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Birth
Dobzhansky was born the only child of Grigory Dobzhansky and Sophia Voinarsky in Nemyriv, Dnieper Ukraine, Russian Empire
Pictured is one of the two 19th century churches of the town which would have been frequented by a young and religous Dobzhansky. -
Pre-University Time in Kiev
Dobzhansky decided between this time and finishing high school to become a biologist. Initially wanting to study butterflies which he collected, but later decided to change his study to beetles.
Pictured is a colour photo of the Pre-WWI Kiev which Dobzhansky whould have become familiar with.
The exct date is ambiguous due to a lack of definate sources. -
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University of Kiev
Dobzhansky graduated from university in 1921 but continued his studies at the University of Kiev untill 1924.
The exct date is ambiguous due to a lack of definate sources. -
October Revolution
Bolshevik revolutionaries overthrow provisional government and sieze control of St. Petersburg (soon renamed for Lenin) after flooding the streets with thousands of disgruntled soldiers and industrial workers, who would lay waste to anything or anyone pro-Czarist.
(Note the term October Revolution comes from the traditional Julian calendar date of October 25)
Pictured is the forward gun of the cruiser Aurora which was fired as the signal shot to alert revolutionaries to arm themselves. -
Leningrad
Dobzhansky leaves Kiev to research under Russian etymologist Yuri Filipchenko where a lab had been constructed to study Drosophila melanogaster (Common Fruit Flies)
Pictured is the Neva River in modern-day St. Petersburg.
The exct date is ambiguous due to a lack of definate sources. -
Married
Dobzhansky marries geneticist Natalia Sivertzev in Kiev, Ukrainian SSR, USSR.
Pictured is the modern skyline of Kiev at night. -
Arrival in New York City
Dobzhansky arrived in New York City, New York, USA on a scholarship from the International Education Board of the Rockefeller Foundation to work and live in the United States. Dobzhansky went on to work with Thomas Hunt Morgan at Columbia University.
Pictured is the skyline of New York City in the roaring 1920s. -
California Institute of Technology
Dobzhansky followed Morgan to the Calitforia Institute of Technology in Pasdena, California in the summer of 1928 where he was named assistant professor of biology in 1929.
Pictured is the modern CalTech campus.
The exct date is ambiguous due to a lack of definate sources. -
Return to New York
Dobzhansky returns to New York City from California.
Pictured is the corner of Pike and Henry in New York City in 1936.
The exct date is ambiguous due to a lack of definate sources. -
Genetics and The Origin of The Species
Dobzhansky published one of the most pivotal works for the support of Darwinian evolution in a then-modern context. Dobzhansky was able to explain through his research how different populations of the same species can not share identical sets of genes.
The exct date is ambiguous due to a lack of definate sources.
Pictured is Dobzhansky's most noted subject in genetic study; the fruit fly. -
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World War II
A period of global conflict which brought unprecedented destruction and brutality. These years brought great advancements in sciences and technological fields. -
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Return to Columbia University
The exct date is ambiguous due to a lack of definate sources. -
The Race Question
The first of four UNESCO statements concerning the concept of race in direct response to Nazi racism during National Socialist rule in Germany (1933-1945). The statement condemned racism and approached the issue from multiple biological and moral standpoints. Dobzhansky was one of the signatories.
Pictured is the flag of UNESCO. -
Period: to
Rockefeller Insitiute
The exct date is ambiguous due to a lack of definate sources. -
Death
Died in San Jacinto, California, United States of heart failure after a several year battle with leukemia.
Pictured is Mount San Jacinto.
