Discovery of the importance of the whole Union
Nikolai Zakhariev was born in 1902 in the small town of Maloarkhangelsk in the province of Orel. After graduating from high school, he enters short-term land courses in Orel. Upon graduation, Nikolai met his friend Vladimir Klyuev, who said that a new university had opened in the city. Nikolay entered the agronomy department without any particular difficulties.
Nikolai Zakhariev came to Central Asia in the early 1930s. He first came to Alma-Ata (now Almaty), and two years later moved to the Tien Shan. In Soviet Kyrgyzstan, then, due to lack of food and malnutrition, as well as low-calorie food, the livestock population decreased. Urgent measures were needed to save him.
In Frunze, a research institute (NII) for animal husbandry has been established. Zakharyev became one of the initiators of the opening of a special unit, which began to develop methods of rational feeding of animals. At that time, it was one of the new directions of science.
“Disappeared for months on business trips, he explored pastures and plants, often met shepherds, with whom he shared his ideas, and listened to their advice,” said the head of the biochemistry laboratory of the Institute of Biotechnology, Honored Scientist of Kyrgyzstan. winner of the State Prize of the Kyrgyz Republic, said RG correspondent Professor Yuri Bykovchenko. – It was Zakharyev who at one time was the first to suggest paying attention to the nutritional value of plants growing on mountain pastures. He also spoke out against the consumption of giant hogweed, which was then actively used in a number of regions of Russia. In fact, Zakharyev developed a unique methodology for healthy and proper feeding of animals. In 1950, his doctoral thesis on a profile subject became a real discovery of importance for the whole Union. Zakhariev’s technique is actively used today. Moreover, it has become the basis for the development of new technologies!
At the same time, Nikolai Ilyich worked on creating a new breed of cattle. The result of titanic work was the breed of cows famous throughout the USSR – Alatau. For his breeding, Zakharyev used local producers, as well as bulls from Switzerland and Russian Kostroma. The quality of the new breed exceeded all expectations. It was well adapted to the highlands and the strongly continental climate, had high productivity and gave record milk yields.
For these achievements, Nikolai Ilyich was awarded the State Prize of the USSR. Zakharyev earned the title of academician. And in 1969, by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Council, for his great merits in the development of science, Zakharyev was awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Medal of the Hammer and the sickle.
Sheepskin coat under a microscope
Zakhariev’s colleague, Anna Volkova, was born in the Penza region. After school I decided to enter the Saratov Veterinary Institute. At the Faculty of Microbiology, she was the only girl. And her fate, like Nikolai Ilyich, brought her to Central Asia in the early 30s, but through a slightly different route. First, Anna Alexandrovna came to Uzbekistan, and in 1938 she moved to Frunze. She began working in the laboratory of veterinary bacteriology, which was later reorganized into an experimental veterinary research station.
For herders in the Kyrgyz SSR, Volkova has become a kind of fairy godmother. The collective farmers considered it an honor to invite him to the house. The inhabitants of the villages said: if Anna Alexandrovna came, the herd of the collective farm would be healthy.
- In 1938, lambs began to die in the republic, – said the statesman and public figure of the Kyrgyz Republic, head of the laboratory of the Institute of Biotechnology of the National Academy of Sciences Akram Madumarov. – The case was of menacing proportions. Maxim Ammosov, who at the time was the first secretary of Kyrgyzstan, held his head. For a long time it was not possible to establish the causes of the disease, and traditional treatment did not work. After extensive research, Volkova identified the cause. It turned out to be anaerobic dysentery. Anna Alexandrovna developed a method of differential biological diagnosis of the causative agent of this virus, created an active serum and offered the use of vaccines against sheep dysentery. The drugs she developed for infectious diseases literally snatched animals from the clutches of death. Some of his discoveries, such as, for example, the method of bacteriological diagnosis of brucellosis using puncture of the mammary gland, were successfully introduced in many republics of the USSR.
In 1942, Anna Aleksandrovna headed the veterinary biological laboratory. She now had to not only conduct research, but also solve economic problems. But Volkova’s character was firm. There was no question of backing down in the face of difficulties. She continued to personally visit the sites of infectious disease outbreaks, despite the weather and time of day. - In one of the northern regions of the republic, cows began to die from tick bites, – recalls one of Volkova’s students, doctor of veterinary sciences, Professor Kuban Arbaev. – Anna Alexandrovna has arrived. Cold beyond -40 degrees. She ordered to bring a sheepskin coat, turned it around, put it on and went to the field. I went there for a very long time. Then she came, undressed, packed her sheepskin coat and took it with her. It turns out that she thus collected ticks that clung to the fur, so that they could then be studied in the laboratory and develop protection for the animals.
For her contribution to the development of veterinary medicine in Kyrgyzstan, Anna Aleksandrovna received numerous awards. Among them is the State Prize of the USSR in the field of science and technology. Volkova also received the title of academician, although some in the bureaucratic environment tried to resist it. It seemed to some bureaucratic circles that it was enough to note Anna Alexandrovna’s contribution to the development of science in a more modest way. She was proposed to receive the title of corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences of the Kyrgyz SSR. But, fortunately, Iskhak Razakov, who at that time held the post of first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Republics, categorically disagreed with this.
- I know Anna Volkova, and many people know her work, – said Razakov. – Then why is she unworthy of the title of academician?
However,
poor relation
Today, according to the majority of scientists in the Kyrgyz Republic, science in the country is in the unenviable position of a poor relation. Little money is allocated to fund research, and salaries for academics are sometimes lower than those for waiters in restaurants. No sensational discoveries.
– Today, celebrating the 120th anniversary of two outstanding scientists – Anna Volkova and Nikolai Zakhariev, we want to reach out to officials to remind them: the republic has science and it must be developed, – said the academician, scientist Emeritus of Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyz Republic, Doctor of Veterinary Sciences, Professor and Director of the Institute of Biotechnology of the National Academy of Sciences of the Kyrgyz Republic Asankadyr Zhunushov. – Without state support, we will not survive, but after all, the country cannot exist without science. The Republic and we, like the air, need to train national research personnel, conduct research and expand ties with colleagues abroad.
By the way, Asankadyr Zhunushov himself is a specialist in the field of biotechnology and animal pathology. His works, and there are more than two hundred, are devoted to the problems of breeding and the elimination of particularly contagious diseases. The works of the scientist have been translated into several languages ​​and are known in the CIS countries and abroad. They are in demand everywhere, but, alas, not here. But that’s a whole other story…
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