Sokolov, Boris Sergeevich

He was born on April 9, 1914 in the Vyshny Volochka of the Tver province in the family of rural medical assistant Sergei Borisovich Sokolov. He spent his childhood in the village of Beryozka, Vyshnevolotsky district, and in Vyshny Volochyok ^[1] . After graduation, he worked in Leningrad as an electrician. In 1937 he graduated with honors from Leningrad State University . Since 1936 he participated in geological survey work in Central Asia. In 1937-1941 he was an assistant at the Department of Paleontology at Leningrad State University.

Before the war, he led an expeditionary team in the Chinese province of Xinjiang . In 1941-1943, he was the head of the geological party of the People’s Commissariat of Oil and People’s Commissariat of Oil of the USSR, studied the Tarim , Turfan and Dzungar Depression in the Chinese Tien Shan ^[2] . In 1943-1958 - senior geologist, senior researcher , head of the laboratory of the All-Union Petroleum Research Institute of the People's Commissariat of the USSR. Since 1945 he taught at Leningrad State University.

Candidate (1947), Doctor (1955) of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences. In 1958, he was elected a corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Sciences and headed the department of paleontology and stratigraphy at the Institute of Geology and Geophysics of the Siberian Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences in Novosibirsk, turning it into one of the leading world centers for paleontological and stratigraphic research. In 1961-1965 - professor of the Department of General Geology, in 1965 founded and until 1975 headed the Department of Historical Geology and Paleontology of Novosibirsk State University . In 1968 he was elected a full member of the USSR Academy of Sciences.

Since 1976 he worked in Moscow, in 1977-1992 he headed the laboratory at the Paleontological Institute . After the death of S. M. Nikolsky, B. S. Sokolov became the oldest academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

He died on September 2, 2013 in Moscow. He was buried at the Troekurovsky cemetery . According to the will of B.S. Sokolov, a particle of his ashes is buried in a cemetery in the village of Berezka , next to the graves of his parents, brothers and sisters.

Posts at the Academy of Sciences of the USSR (Russia) and international organizations

• 1975-1990 - member of the Presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences , academician-secretary of the Department of Geology, Geochemistry and Geophysics of the USSR Academy of Sciences;
• Since 1990 - Advisor to the Presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences (RAS);
• Since 1975 - Chairman, Honorary Chairman of the Interagency Stratigraphic Committee (MSC);
• 1962-1973 - Vice-President, since 1974 - President and Honorary Member of the Paleontological Society of the USSR (Russia) ;
• 1972-1984 - Vice President, President of the International Paleontological Association;
• Full member of the Geological Society of France (1963);
• Honorary Corresponding Member of the Stockholm Geological Society (Sweden, 1969);
• Honorary Member of the Mining Academy of the Russian Federation (1998);
• Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Stratigraphy. Geological correlation ";
• Member of the Editorial Board of the journal "Geology and Geophysics";
• Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the Paleontology Fundamentals magazine.

Awards and Prizes

• Lenin Prize (1967);
• International Scientific Prize A.P. Karpinsky (1992);
• Gold medal named after A.P. Karpinsky Academy of Sciences of the USSR (1979);
• Grand Gold Medal named after M.V. Lomonosov (1997);
• Karpinsky Prize (1992);
• Karl von Baer Medal of the Presidium of the Academy of Sciences of Estonia (1992);
• Prize " Triumph " (2003).
• Hero of Socialist Labor (1984);
• Order of Lenin (1961, 1967, 1984);
• Order of the Red Banner of Labor (1974, 1975);
• Order of the Badge of Honor (1954);
• Medal "For Valiant Labor in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945" (1947);
• Gratitude of the President of the Russian Federation ( June 4, 1999 ) - for his great contribution to the development of domestic science, many years of conscientious work and in connection with the 275th anniversary of the Russian Academy of Sciences ^[3] .

The scientific interests of B. S. Sokolov are concentrated in two directions:

• Geology and paleontology of Precambrian . He is the founder of Precambrian paleontology, the oldest stage in the development of multicellular life on earth. He developed a fundamentally new interpretation of the initial stage of development of the Russian platform, highlighted a new stratigraphic unit between the Cambrian and the Proterozoic - the Vendian .

• Classification of ancient corals . For the first time in world literature, he gave a comprehensive analysis of Paleozoic corals (tabulates, heliolithids, hetetides), their systematics, evolution, phylogeny, stratigraphic and geographical distribution, changing the understanding of the history of their development.

In addition, he scientifically substantiated the zonal principle of determining the boundaries of stratigraphic systems, the independence of the Ordovician and Silurian systems, clarified the division of the Ordovician, Silurian and Devonian systems into divisions and tiers. Under his leadership, in 1960 15 paleogeographic maps of the Precambrian and Early Paleozoic of the Russian Platform were published on a scale of 1: 5,000,000.

For the first time he was given a fundamentally new interpretation of the initial stage of development of the Russian platform and allocated a new stratigraphic unit between the Cambrian and the Proterozoic - the Vendian - as an independent system in the General stratigraphic scale. ^[four]

He investigated the problems associated with the geological history of the biosphere and especially its early stages.

