Boris Balinsky

Boris Ivan Balinsky (23 September 1905 Kyiv, Russian Empire – 1 September 1997, Johannesburg, South Africa) was a Ukrainian and South African biologist, embryologist, entomologist, professor of Kiev 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]

Born Ukrainian, a student of Ivan Schmalhausen, he was 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 at 28 years of age. He became a recognized expert in fish and amphibian development. Being victim of Soviet repressions, he remained under German occupation during World War II and fled to Posnan, 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 Pyralidae family, mainly from Caucasus and South Africa.

He had a son John B. Balinsky who is also a scientist.

Insects described

References

Sources

• Balinsky, Boris (1988). Digital Surrogate of Boris Balinsky Memoir. University of Illinois Archives.
• Korzh, Vladimir (2005). "Boris Balinsky: transition from embryology to developmental biology" (PDF). BioEssays. 27: 970–977. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-09-23.
• Willis, C.K.; Samways, M.J. Waterdancers of South Africa's National Botanical Gardens (PDF). SANBI Biodiversity Series. 21. Pretoria, South Africa: South African National Biodiversity Institute. p. 108. ISBN 978-1-919976-68-6.
• Fabian, B. (December 2009). "Balinsky's Darwinian roots". South African Journal of Science. 105 (11–12): 410–414. doi:10.4102/sajs.v105i11/12.149.
• E.S. Grossman (2005). "Boris Ivan Balinsky 10 September 1905 — 1 September 1997". South African Journal of Science. 101 (May/June): 309–312.
• Desnitskiy, A. G. (2014). "On a contribution of Boris Balinsky to the comparative and ecological embryology of amphibians". Russian Journal of Developmental Biology. 45 (2): 101–104. doi:10.1134/S1062360414010032. ISSN 1062-3604.