TO THE 95th BIRTH ANNIVERSARY OF ACADEMICIAN ANDREY S. BESSONOV (1929–2005)

Andrei Stefanovich Bessonov, a well-known Russian parasitologist, coordinator of scientific research in parasitology in the Russian Federation and the CIS countries, Doctor of Veterinary Sciences, Professor, Honored Scientist of the Russian Federation, Laureate of the USSR State Prize, Full Member of the Russian Academy of Agricultural Sciences, was born on April 10, 1929, in the Krasnodar Territory. After graduating from the Novocherkassk Zoological Veterinary Institute in 1952, he worked as the Chief Veterinarian of the Syamzhensky District, the Vologda Region, and in 1955 he entered the Ph. D. Program at the All-Union Institute of Helminthology named after K. I. Skryabin (VIGIS). After graduation from the post-graduate studies and defending his Ph. D. thesis in 1959, he worked at the same Institute. From 1982 to 2002, A. S. Bessonov was the director of the VIGIS. The A. S. Bessonov’s works on epizootology, diagnosis and prevention of trichinellosis are very famous among parasitologists. Theoretical principles and practical studies on trichinellosis were reflected in two unique monographs by A. S. Bessonov, Epizootology (Epidemiology) and Prevention of Trichinellosis (1972) and Diagnostics of Trichinellosis (1975). The results of the research by A. S. Bessonov and his students in echinococcosis (Echinococcus granulosus) in animals are well known. In 2003, the monograph Alveolar Echinococcosis and Hydatid Disease (2003) was published. Under his direct influence, the VIGIS actively developed research to create genetically engineered vaccines and new dosage forms of antiparasitic drugs (liposomal, etc.), as well as research in the helminth genome. Together with foreign scientists, A. S. Bessonov participated in creating Guidelines of the FAO, WHO and UNEP on the prevention and control of trichinellosis, echinococcosis and cysticercosis in animals and humans. He was a member of the editorial boards of the following scientific and production journals: Veterinary Medicine, Helminthologia (Slovakia) and Riview in Parasitology (Spain).