects opened in the splendor of gold and gems, in a riot of colors and life, illustrations fell into the soul forever.
The author’s personality was no less fascinating. Grebennikov mentioned himself in his most read books about himself, while his autobiographical notes were practically unknown. Thanks to this, he looked like a good magician living in a fairy kingdom.
Viktor Stepanovich regularly lived in mysterious sanctuaries, traveled through forests and swamps, looked after ants and kept bumblebees at home. In the latter, by the way, I still envy him fiercely and periodically think about the nest of bumblebees on the balcony. In order for you to appreciate the power of magic, the words of Grebennikov, I will add that my wife, in principle, is not opposed.
Although formally Grebennikov must be attributed to non-fiction, I do not agree with this. He did not describe the wonders of science, he was a guide to the magical world. His books are fantasy. Real, high-quality fantasy, an excellent drug for escapists. I am sure that without the help of Viktor Stepanovich, in my generation there would have been a considerable shortage of biologists in the universities of Siberia.
In addition to the passion for everything with an increased number of joints and limbs, the scientific value of the study of insects is very well revealed in his books. Perhaps the most significant experiment of Grebenikov was the conservation and artificial breeding of pollinating insects. As a result of a month of unhurried work by several student students, hundreds of hectares of agricultural land almost doubled their productivity.
Having been in love with entomology since childhood, Viktor Stepanovich was never able to get a higher education. In 1946, he was convicted of counterfeiting bread cards and spent the best, most important years for gaining knowledge and becoming a scientist, in prison.
He was released under an amnesty in 1953. Freedom did not expect him with open arms; instead of the artist’s studio, he finds himself in the warehouse of the station, works as a weightmaker.
But continues to be an artist in love with insects.
Grebennikov spends the weekend in the suburbs, watching, studying and sketching. Gradually, a natural transformation of an amateur into a professional takes place. It took Victor Stepanovich more than ten years to fill up seven lost in custody.
His hobby, or rather, even his passion for drawing, makes Grebennikov look for ways to realize it, the opportunity to share his vivid vision of the world with others. With great difficulties, he organizes a children's painting school. Which is almost immediately eliminated, because the builders of a socialist society did not have to draw bugs. He survived this blow very hard and recalled it in his books even decades later.
For a long time, Viktor Stepanovich remains an enthusiast, but gradually his merits as an artist, entomologist and ecologist introduce him to the scientific world, where, however, he did not become his own.
Perhaps the most important of his undertakings was the organization of entomological reserves and the assignment of the status of natural monuments of local importance to the areas of virgin lands.
But the most valuable legacy is undoubtedly his books and drawings. One from the other is inseparable. Bizarre, addictive stories, united by a common, so to speak, mythology, are delightfully complemented by surprisingly lively paintings made with love and admiration.
I highly recommend reading books by Viktor Stepanovich to both children and adults. In addition to the beauty of his vision of the world, Grebennikov is able to infect the researcher with enthusiasm, he teaches us not to pass by the riddle no matter how insignificant it may be. And his engineer’s enthusiasm is equally contagious, with which he makes optical instruments from improvised tools or observes the unusual behavior of meteorites.
Despite the fact that I started this article with bright colors, I have to finish it gloomy.
The tragedy of this remarkable man is that he had to observe the death of his life’s affairs. None of the wildlife sanctuaries survived their creator. It seems to me that it was this grief that brought out the dark side of his talent. Not the talent of the artist, but the talent of the storyteller.
I want to believe that this was not confusion, but a kind of conscious gesture of resentment. To people who did not want to accept the tiny kingdoms of the good wizard as a gift, he gave another illusion.
Now on the Internet, most, if not all, publications about Grebennikov mention the effect of cavity structures. I see no reason to expound this dubious theory in detail, if for some reason you suddenly want to find out about it, the corporation of goodness is always ready to help.
If you look in chronological order all the works of Viktor Stepanovich, you can see a confident path from a cheerful scientist to a gloomy and tired quack. I say “quack” not with the aim of offending this man, whom I respect extremely, but only in order to emphasize his confidence in the doubtfulness of his theory. There is no doubt that he began the study of EPS as a scientist, but ended as a mystic. Where, at the beginning of the journey, he looked for patterns and connections that were not noticed before, at the end he even stopped taking into account internal contradictions.
I am sad and sad that the great artist and popularizer of science ended his life as an eccentric old man. I planned to write this article by April 23rd, his birthday, but the words were extremely reluctant. If the beginning of the article was easy for me, then with the approach to the end of the story of an inspired enthusiast and the beginning of the history of a scientific freak, the matter was stalled.
But something rather unexpected happened. Yesterday in the store I saw an inscription on a box of vegetables: "Pollinated by bumblebees." I don’t even know if there is any connection here, but I want to believe that the work of Viktor Stepanovich’s whole life, or rather the science of entomology, to which he devoted his life, still brings people exactly the benefits that he foresaw and hoped for .
Well, let's consider this a sign of fate. I still finished the article. If you are interested in illustrations or the topic of entomology and local history is just close, I recommend finding and reading Viktor Stepanovich’s three most interesting books - “Secrets of the insect world”, “My amazing world” and “Million riddles”.
I would like to tell you about the idol of my childhood - Victor Stepanovich Grebennikov.
In the eighties of the last century, in many home libraries in Novosibirsk and, I believe, other cities, Grebennikov’s books began to appear. They equally attracted both adults and children. My father-frayed specimens with pleasure borrowed into dashing nineteen classmates, very far from the subject of insects.
