Nikolai Aleksandrovich Krasilnikov

Born Dec. 6 (18), 1896, in the village of Podveski, now in Mosal’sk Raion, Kaluga Oblast; died July 11, 1973, in Moscow. Soviet microbiologist; corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR (1946); Honored Scientist of the RSFSR (1957).

Krasil’nikov graduated from the Leningrad Medical Institute in 1926. In 1929 he began working at the Institute of Microbiology of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. He became chairman of the subdepartment of soil biology at Moscow State University. His main works deal with the biology of microorganisms, chiefly ray fungi and bacteria. He developed a new principle for the taxonomy and classification of actinomycetes and bacteria; he was the first to identify the class Actinomycetes.

Krasil’nikov investigated the relations between microorganisms and higher plants and proposed some practical methods for increasing crop productivity. He was one of the first to investigate antagonism in microorganisms and developed a method of protecting plants against pathogenic bacteria and fungi. Krasil’nikov wrote works on antibiotics and in 1939 described an antibiotic of actinomycetous origin. He received the State Prize of the USSR (1951) and was awarded the Order of Lenin, two other orders, and various medals.