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Rudolf J. Kordon: in memory of the chief custodian of VIR’s seed collection during the Great Patriotic War

https://doi.org/10.30901/2227-8834-2025-2-240-245

Abstract

The name of Rudolf J. Kordon (1884–1961) is usually associated with the siege period of the All-Union Institute of Plant Industry (currently the N.I. Vavilov All-Russian Institute of Plant Genetic Resources, VIR). Rudolf Kordon was among those who saved the Institute’s seed collection in the besieged city. However, the life of this scientist remains little known to the public. For more than thirty years, R. Kordon worked with the Fruit Crop Department of VIR, was the author and coauthor of 12 apple cultivars, and developed recommendations for apple-tree cultivation under the conditions of the Crimea and the Northwest of Russia, which have not lost their value to this day.

About the Author

A. V. Shlyavas
N.I. Vavilov All-Russian Institute of Plant Genetic Resources
Russian Federation

Anna V. Shlyavas, Associate Researcher 

42, 44 Bolshaya Morskaya Street, St. Petersburg 



References

1. Archives of VIR. Inventory 2-1. File 571 (R. J. Kordon). 64 p. [in Russian]

2. Bagmet L.V., Shlyavas A.V. Nomenclatural standards of apple cultivars bred at the Pavlovsk experiment station of VIR. Vavilovia. 2021;4(1):3-24. [in Russian] DOI: 10.30901/2658-3860-2021-1-3-24

3. Kordon R.J. Apple-tree cultivars for the Northwestern Zone of the RSFSR (Sorta yabloni dlya Severo-Zapadnoy zony RSFSR). Sad i ogorod = Orchard and Vegetable Garden. 1950;7:22-24. [in Russian]

4. Kordon R.J. New apple cultivars obtained from open-pollination Belflyer-kitayka seeds (Novye sorta yabloni, poluchennye iz semyan Belfler-kitayki ot svobodnogo opyleniya). Scientific and Technical Bulletin of the All-Union Research Institute of Plant Industry. 1958;4:45-47. [in Russian]

5. Kordon R.J. Pecan (Pekan). In: E.W. Wulff (ed.). Flora of Cultivated Plants. Vol. 17. Nut Crops. Moscow; Leningrad; Selkhozgiz; 1936a. p.101-123. [in Russian]

6. Kordon R.J. Pistachio (Fistashka). In: E.W. Wulff (ed.). Flora of Cultivated Plants. Vol. 17. Nut Crops. Moscow; Leningrad; Selkhozgiz; 1936b. p.313-344. [in Russian]

7. Kordon R.J. Quince (Ayva). Proceedings on Applied Botany, Genetics and Breeding. 1934;8(3):113-157. [in Russian]

8. Kordon R.J. Quince in the USSR (Ayva SSSR). Proceedings on Applied Botany, Genetics and Breeding. 1953a;30(1):65- 101. [in Russian]

9. Kordon R.J. Quince in the USSR (Ayva SSSR) [dissertation]. Leningrad; 1953b. [in Russian]

10. Kordon R.J. The best cultivars of quince for production (Luchshiye sorta ayvy dlya proizvodstva). Sadovodstvo = Horticulture. 1939;12:10. [in Russian]

11. Kordon R.J., Karamysheva V.I. Apple tree (Yablonya). Le ningrad: Lenizdat; 1958. [in Russian]

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13. Kordon R.J., Pekhoto F.I. Apple tree (Yablonya). Leningrad; Moscow: Selkhozizdat; 1962. [in Russian]

14. Kordon R.J., Tolkachev V.P. Apple tree (Yablonya). Simferopol: Krymizdat; 1960. [in Russian]

15. Loskutov I.G. Wartime activities of the Vavilov Institute. Proceedings on Applied Botany, Genetics and Breeding. 2021;182(2):151-162. [in Russian] DOI: 10.30901/2227-8834-2021-2-151-162

16. Pruss A.G. (ed.). Fruit and berry crop cultivars (Sorta plodovo-yagodnykh kultur). 2nd ed. Leningrad: Lenizdat; 1968. [in Russian]

17. Pruss A.G., Shurakov F.V., Kordon R.J. Fruit crop cultivars (Sorta plodovykh kultur). Simferopol: Krymizdat; 1963. [in Russian]

18. Sedov E.N. (ed.). Horticultural scientists of Russia. Brief biographical reference. (Sadovody-uchenye Rossii. Kratkiy biograficheskiy spravochnik). 2nd ed. Orel: VNIISPK; 2016. [in Russian]

19. State Register of Varieties and Hybrids of Agricultural Plants Admitted for Usage (National List): official publication. Moscow; Rosinformagrotekh; 2024. [in Russian]

20. The best crop cultivars (for Leningrad Province) (Luchshiye sorta selskokhozyaystvennykh kultur [dlya Leningradskoy oblasti]). Leningrad: Lenizdat; 1954. [in Russian]


Review

For citations:


Shlyavas A.V. Rudolf J. Kordon: in memory of the chief custodian of VIR’s seed collection during the Great Patriotic War. Proceedings on applied botany, genetics and breeding. 2025;186(2):240-245. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.30901/2227-8834-2025-2-240-245

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ISSN 2227-8834 (Print)
ISSN 2619-0982 (Online)