The first thing that attracted was vivid, sometimes photorealistic, and sometimes Roerich's illustrations. The invisible world of insects opened in the splendor of gold and gems, in a riot of colors and life, illustrations fell into the soul forever.
The author’s personality was no less fascinating. Grebennikov mentioned himself in his most read books about himself, while his autobiographical notes were practically unknown. Thanks to this, he looked like a good magician living in a fairy kingdom.
Viktor Stepanovich regularly lived in mysterious sanctuaries, traveled through forests and swamps, looked after ants and kept bumblebees at home. In the latter, by the way, I still envy him fiercely and periodically think about the nest of bumblebees on the balcony. In order for you to appreciate the power of magic, the words of Grebennikov, I will add that my wife, in principle, is not opposed.
Although formally Grebennikov must be attributed to non-fiction, I do not agree with this. He did not describe the wonders of science, he was a guide to the magical world. His books are fantasy. Real, high-quality fantasy, an excellent drug for escapists. I am sure that without the help of Viktor Stepanovich, in my generation there would have been a considerable shortage of biologists in the universities of Siberia.
In addition to the passion for everything with an increased number of joints and limbs, the scientific value of the study of insects is very well revealed in his books. Perhaps the most significant experiment of Grebenikov was the conservation and artificial breeding of pollinating insects. As a result of a month of unhurried work by several student students, hundreds of hectares of agricultural land almost doubled their productivity.
Having been in love with entomology since childhood, Viktor Stepanovich was never able to get a higher education. In 1946, he was convicted of counterfeiting bread cards and spent the best, most important years for gaining knowledge and becoming a scientist, in prison.
He was released under an amnesty in 1953. Freedom did not expect him with open arms; instead of the artist’s studio, he finds himself in the warehouse of the station, works as a weightmaker.
But continues to be an artist in love with insects.
Grebennikov spends the weekend in the suburbs, watching, studying and sketching. Gradually, a natural transformation of an amateur into a professional takes place. It took Victor Stepanovich more than ten years to fill up seven lost in custody.
His hobby, or rather, even his passion for drawing, makes Grebennikov look for ways to realize it, the opportunity to share his vivid vision of the world with others. With great difficulties, he organizes a children's painting school. Which is almost immediately eliminated, because the builders of a socialist society did not have to draw bugs. He survived this blow very hard and recalled it in his books even decades later.
For a long time, Viktor Stepanovich remains an enthusiast, but gradually his merits as an artist, entomologist and ecologist introduce him to the scientific world, where, however, he did not become his own.
Perhaps the most important of his undertakings was the organization of entomological reserves and the assignment of the status of natural monuments of local importance to the areas of virgin lands.
But the most valuable legacy is undoubtedly his books and drawings. One from the other is inseparable. Bizarre, addictive stories, united by a common, so to speak, mythology, are delightfully complemented by surprisingly lively paintings made with love and admiration.
I highly recommend reading books by Viktor Stepanovich to both children and adults. In addition to the beauty of his vision of the world, Grebennikov is able to infect the researcher with enthusiasm, he teaches us not to pass by the riddle no matter how insignificant it may be. And his engineer’s enthusiasm is equally contagious, with which he makes optical instruments from improvised tools or observes the unusual behavior of meteorites.
Despite the fact that I started this article with bright colors, I have to finish it gloomy.
The tragedy of this remarkable man is that he had to observe the death of his life’s affairs. None of the wildlife sanctuaries survived their creator. It seems to me that it was this grief that brought out the dark side of his talent. Not the talent of the artist, but the talent of the storyteller.
I want to believe that this was not confusion, but a kind of conscious gesture of resentment. To people who did not want to accept the tiny kingdoms of the good wizard as a gift, he gave another illusion.
Now on the Internet, most, if not all, publications about Grebennikov mention the effect of cavity structures. I see no reason to expound this dubious theory in detail, if for some reason you suddenly want to find out about it, the corporation of goodness is always ready to help.
If you look in chronological order all the works of Viktor Stepanovich, you can see a confident path from a cheerful scientist to a gloomy and tired quack. I say “quack” not with the aim of offending this man, whom I respect extremely, but only in order to emphasize his confidence in the doubtfulness of his theory. There is no doubt that he began the study of EPS as a scientist, but ended as a mystic. Where, at the beginning of the journey, he looked for patterns and connections that were not noticed before, at the end he even stopped taking into account internal contradictions.
I am sad and sad that the great artist and popularizer of science ended his life as an eccentric old man. I planned to write this article by April 23rd, his birthday, but the words were extremely reluctant. If the beginning of the article was easy for me, then with the approach to the end of the story of an inspired enthusiast and the beginning of the history of a scientific freak, the matter was stalled.
But something rather unexpected happened. Yesterday in the store I saw an inscription on a box of vegetables: "Pollinated by bumblebees." I don’t even know if there is any connection here, but I want to believe that the work of Viktor Stepanovich’s whole life, or rather the science of entomology, to which he devoted his life, still brings people exactly the benefits that he foresaw and hoped for .
Well, let's consider this a sign of fate. I still finished the article. If you are interested in illustrations or the topic of entomology and local history is just close, I recommend finding and reading Viktor Stepanovich’s three most interesting books - “Secrets of the insect world”, “My amazing world” and “Million riddles”.