Upitis, Peteris (breeder)

He graduated from Priekulsky agricultural school.

After the war, he and his colleague Raymond Boč traveled all over Latvia by bicycle, studying fruit trees. Agronomists also selected varieties of apples and potatoes for visual aids to technical schools and universities ^[1] .

Candidate of Agricultural Sciences.

Head of the fruit-growing breeding laboratory of the Research Institute of Agriculture of Latvia.

Creator and leader of the Dobele nursery. Bred more than 80 thousand genotypes.

The national poet of Latvia, Imant Ziedonis, dedicated a chapter to Upitis in the book “Kurzemete” ^[1] . "I really want to live with the same damn obsession with which this old man lives and thanks to which the gardens bloom, and people slow down and wonder: what kind of person is he who creates all this? I traced one trait given by nature that was brought into this person to genius, to such surrender that it seems abnormal or curious to many, as if genius may not be miraculous, as if genius itself is not a deviation from the norm, I want to say that we help too few people who in the forces of cos to give something unique, something that only they can create. " Ziedonis, like many, called Upitis "Maestro".

A friend of Maestro Raymond Boch believed that Upitis lives in a different dimension, works for 18-20 hours a day and dissociates himself from unnecessary meetings, therefore he is considered unsociable. Upitis and Muscovite Eremin were included in the world list of lily breeders.

Upitis zoned apricots in the middle strip, at 57th degree north latitude, by conducting experiments with 16 thousand trees ^[1] .

• 200 varieties of lilacs (12 varieties of P. Upitis lilacs are registered in the Royal Lilac Association ^[2] ). The first cultivar of lilacs is “The Joy of Being” (“Esibas prieks”).
• Famous varieties of lilies are "Brūnupīte", "Dzintarlāse".

Patented Varieties:

• raspberry variety "Ivars" (co-author S. Strautin) - reg. acc. AVE3
• Aya sweet cherry variety (co-authored by S. Ruys) - reg. acc. Kir1
• apple tree variety "Ilga" (co-author Mara Scrivele ) - reg. acc. ABE1
• apple variety Ausma (co-author L. Ikase) - reg. acc. ABE2
• variety of pears "Yumurda" (co-author M. Bleukmanis) - reg. acc. BUM1
• hybrid early plum variety "Early Yellow" (co-author L. Ikase) - reg. acc. Plu3
• Hybrid plum variety “Inese” (co-author L. Ikase) - reg. acc. Plu4
• variety of home plums "Mignon" (co-author Edith Kaufmane ) - reg. acc. Plu2
• Apricot variety Daiga (co-author Edita Kaufmane) - reg. acc. APR1
• Apricot variety Velta (co-author Edita Kaufmane) - reg. acc. APR2
• Apricot variety "Lasma" (co-author Edita Kaufmane) - reg. acc. APR3

• Australian, North American, Society of Lily Breeders, Similar Societies of North Carolina, Ontario, Wisconsin-Illinois
• International Lilac Breeders Society of Canada
• English National and French Rose Breeders Society
• Northern Walnut Breeders Society
• American Peony Breeders Society
• American Society of Iris Breeders

• P. Upītis . LPSR Augļu koku un ogulāju šķirnes. - Riga, 1948.-1951.
• P. Upītis . Augļkopības selekcijas mērķi un mans darbs. - Druva, 1958. Nr. 18, 9.-11. lpp.
• Upit, P. Ya. Improvement and expansion of the varietal composition of fruit crops of the Latvian SSR: Report summarizing the content of the work, presented. to protection for the competition. scientist degrees of cand. S.-kh. sciences / Latvian agricultural Acad., Jelgava, 1964 .-- 32 p.

• USSR State Prize
• The order of Lenin
• Honored Worker of Science and Technology of the Latvian SSR

• “Dobel Museum and Garden of Peteris Upitis” opened ^[3]

• Imants Ziedonis . Kurzeme
• L. Cirse . Pēteris Upītis. Riga, 1996, 176 lpp.

• Nadir Safiev, Around the World Magazine, Ordinary Man Peteris Upitis , No. 9 (2564), September 1972, rubric “On the 50th anniversary of the USSR”

• on the website izgudrojumi.lza.lv
• Dobele - a garden city, or What passion was central to the life of Peteris Upitis?
• Latvijas Valsts Augļkopības institūta mājas lapa