Dogel’, V.A.: A Naturalist in East Africa

Title

Naturalist v Vostochnoi Afrike, Sankt-Peterburg 1916

A Naturalist in East Africa

Keywords

Summary

The book is divided into six chapters: Introduction. Mombasa; The Ugandan Railway. Nairobi; Towards Entebbe. Entebbe; Mabira Forest; Kisumu. From Voi to Taveta; Taveta. Lake Chala and Lake Jipe. Return to Mombasa. Conclusion. Dogel’ recounts the stages of the journey, describing not only nature – his primary interest – but also the customs and way of life of locals, as well as the characteristics of British rule. The travel notes are illustrated with photographs taken by Dogel’s travelling companion, Ivan Sokolov. The book was republished in 1924 with the title Six Months in the Tropics.

Bio

Valentin Dogel’ was a Russian and Soviet zoologist, frequently cited as the founder of evolutionary parasitology. Born in Kazan’, he was the son of Aleksandr Dogel’, a renowned histologist and embryologist. He graduated from Saint Petersburg university in 1904, and became a professor in 1913. In 1914 he organised, alongside I. Sokolov, a research trip to East Africa (Kenya and Uganda), which was interrupted after a few months due to the outbreak of WW1. After serving with the rank of lieutenant, Dogel’ resumed his teaching and research activities and pursued a successful academic career. A recipient of several awards, he also took part in several expeditions within the USSR.

Sources

B. Val’skaia, Puteshestvie V.A. Dogelia i I.I. Sokolova v Keniu i Ugandu v 1914 g., “Strany i narody Vostoka”, 1980, XXI, p. 148-186;

B. Val’skaia, A. Zhukov, Ekspeditsiia V.A. Dogelja i I.I. Sokolova v Keniiu i Ugandu v 1914, in I. Sokolov, Dnevnik ekspeditsii v Keniiu i Ugandu v 1914 godu, Sankt-Peterburg, 1999, p. 5-22;

“Dogel’ Valentin Aleksandrovich”, in Bol’shaia rossiiskaia entsiklopediia, t. 9, Moskva 2007, p. 174;

“Dogel Valentin Aleksandrovich”, in “Setevoi biograficheskii slovar’ professorov i prepodavatelei Sankt-Peterburgskogo universiteta (1819-1917)”, Sankt-Peterburg 2012-, https://bioslovhist.spbu.ru/person/428-dogel-valentin-aleksandrovich.html

A.F.

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