Theodosius Grigorievich Dobzhansky (Russian: Феодо́сий Григо́рьевич Добржа́нский; Ukrainian: Теодо́сій Григо́рович Добржа́нський; January 25, 1900 – December 18, 1975) was an American geneticist and evolutionary biologist.
He was a central figure in the field of evolutionary biology for his work in shaping the modern synthesis[3][4] and also popular for his support and promotion of theistic evolution as a practicing Christian.
[8] He then moved to Leningrad (today St. Petersburg) to study under Yuri Filipchenko, where a Drosophila melanogaster laboratory had been established.
On August 8, 1924, Dobzhansky married geneticist Natalia "Natasha" Sivertzeva, who was working with Ivan Schmalhausen in Kiev.
The Dobzhanskys had one daughter, known under her married name as Sophie Coe, an anthropologist, food historian, and author, primarily known for her work on the history of chocolate.
Upon arriving in New York City on December 27, he joined the Drosophila Group at Columbia University working alongside Thomas Hunt Morgan and Alfred Sturtevant.
On the basis of his experiments, he articulated the idea that reproductive isolation can be caused by differences in presence of microbial symbionts between populations.
Dobzhansky's work was instrumental in spreading the idea that it is through mutations in genes that natural selection takes place.
During this time, he had a very public falling out with one of his Drosophila collaborators, Alfred Sturtevant, based primarily in professional competition.
[8][13] Dobzhansky's research and studies allowed him to travel the world and receive honorary degrees in Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, England, Germany, Italy, Japan, and Sweden.
The last chapter, Species as Natural Units, Dobzhansky explained some of the contributions made in genetics to what was called "the new systematics".
[24] In the third revision of Genetics and the Origin of Species (1951), Dobzhansky rewrote all ten chapters on: Isolating Mechanisms, Mutation in Populations, Organic Diversity, Heredity and Mutation, Race Formation, Selection, Adaptive Polymorphism, Hybrid Sterility, Species as Natural Units, and Patterns of Evolution.
[25] Theodosius Dobzhansky and Ashley Montagu debated the use and validity of the term "race" over a period of many years without reaching an agreement.
[4] Dobzhansky sought to put an end to the pseudoscience that purports genetic makeup to determine race, and thus rank in society.
He published one of his most famous essays "Nothing in Biology Makes Sense Except in the Light of Evolution" in 1973, influenced by the paleontologist and priest Pierre Teilhard de Chardin.
Working until his last day as a professor of genetics, Dobzhansky died (from heart failure) on December 18, 1975, in Davis, California.
[citation needed] Theodosius Dobzhansky believed that God and science can be reconciled through the idea that the Creator brought about his plan through the processes of evolution.