3 June] 1843 – 28 April 1920) was a Russian botanist and physiologist and a major proponent of thought of Charles Darwin in Russia.

Upon returning to Russia in 1871 he defended a PhD on spectral analysis of chlorophyll and was appointed as professor of Petrov's Academy of Agriculture, until its closure in 1892.

[1][3] In 1911 Timiriazev put forth the idea of organizing scientific research in special institutes outside the universities, which later became the dominant Soviet trend.

Shortly before his death in 1920, he publicly endorsed the Bolshevik regime, thus helping to forge the pact between research-oriented scientists and the Soviet government.

He believed that it was an unfortunate metaphor with negative social implications and stated that Darwinism could be taught without using the word "struggle".

[1] At the beginning of the Tverskoy Boulevard in Moscow there is a statue of Timiryazev which was unveiled on 4 November 1923, sculpted by Sergey Merkurov and laid out by the architect Osipov.