On the Work of a Naturalist in South American Forests in the Early 20 Century (Concerning the Article by Ivan D. Strelnikov «In the Forests of Brazil»)

Five members of the Second Russian Expedition to South America (1914–1915) spent most of their time there in remote and inaccessible areas. They dreamed of knowing life in the greatest power of its manifestations, in the richness and greatness of forms, colors of the world of plants and animals; they longed to know the origins of the development of human spiritual life getting into contact with primitive tribes in remote areas of the tropical jungle. Naturalists Ivan D. Strelnikov and Nikolai P. Tanasiychuk stayed in Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay for almost 20 months, sometimes in difficult and life-threatening conditions, conducted scientific research, collecting exhibits for Russian museums. For more than eight months, they worked at the Puerto Bertoni science station in Paraguay. Human survival and adaptation to tropical conditions is a constant topic in their diaries. In Russia, they promoted the continuation of the scientific study of South America. The circumstances of the First World War and the Russian revolution did not allow them to fully process and publish all the results of their ethnographic, zoological and botanical research. Later Ivan D. Strelnikov in the manuscript «In the forests of Brazil» expressed his impressions and delight at the world of the virgin nature of the South American continent. Strelnikov’s diaries, which his family recently sent to the Kunstkamera of St. Petersburg, are published for the first time.

1. Skryabin K.I. (1916) Materialy k poznaniyu gel’mintofauny Paragvaya. 1. [Materials for the knowledge of the helminth fauna of Paraguay], vol. 1, pp. 705–757. (In Russian)

2. Skryabin K.I. (1920) Trematody paragvaiskikh zmei [The trematodes of Paraguayan snakes], vol. 1, iss. 2, pp. 1–6. (In Russian)

3. Strelnikov I.D. (1920) O termitakh Yuzhnoi Ameriki. Iz Paragvaya, Matto-Grosso (Braziliya) i Chiquitos (Boliviya) [On the termites of South America. From Paraguay, Matto-Grosso (Brazil) and Chiquitos (Bolivia)], vol. 1/18, pp. 215–234. (In Russian)

4. Strelnikov I.D. (1923) [Ants and plants. 1. Relations between vol. VII, pp. 49–57. (In Russian)

5. Strelnikov I.D. (1929) [Academician Langsdorf ’s (1821–1829) Russian expedition to Brazil], Priroda, no. 1, pp. 43–54. (In Russian)

6. Strelnikov I.D. (1930) Religioznye predstavleniya indeitsev guarani basseina r. Verkhnyaya Parana (Paragvai i Braziliya) [Religious representations of the Guarani Indians of the river basin Upper Paraná (Paraguay and Brazil)], vol. IX., pp. 293–339. (In Russian)

7. Strelnikov I.D. (1965) Zhivotnye tropicheskikh lesov [Animals of tropical forests] in V.F. Natali, P.A. Genkel’ et al. (eds.) [Children’s Encyclopedia. Vol. 4: Plants and animals], Moscow, Prosveshchenie, pp. 291–301. (In Russian)

8. Strelnikova N.I., Strelnikov S.I., Strelnikov K.S. (2017) [Ivan Dmitrievich Strelnikov (1887–1981). Path in life and in science], Saint Petersburg, LEMA, 148 p. (In Russian)

9. Tanasiichuk V.N. (2003) [Five on Rio Paraguay], Moscow, Tovarishchestvo nauchnykh izdanii KMK, 253 p. (In Russian)

10. Cherlin V.A. (2018) Ivan Dmitrievich Strel’nikov. Chast’ 1. Udivitel’naya zhizn’ [Ivan Dmitrievich Strelnikov. Part 1. Amazing life], no. 3, pp. 103–148. DOI: 10.15393/ j1.art.2018.8102 (In Russian)

11. Cherlin V.A. (2019) Ivan Dmitrievich Strel’nikov. Chast’ 2. Nauchnaya deyatel’nost’ [Ivan Dmitrievich Strelnikov. Part 2. Scientifi activity], no. 1, pp. 100–136. DOI: 10.15393/j1.art.2019.8103 (In Russian)

12. Strelnikov I.D. (1928) Les Kaa-iwuá du Paraguay [The Kaa-iwuá of Paraguay], 1926, Vol. II, pp. 333–366. (In French)

13. Strelnikov I.D. (1930a) The Expedition of G.I. Langsdorf to Brazil in 1821–1829, pp. 751–759.

14. Strelnikov I.D. (1930b) La música y la danza de las tribus indias Kaa-iwua (guarani), Kaingang y Botokudo [The music and dance of the Indian tribes Kaa-iwua (guarani), Kaingang and Botokudo], pp. 796–802. (In Spanish)