Alexey Skvortsov

Alexey Konstantinovich Skvortsov (Ru:Алексе́й Константи́нович Скворцо́в) (9 February 1920 – 8 May 2008) was a Soviet botanist and biologist, a specialist on amentiferous plants—willows (Salix), poplars (Populus), and birches (Betula) as well as plants of the evening primrose family (Onagraceae).

Skvortsov was, at the same time, well known in Russia as an editor in Priroda (Nature) Magazine (1971–2005) and author of many articles on botany, evolutionary biology, and Darwinism.

A botanist of vast erudition, Skvortsov was a surveyor and contributor to many regional floras and a tireless collector of plant specimens.

He collected at least 80,000 plant samples while walking across nearly all of the Soviet Union including the most remote regions of Russia and adjacent republics.

The establishment of the Herbarium at the Main Botanical Garden in Moscow as a world-class depository with a vast foreign exchange program is largely due to Skvortsov's efforts.

Together with a team of colleagues and students, he successfully worked on domesticating and improving the taste of blue honeysuckles (Lonicera Section Caerulea).