Geology and Paleontology

• Sokolov B.S. Stratigraphy of the Phanerozoic of Siberia // Geology and Geophysics. 1986. N 1. S.15-25 (et al.).
• Sokolov B.S. From the biosphere of the past to its future // Problems of pre-anthropogenic evolution of the biosphere. M., 1993. S. 4-9.
• Sokolov B.S. Essays on the formation of the Venda. M .: KMK Sci. Press Ltd., 1997 .-- 156 p. - ISBN 5-87317-032-0 .
• Sokolov B. S. Among the sciences about the Earth and life: Izb. Art. Novosibirsk: Publishing House of the SB RAS, phil. Geo, 2004 .-- 449 p. - ISBN 5-7692-0712-4 .
• Sokolov, B. S. Essays on science and scientists. M .: Science; Novosibirsk: Geo, 2006 .-- 312 p. - ISBN 5-9747-0006-6 .
• Sokolov B.S., Ivanovsky A. B. Vendian system. Historical, geological and paleontological substantiation. T. 1: Paleontology. M .: Nauka, 1985.222 s.
• Sokolov B.S., Fedonkin M.A. Vendian system. Historical, geological and paleontological substantiation. T. 2: Stratigraphy and geological processes. M .: Nauka, 1985.238 s.
• Sokolov, B.S., New Syringoporids of Taimyr, Bull. MOIP. Sep. Geology, 1947. T. XXII (6). S. 19-28.
• Sokolov B.S. Tabulata and Heliolitida // Atlas of governing forms of fossil faunas of the USSR. Silurian system. M .: Publishing house of geol. literature, 1949.V.2. S. 75-102.
• Sokolov B.S. Systematics and history of the development of Paleozoic corals Anthozoa Tabulata // Questions of paleontology. T. 1. L .: Publishing house of Leningrad State University, 1950.
• Sokolov B.S., Paleozoic tabuli of the European part of the USSR. Part I. Ordovician of the Western Urals and the Baltic. L.-M.: Gostoptekhizdat, 1951.170 s. (Tr. VNIGRI; Issue 48).
• Sokolov B.S.Tablets of the Paleozoic European part of the USSR. Part IV. Devon Russian platform and the Western Urals. L.-M.: Gostoptekhizdat, 1952.208 p. (Tr. VNIGRI; Issue 62).
• Sokolov B.S., Paleozoic tabuli of the European part of the USSR. Introduction L.-M.: Gostoptekhizdat, 1955. 527 p.
• Sokolov B.S. Subclass Tabulata. Tablets // Basics of paleontology: sponges, archaeocytes, intestinal, worms. M.: Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 1962. S. 192-265.
• Sokolov B. S. Events in the biosphere // The most important biotic events in the history of the Earth / Proceedings of the XXXII Session of HPE. Tallinn, 1991.S. 7-19.
• Sokolov B.S., Tesakov Yu. I. Tabuli of the Paleozoic of Siberia. M.-L.: Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 1963.188 s.
• Sokolov, B.S., Metazoa Precambrian and Vendian-Cambrian boundary // Paleontol. journal 1976. No. 1. p. 3-18.
• Sokolov B.S. On the age of the oldest sedimentary cover of the Russian platform // Izv. USSR Academy of Sciences. Ser. geol. 1952. No. 5. p. 21-31.
• Sokolov B.S. The Vendian stage in the history of the Earth // XXIV session of the Moscow Conservatory. Reports of Soviet geologists. 1972. p. 114-124.
• Sokolov B.S. Precambrian biosphere in the light of paleontological data // Vestnik AN SSSR. 1972. No. 8. p. 48-54.
• Sokolov B. S. Ichnology of the most ancient Metazoa: some problems and prospects // Geology and Geophysics. 1974. No. 5. p. 37-47.
• Sokolov B.S. Vendian complex (Vendian) and the problem of the boundary of Precambrian and Paleozoic groups // Geology of Precambrian. M .: Nauka, 1964. S. 135-150.
• Sokolov B.S. Wend of the Russian platform: its borders, dismemberment, stratigraphy. M .: Nauka, 1974.P. 3-10.
• Sokolov B.S. On paleontological findings in the pre-Usol deposits of the Irkutsk amphitheater // Analogs of the Vendian complex in Siberia. Novosibirsk: Nauka, 1975.P. 112-118.
• Sokolov B.S. Essays on the formation of the Venda. M .: Nauka, 1998.153 s.

Sokolov, Boris Sergeevich (Russian) . Site " Heroes of the country ".

• Sokolov Boris Sergeevich - an article from the Great Soviet Encyclopedia .
• Profile of Boris Sergeevich Sokolov on the official website of the RAS
• Sokolov Boris Sergeevich // Russian Academy of Sciences. Siberian branch: personnel / comp. E.G. Vodichev et al. - Novosibirsk: Nauka, 2007 .-- S. 242-243.
• Historical background on the website of the Archive of the Russian Academy of Sciences