Ivan Antipovich Yefremov (1908-1972) led a life full of adventures, scientific research and accomplishments, discoveries, and hard work.
He was born in a village in 1908 (the true year of his birth), the son of a peasant’s daughter and a Russian government official. As a teenager, lost in the war-torn land, he joined the Red Army, was adopted by a motor transport company during the Civil War and he was badly wounded by a shell from a British gunboat.
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Countless other Soviet boys (and adults), including the author of this article, for years had read his stories about explorers and scientists; and loved Yefremov’s bold science fiction novels, too. He was a distinguished scientist; geology and paleontology were his main fields of applied research. Doctor of biological sciences, Ivan Yefremov had written more than 100 scientific works (unfortunately, only few of them were published in languages other than Russian ), a brilliant sci-fi writer, and a bold visionary.
Professor Yefremov’s favorite Western authors were H. G. Wells, H. Rider Haggard, Joseph Conrad, Jules Verne, and Jack London.
This was a human being who loved to help and assist people any way he could. His kindness and goodwill were combined with toughness, for he knew how to defend his point of view; yet he always remained respectful, and mindful of the dignity of other people.
Let us look briefly what Yefremov accomplished between the time he left the Red Army and 1972. He worked as a sailor in the mid 1920s (in the Far East and the Caspian Sea); was a driver; participated in zoological expeditions, and began his scientific education in paleontology.
He was no bookworm! Yefremov, a physically powerful individual with a sense of humor, was adept in anything he did; according to his son, the man could do the work of a carpenter, a lathe operator; and repair any device.
From 1929 on he dedicated himself fully to academic studies, and participated in the paleontological expeditions to remote areas of the Urals, Central Asia, and Siberia. Ivan had a keen eye, and took detailed notes; later, he authored stories about his travels and work. He was a capable student, too, and received his Ph. D. in 1935 (at the Leningrad College of Mines). Then, in 1937, in a very bloody year of Soviet history, Yefremov became the director of the laboratory of low vertebrates of Moscow Paleontological Institute. Finally, he received the Doctor of Science degree in the spring 1941.
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