Nikolay I. Makkaveev and the development of Fluvial Geomorphology in Russia and the former Soviet Union

Abstract

Abstract 2008 marks the centenary of the birth of Professor Nikolay Ivanovich Makkaveev (1908–1983), a former Professor in the Faculty of Geography at Moscow State University and the founder of the Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Fluvial Processes in the Faculty of Geography. Professor Makkaveev is little known in the west, but he must be seen as a highly influential and important figure in the development of fluvial geomorphology in Russia and the former Soviet Union. He was responsible for drawing together the nascent work on fluvial geomorphology in Russia, which was founded in the different fields of soil science and soil conservation and waterway engineering, and his monograph entitled ‘The river channel and erosion in its basin’ published in 1955 emphasised the need for a holistic treatment of the river and its drainage basin. In advocating a holistic systems approach, Makkaveev's ideas paralleled similar developments in the west and anticipated future recognition of the importance of an understanding of the geomorphological functioning of drainage basins for effective catchment and river basin management. Makkaveev's ideas were highly influential in the development of research in fluvial geomorphology in Russia and the former Soviet Union and the Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Fluvial Processes that he founded within Moscow State University remains a highly successful and influential focus of fluvial geomorphological research in Russia.