Yu. R. Sheliah-Sosonko, an outstanding Ukrainian scientist in the field of geobotany, phytocenology, floristry, phytogeography, phytosozology, ecology, a public figure, academician of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, doctor of biological sciences, professor, honored worker of science and technology of Ukraine, laureate of the State Prize of Ukraine in the field of science and technology and the N.G. Kholodny Prize of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Head of the Department of Geobotany of the N.G. Kholodny Institute of Botany of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine passed away at the age of 87, on December 14, 2019.
The main areas of scientific research of Yu. R. Sheliah-Sosonko include the development of typology, the composition of cenopopulation, cenogenesis and protection of nemoral forests of the European part of the USSR. The name of Yuri Romanovych Sheliah-Sosonko is associated with the research into the theory of geobotany and classification of vegetation, zoning, mapping, species association, evolution of vegetation cover. He developed a theory of the formation of the cenopopulation structure of species, as well as the classification of species and phytocoenotypes. He put forward and grounded the idea of phytocenogenetic classification of vegetation, the foundations of the evolutionary-cenotic study of vegetation formations. Under the supervision of Yurii Romanovych, the world’s first "Green Book of Ukraine" was compiled and published, laying the foundation for the Convention on Biodiversity. He was the first to suggest a method of paradigmatic analysis of geobotanical knowledge.
The results of thorough geobotanical and phytocenological studies are summarized in the monographs: "Common oak forests on the territory of Ukraine and their evolution" (1974), "Methodology of geobotany", "Green Book of the Ukrainian SSR" (1987), "Red Book of Ukraine. Plant world "/ Yu. R. Sheliah-Sosonko (editor-in-chief) (1996) and others. He is the author of over 500 scientific works, including 34 monographs. He supervised 8 doctors and 37 candidates of biological sciences, and the scientific geobotanical school he founded is recognized by the world scientific community.
The scientists, teachers and students of Ternopil Volodymyr Hnatiuk National Pedagogical University express their condolences. This is a great loss for the whole botanical science of Ukraine, Europe and the world.
Finally, it should be mentioned that as long as there are such scientists as Academician Yurii Romanovych Sheliah-Sosonko and his grateful students, Ukrainian science will never cease to thrive.
The memory of Academician of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine Yurii Romanovych Sheliah-Sosonko, an outstanding scientist-geobotanist, a public figure, a man of honour, will forever remain in the hearts of his relatives, friends, colleagues and students.
Andrei Semenovich Efimov (on the occasion of his 70th birthday)
