Zalesky, Viacheslav

Zalesky, Viacheslav [Залеський, В’ячеслав; Zales'kyj, V’jačeslav], b 3 September 1871 in Kharkiv, d 10 November 1936 in Kharkiv. Plant physiologist and biochemist; corresponding member of the All-Ukrainian Academy of Sciences from 1925. He graduated from Kharkiv University in 1893 and was a professor there from 1903 until his death. He researched the manner of and conditions for protein synthesis in plants, phosphorus metabolism, and the role of iron. He proved that plants can synthesize proteins from nitrate and carbohydrates in the absence of light, and was the first to isolate the enzyme carboxylase in plants.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 5 (1993).]