INTERNATIONAL AWARD OF THE ST. PETERSBURG SOCIETY OF NATURALISTS—ALEXANDER KOWALEVSKY MEDAL

In 1910, the St. Petersburg Society of Naturalists had established an international award in commemoration of Alexander Kowalevsky and his legacy. The award included a modest sum of 250 gold rubles and a bronze medal designed by Petr Stadnitsky. The Kowalevsky’s profile was placed on the obverse, as well as its autograph and years of his life. Sea bottom was depicted on the verso with diverse invertebrates and an inscription was made: “Imperial Sr. Petersburg Society of Naturalists.” According to the statute, the award was to be given for original works in morphology (comparative anatomy) and embryology of invertebrates. Unfortunately, the inauguration of this project was interrupted by the First World War followed by the Russian Revolution and the Civil War, which undercut the traditional international ties of the St. Petersburg Society of Naturalists. The international award, Alexander Kowalevsky medal, was forgotten for a long time. Luckily, the original medal was saved in the hermitage collections and in the State Mint, where it was first produced in 1910 and where the original casting mould was preserved. The mould was in a relatively good state and new copies of the medal were manufactured. Time still left its traces: the mould lost a part of the upper edge, where the autograph of A.O. Kowalevsky was located. In March 2001, the St. Petersburg Society of Naturalists decided to reinstate the international award in commemoration of the 100th anniversary from the death of A.O. Kowalevsky, although without the money prize. The Kowalevsky medal will be awarded for outstanding achievements in comparative zoology and embryology to the scientists who made a great contribution to the current understanding of evolutionary relations between the main groups of animal kingdom, to the evolutionary biology of development, and to the modern approaches in comparative zoology. The award statutes say: “A.O. Kowalevsky’s classic works on the embryology of ascidians, lancelet, and many other invertebrates greatly contributed to our vision of phylogenetic relations between the major groups of animal kingdom. Within a century after his death, the works of similar significance for understanding of the evolution of animal kingdom can be carried on the basis of embryology and morphology, on the one hand, and genetics, biochemistry, molecular biology, and other modern disciplines, on the other. The Society reinstates the award since the development of the A.O. Kowalevsky legacy went far beyond those areas, in which he was working himself, and the medal in his honor should mark the current approaches in embryology and evolution.” The reinstatement of the medal will be implemented in two stages. First, by the end of 2001, the Society intended to award several medals to honor the most distinguished scientists of the 20th century, who not only maintained the traditions of comparative-embryological investigations, but also greatly contributed to the development of evolutionary and comparative embryology. Second, starting from 2002, the society intends to award the medal every year to a scientist who made an outstanding contribution to the modern evolutionary biology of development and comparative zoology. The Society will select these most distinguished scientists on the basis of international nominations. For the first stage of competition, the Society organized the International Committee comprising D.A. Aleksandrov (Russia), S. Gilbert (USA), A.K. Dondua (Russia), A.T. Mikhailov (Spain), and A. Fischer (Germany). The Committee addressed more than 30 nominators from various countries, including the leading scientists from Australia, Austria, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, Netherlands, Russia, Spain, United Kingdom, and United States of America. Thirty seven nominations were received. Based on the rating and taking into account the requirements to the candidates, the International Committee proposed that the Society award eight outstanding scientists, who all became the first laureates of the reinstated Alexander Kowalevsky medal. The 2001 medal was awarded to Donald Thomas Anderson, professor emeritus of zoology (Australia), Gary Freeman, professor of the Texas University in Austin (USA), Brian Hall, professor of Dalhousie University (Canada), Olga Mikhailovna Ivanova-Kazas, professor emeritus of embryology (Russia), Klaus Nilsen, professor of Copenhagen University (Denmark), Rupert Riddle, professor emeritus of the University of Vienna (Austria), Rudolf Rugh, professor of the Indiana University in Bloomington (USA), and Klaus Sander, professor emeritus of the Freiburg University (Germany). D. T. Anderson is world recognized authority in comparative anatomy and embryology of invertebrates, who published his papers and books for almost half a century. His books Embryology and Phylogeny in Annelids and Arthropods (1973) and Barnacles (1994) CHRONICLES