Nikolai Vavilov

Soviet geneticist who created the world's first seed bank to combat global hunger.

Nikolai Vavilov (1887–1943) risked his life to establish the Pavlovsk Experimental Station, safeguarding 250,000 plant samples against Stalin's anti-genetics policies. His 1926 theory of 'Centers of Origin' identified 8 global biodiversity hotspots, still used in climate change research. During the Siege of Leningrad, 12 scientists starved to death protecting his seed collection rather than eat the preserved grains.

Vavilov's 1931 The Phytogeographical Basis for Plant Breeding laid groundwork for vertical farming and CRISPR technology. He collected 50,000 wild crop relatives, including drought-resistant wheat strains now deployed in Africa's Sahel region. The Svalbard Global Seed Vault considers him its spiritual founder.

Despite dying in a Gulag, Vavilov's work prevented 127 crop extinctions. The UN's 2022 Crop Diversity Index shows 60% of modern drought-resistant crops trace to his collections.