Zone, Raphael

Rafael Gabrielevich (Rafail Gavrilovich) Masin-Zon was born in Simbirsk , Russia , in the family of watchmakers Gabriel Leibovich (Gavriil Lvovich) Masin-Zon (1849-1915), a native of the county town of Disna, Vilna province ^[2] and his wife Geni Veniaminov Berliner. The family lived in a two-story brick house No. 13 on Losevoi Street (now Federation Street). In 1894-1895 he was a member of the Narodnik circle leading revolutionary propaganda among the Alafuzov workers ^[3] , was arrested ^[4] ; fled from Russia in 1897, being released on bail. Zon and his comrade-in-law, a student of the feldsher school, Khan Abramovna Puzyriyskaya, whom he later married, left for Belgium. There he studied in Liege ^[5] . He spent nine months in London and then moved to the United States in 1898 ^[6] .

He graduated from the Simbirsk classical gymnasium , studied medical and natural sciences, graduating from Kazan Imperial University with a bachelor's degree in “comparative embryology ” ^[7] . In the United States, Zon studied forestry at Cornell University's New York State College of Forestry. His teachers were such eminent experts as Bernhard Fernou and Philbert Roth. He graduated from the university in 1901.

After graduation, he joined the US Forest Service, where he subsequently worked for 43 years of his life. Zon was a protege of Dr. Bernhard Fernow and Gifford Pinchot , the first director of the United States Forest Service. He was also a close friend of Bob Marshall .

The zone made a significant contribution to the study of forestry. Many of his more than 200 scientific publications have been translated into Russian, French, German, and Japanese. Together with Bernard Fernow, Zon contributed to the publication of professional literature for foresters in the United States. He was the editor of Forest Quarterly . In 1905, he also became editor of Proceedings of the Society of American Foresters . Subsequently, publications were merged under the name Journal of Forestry ^[8] . Zon was its chief editor in 1923-1928.

The zone was considered a "giant" among American foresters ^{[9] [10]} . The Minister of Agriculture, Claude Wickard, spoke of him as "the oldest among all foresters in America" ^[11] .

A large stone monument with a plaque was erected next to the office of the US Department of Agriculture in Minnesota , not far from the place where its ashes were scattered ^[12] .

• Sister - Rakhil Gavrilovna Masin-Zon - also graduated from the medical faculty of Kazan University, where she was admitted in 1906.
• Nephews - directed by Boris Zulfovich and People's Commissar of Internal Affairs of the USSR Genrikh Grigorievich Yagoda .
• Niece - doctor of medical sciences, professor Tatyana Evgenievna Ivanovskaya , pathologist.

• "A Red Star is Born."
• "The Greatest Good: 100 years," a film dedicated to the biography of Rafael Zon