Professor Alexander Alexandrovich Paramonov, Dr. Biol. Sc., Head of the Sector of Phytohelminthology at the Helminthological Laboratory, Academy of Sciences, U.S.S.R., died in Moscow on June 11, 1970 at the age of 79.
        He was born at Kherson in the Ukraine on January 8th, 1891. Before being graduated from the Moscow University in 1922, he attended lectures at Odessa (the Ukraine), Heidelberg (Germany - for 2 years) and Peterburg (Russia) Universities. Then he worked as assistant at the Timiryazev Agricultural Academy (on general zoology), at Moscow State University (on entomology) and during a part of this same time, and until 1931, he studied the biology of fur-bearing animals at the Laboratory of Applied Zoology, Academy of Sciences. From 1927 to 1934 he was assistant professor at the Academy of Communistic Education giving lectures on general biology and darwinism and from 1934 to 1937 research worker at the Zoological Museum, Moscow University.
        In 1937 he took up a teaching poet as Professor at the Chair of Darwinism, Timiryazev Agricultural Academy and held the Chair of Zoology at the same Academy from 1941 to 1948. In 1945 he was awarded his Doctorate degree. From 1949 to 1952 he worked at the All-Union K.I. Skryabin Institute of Helminthology and during the last 18 years, since 1952, as a research worker at the Helminthological Laboratory, Academy of Sciences. At the same time, since 1954 he did lecturing on Plant Nematology at Moscow State University. In 1965, when the Sector of Phytohel-minthology was set up at the Helminthological Laboratory he became head of it and starting the same year simultaneously held the Chair of Darwinism at Moscow  University.

        Prof. Paramonov's interests in biology were unusually broad. He taught effectively courses in General Biology, Darwinism, Zoology and Plant Nematology. lie wrote several chapters on worms for a well-known Russian text book of Zoology; since 1935, several improved editions of it have been reissued and thus, cumulatively, thousands of students at various universities have used this text in their courses of study.
In 1945 his outstanding manual "Course of Darwinism" appeared. This book clearly illustrated the author's broad erudition in the field of general biology and theory of evolution.
        Of about 120 scientific publications written by Prof. Paramonov, some 50 are in the field of Plant Nematology, the others on various problems of Zoology and Evolution. He was engaged in nematological research since 1925. From this year to 1937 he studied the morphology, taxonomy and phylogeny of free-living freshwater and marine nematodes. In 1945 his first publications on saprozoic and plant parasitic nema-todes appeared. His thorough knowledge in thefield of General Zoology and Evolution served as a major precondition for the extensive research done by him in Nematology. His ecological classification of plant nematodes first formulated in 1952 is being widely used among nematologists in the Soviet Union. All groups of nematodes inhabiting plant or living in the soil about the roots are regarded to be bio-coenotically related to plants. These groups of life forms are of various importance to plants at various stages of the development of a disease. Nematode diseases of plants are considered as dynamic processes in which succession of various life forms occur. Thus, one must consider that not only the stylet-bearing parasitic forms, but all groups of nematodes may be of specific import-ance to plants. This theoretical consideration served as a basis for further development of nema-tological research in the field of faunistical in-vestigations, taxonomy, morphology, ecology, phylogeny, physiology, biochemistry, and, finally for founding theoretical basis for the control of the most injurious species.
        Prof. Paramonov was always primarily interested in fundamental problems in Nematology. The phylogeny of nematode groups and origin of myco- and plant-parasitic forms were studied from an ecological-morphological starting-point, i.e. the morphological features of nematodes were studied from the point of view of their adaptational significance.

        The results of the research on nematode phylogeny and revision of taxonomy of various groups were summarized in the outstanding monograph "Fundamentals of Phytohelminthology" (Vol. 1 - 1962, Vol. II -1964, Vol. III - 1970). The first volume of this work regarding ecological-morphological characteristics of plant nematodes and general principles of taxonomy is now available in English translation to all nematologists. The two latter volumes are de-voted to the particular taxonomy of various groups (Adenophorea, Secernentea - Rhabditata, Tylenchida -Aphelenchoidea - Vol. II, and Tylenchida - Tylenchoidea - Vol. III). This study includes 1180 printed pages, but, unfortunately, it could not be finished.

        In spite of the protracted painful illness, Prof. Paramonov continued intensively his work on this monograph, and particularly, on his new superfamily Hoplolaimoidea, which includes also the root knot and cyst forming nematodes. A few months before his death he wrote: "I endeavour to penetrate into the very depth of the system (taxonomy), which -- as I am sure -- should be deeply connected with the ecological-morphological characteristics of the order Tylenchida and at this very moment I am touching the organization of forms belonging to this order with a simply improper gladness. I am glad that there will be ahead a tremendous analytical research..."
        About 30 post-graduate students were awarded their degrees under the guidance of Prof. Paramonov. He had a remarkable ability for inspiring young people. His work will be continued everywhere, not only in the Soviet Union. He was not only an outstanding scientist, but also a most successful and always helpful teacher and he will be greatly missed by all nematologists.