Alfred Serge Balachowsky(15 August 1901 – 24 December 1983) was a Frenchentomologistborn in Russia. He specialised inCoccoideabut also worked onColeoptera.Balachowsky worked at theMuséum national d'histoire naturelle (MNHN).In 1948 he was elected president of theSociété entomologique de France.[1]From 1962 to 1974 he was chair of Entomology at MNHN.[1]
Balachowsky was part of theProsper Networkin Paris during WWII, a spy network run by the British SOE. After the network was infiltrated and betrayed, Balachowsky was arrested and ultimately imprisoned at theBuchenwald Concentration Campoutside Weimar, Germany. Sent toCamp Doraon 1 February 1944, he was brought back to Buchenwald 1 May of the same year to work developing a vaccine fortyphus.[2]He also went to work helping the variousunderground groupsinside the camp and established a network of contacts who fed him information from the camp's commanders. Along withEugen Kogon,Balachowsky was instrumental in the survival of severalBritish SOEofficers who were among a group sent to Buchenwald for execution. Most of the group were murdered there, but several, most notablyEdward Yeo-Thomas,Harry Peulevéand Free French agentStéphane Hessel,escaped through the help of Balachowsky and his staff who exchanged them for the bodies of typhus patients in their test group.[3]It is also believed that Balachowsky had a hand in getting168 imprisoned Allied airmenincludingPhil Lamasonout ofBuchenwaldand into the hands of the GermanLuftwaffejust days before they were to be executed.
After the war, Balachowsky testified at theNuremberg Trials.[2]
See also
editWorks
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Partial list
- Étude biologique des coccidies du bassin occidental de la Méditerranée(1932). PhD. thesis
Books
- WithLouis MesnilLes insectes nuisibles aux plantes cultivées. Leurs moeurs. Leur destruction. Traité d’entomologie agricole concernant la France, la Corse, l’Afrique du Nord et les régions limitrophes.Tom 1. 1137 pp. Paris
- Faune de France,Volume 50:Coléoptères Scolytides320 pages, 300 b/w line illus. (1949)
- Entomologie appliquée a l`agriculture. Traité.Tome I.Coléoptères.Maison et Cie Éditeurs, Paris, 1391 pp. (1963)
Articles
- D. Matile-Ferrero;A. S. Balachowsky(1972)."Contribution à l'étude de la faune des Coccoidea des îles Canaries avec description de deux espèces nouvelles [Hom.]"(PDF).Bulletin de la Société entomologique de France(in French).77(3): 106–116.doi:10.3406/BSEF.1972.21246.ISSN0037-928X.WikidataQ108825901.
- — (1928)."Contribution à l'étude des Coccides de l'Afrique Mineure (4e note). Nouvelle liste de Coccides nord-africains avec description d'espèces nouvelles"(PDF).Bulletin de la Société entomologique de France(in French).33(17): 273–279.doi:10.3406/BSEF.1928.28048.ISSN0037-928X.WikidataQ108835017.
- — (1929)."Contribution à l'étude des Coccides de France. (1re note). Faunule des Iles d'Hyères (Port-Cros et Levant)"(PDF).Bulletin de la Société entomologique de France(in French).34(20): 311–317.doi:10.3406/BSEF.1929.28224.ISSN0037-928X.WikidataQ108835137.
References
edit- ^ab"Alfred Balachowsky (1901-1983) - biographie - Archives de l'Institut Pasteur".30 September 2007. Archived fromthe originalon 30 September 2007.Retrieved28 March2022.
- ^abYouTube: Balachowsky testifying at Nuremberg (day 45)onYouTube
- ^Helm, Sarah (2006).A Life in Secrets.p. 91.ISBN978-0349119366.
External links
edit- Pasteur Institute Biography
- Australian Faunal Directory: Partial list of Balachowsky's publications
- Story on Balachowsky's involvement with Prosper Network in Paris
- Video of Balachowsky testifying at Nuremberg (day 45)onYouTube
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