Vladimir Porfiriev
Encyclopedia
Kirov, Kirov Oblast
Kirov , formerly known as Vyatka and Khlynov, is a city in northeastern European Russia, on the Vyatka River, and the administrative center of Kirov Oblast. Population: -History:...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
– January 30, 1982 in Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
) was a Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n and Ukrainian
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
petroleum and coal geologist.
Porfiryev was one of the major proponents of the theory of the origin of Abiogenic petroleum
Abiogenic petroleum origin
Abiogenic petroleum origin is a largely abandoned hypothesis that was proposed as an alternative to theory of biological petroleum origin. It was relatively popular in the past, but it went largely forgotten at the end of the 20th century after it failed to predict the location of new wells.The...
, that is, that petroleum was formed by primordial non-biological processes rather than from the decaying remains of plant and animal life.
Early years
Vladimir Porfiryev was born to the family of the ZemstvoZemstvo
Zemstvo was a form of local government that was instituted during the great liberal reforms performed in Imperial Russia by Alexander II of Russia. The idea of the zemstvo was elaborated by Nikolay Milyutin, and the first zemstvo laws were put into effect in 1864...
demographer. He graduated from 1st Vyatka Gymnasium
Gymnasium (school)
A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
in 1918 and then worked for the local demographic bureau. In 1919 Porfiriev as a voluntarily joined the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
and took part in the Russian Civil War
Russian Civil War
The Russian Civil War was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed to the Soviets, under the domination of the Bolshevik party. Soviet forces first assumed power in Petrograd The Russian Civil War (1917–1923) was a...
. After demobilisation he studied at Perm University and then transferred to the Exploration Faculty of the Petrograd Mining Institute, where he graduated in 1926.
In 1924, while still a student, he started his geological and research career in the State Geological Committee, where he first worked in their West Siberia Section and then for Petroleum one (now VNIGRI). From 1929 to 1938 he worked for as a geologits and head of the Central Asia
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
Secion at All-Union Petroleum Research Geoexploration Institute (VNIGRI), and a foreman for Central oblasts of Russian SFSR. Without defending a thesis he received a PhD and professor degree in 1937. The next year he defended a Doctor of Science dissertation in Geology and Mineralogy titled "Formation conditions of the Central Asia oil fields". He then headed studies on hydrocarbon potential evaluation at the Institute of Geological Sciences at Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
State University.
At the beginning of World War II he was called up for military service in the Red Army but soon was demobilized and sent to the Geological Institute at the Academic Sciences University in Tashkent
Tashkent
Tashkent is the capital of Uzbekistan and of the Tashkent Province. The officially registered population of the city in 2008 was about 2.2 million. Unofficial sources estimate the actual population may be as much as 4.45 million.-Early Islamic History:...
, where he worked as senior researcher until 1944. Then he returned to Kiev and headed the Petroleum Department at the Institute of Geological Sciences.
Career achievements
Under his guidance the Lviv Branch of the Institute of Geological Sciences became the Institute for Geology of Useful Minerals (1951), which was then transformed into Institute of Geology and Geochemistry of Combustible Minerals (1962). Prof. Porfiriev headed that institute till 1963 when he was nominated to the post of Director for Institute of Geological Sciences in Kiev. From 1970 until his retirement, he headed the Department of Geology and Genesis of Oil and Gas fields at that institute.
Vladimir Porfiriev supervised 30 PhD and 8 Doctor of Sciences candidates. His pupils include academicians G.N. Dolenko and S.I. Subbotin, Corresponding Members of the Academy V.I. Kityk and N.R. Ladyzhensky, Dr. (Chemistry) I.V. Greenberg, Drs. (Geology and Mineralogy) R.S. Kopystyansky, V.A. Krayushkin, and V.F. Linetsky.
Awards
- Corresponding Member (1951) and Academician (1957) of Ukrainian SSR Academy of Sciences.
- A laureate of State Award of Ukrainian SSR (1971)
- Vernadsky Award (1980)
- State orders of Labor Red Banner (1947), Lenin (1957), October Revolution (1979) and three medals.