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Dr. Wladimir A. Smirnoff
1917–2000

Insect Pathology Researcher, Canadian Forest Service, 1957–1985

Dr. Wladimir A. Smirnoff was a true nature lover, and expressed this through his research and his paintings. He was passionate about forests and devoted his life to finding natural methods of protecting them against destructive insects. His research led to the development of a biological insecticide and significant contributions to insect pathology.

Wladimir was born in St. Petersburg on September 1, 1917. He graduated from the Forestry Institute of the Soviet Union as a forestry engineer, and obtained a PhD in entomology from the Forestry Academy in 1941. At the end of the Second World War, Wladimir fled the Soviet Union with his wife and young daughter.

He spent a decade in Morocco, working as a researcher with the Institut national de la recherche agronomique, developing a biological control to combat insect infestations in date palm trees. He also completed a doctorate in science at the Sorbonne in Paris.

In 1957, he came to Canada for a conference sponsored by the Department of Agriculture and stayed. He and his family moved to Sainte-Foy, Quebec, where Wladimir continued research in insect pathology at the Canadian Forest Service's (CFS) Laurentian Forestry Centre, now part of Natural Resources Canada.

Spruce budworm is one of the most destructive insects of coniferous forests in North America. After the Second World War, infestations were controlled by aerial spraying forests with the chemical insecticide dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane (DDT). However, DDT killed more than just the insects it was intended for — it proved detrimental to the environment in general.

Wladimir began researching a natural solution to this insect problem and developed a biological insecticide with the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (B.t.). Wladimir's B.t. solution was deadly to caterpillars, but not toxic to other forest species.

He was so confident about the harmlessness of this biological insecticide that he drank a glass of it before a group of scientists and forest managers. He challenged anyone to take the taste test with the commonly used chemical spray — no one did.

By the early 1970s, DDT was banned, and the time was right for Wladimir's natural insecticide. It was adopted for spraying and is now widely used in Canada and areas of the eastern United States.

During his 28-year career, Wladimir published more than 300 scientific articles and was honoured for his work with numerous awards, including the Order of Canada in 1997.

Although he retired in 1984, Wladimir continued working at CFS as a researcher emeritus, investigating the effects of vegetation on air quality. He studied the possibility of cleaning the air in large buildings by using extracts from balsam fir.

Wladimir devoted his life to trees — studying them not only as a scientist but as an artist. The forests of the Laurentian mountains were his passion. With a palette knife, he recreated vivid, colourful landscapes and wild flowers on canvas. His paintings now hang in galleries and homes across Quebec.

Wladimir was dynamic, energetic and enthusiastic about his work, but he was, above all, a nature lover. As professor at Université Laval, he passed on to his students his love of science and a respect for the environment.

Wladimir Smirnoff passed away on November 1, 2000, in Sainte-Foy.

• 1941 — Receives PhD in biological control, Forestry Academy, USSR
• 1947 — Leaves USSR for research in Morocco
• 1957 — Receives PhD in biological science from Université Paris Sorbonne
• Accepts position as insect pathology researcher at CFS
• 1974 — Develops B.t. biological insecticide formula
• 1980 — Exhibits paintings at the Montréal International Flower Show
• 1984 — Receives Prix Léo-Pariseau from the Association canadienne-française pour l'avancement des sciences
• 1993 — Publishes paper on benefit of coniferous trees for air purification
• 1997 — Named Member of the Order of Canada
• 2002 — First $10,000 Wladimir A. Smirnoff Fellowship offered to MA or PhD students for forestry research in the field of biological control of insect forest pests

• The Wladimir A. Smirnoff Fellowship

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