REVIEW: The Forbidden Garden: The Botanists of Besieged Leningrad and Their Impossible Choice by Simon Parkin
From the award-winning author of The Island of Extraordinary Captives, the riveting, untold true story of the botanists at the world’s first seed bank who faced an impossible choice during the Siege of Leningrad: eat the collection to prevent starvation, or protect their life’s work to help end world hunger?
In the summer of 1941, German troops surrounded the Russian city of Leningrad—now St. Petersburg—and began the longest blockade in recorded history, one that would ultimately claim the lives of nearly three-quarters of a million people. At the center of the besieged city stood a converted palace that housed the world’s largest collection of seeds—more than 250,000 samples hand-collected over two decades from all over the globe by world-famous explorer, geneticist, and dissident Nikolai Vavilov, who had recently been disappeared by the Soviet government. After attempts to evacuate the priceless collection failed and supplies dwindled amongst the three million starving citizens, the employes at the Plant Institute were left with a terrible choice. Should they save the collection? Or themselves?
These were not just any seeds. The botanists believed they could be bred into heartier, disease-resistant, and more productive varieties suited for harsh climates, therefore changing the future of food production and preventing famines like those that had plagued their countrymen before. But protecting the seeds was no idle business. The scientists rescued potato samples under enemy fire, extinguished bombs landing on the seed bank’s roof, and guarded the collection from scavengers, the bitter cold, and their own hunger. Then in the war’s eleventh hour, Nazi plunderers presented a new threat to the collection…
Drawing from previously unseen sources, award-winning journalist Simon Parkin—who has “an inimitable capacity to find the human pulse in the underbelly of war” (The Spectator)—tells the incredible true story of the botanists who held their posts at the Plant Institute during the 872-day siege and the remarkable sacrifices they made in the name of science.
CW –
Spoiler: Show
Dear Mr. Parkin,
This looked interesting and thankfully my request for a copy was successful. Vaguely buzzing around my brain is the knowledge that Leningrad was besieged during the German invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II. I knew that things were grim, as usually occurs in cities under prolonged siege, but now I know more about the desperate conditions. Food insecurity is unfortunately still with us now but then and there … wow.
The book covers much more than merely the siege and what the Plant Institute (called the Plant Institute over the course of the book rather than switching to the various names used for it over time) scientists and employees endured. It begins with the arrival of Nikolai Vavilov, an enthusiastic visionary who mapped the future of seed banks and, through his supportive, nurturing personality, brought together the creme de la creme of scientists in the Soviet Union to kick-start what was left of a previous attempt at one that faltered during the Revolution and Civil War.
Many of the scientists Vavilov taught and or recruited had actual hunger history and so were dedicated to Vavilov’s idea of collecting various seeds from around the world in order to find ones with the properties that might lead to crop plants that could be used to feed their nation. Vavilov and his intrepid fellows traveled around the world, seeking the seeds of ancient varieties of plants that might be cross bred to increase yields and grow in harsher climates. Seeds were given or bought (Vavilov’s friendliness and belief in reaching out to others in foreign countries as equals helped secure seed gifting) and his tirelessness in achieving his vision led to worldwide acclaim in scientific circles.
Unfortunately, Uncle Joe’s paranoia led to him believing in the delusions of a scientific rival of Vavilov. Arrested during a trip to Ukraine, Vavilov would ultimately end up dying in the inhuman conditions of a Soviet prison leaving the Plant Institute to face the siege without him. There were two other people outside the Institute who did believe in what Vavilov was trying to do – ironically one was an SS officer who wanted to plunder the seeds and try to do the same thing as Vavilov but to help feed Germany while the other was a British POW who was conscripted to work in Austria with him and then made off with a stash of seeds after the war.
But what about Leningrad? Most of the book covers the heroic efforts of the staff there to save the precious seeds (also nuts, pits, tubers, etc) from cold, rodents, and thieves. The SOP of the Institute was that seeds (etc) needed to be replenished after six years to try and ensure viability so dangerous efforts (under the site lines of German snipers) were made at times to plant some of them while other test fields were always at risk (as was much of Leningrad) of being shelled. Though several staff members succumbed to starvation, a few were killed or died later from bomb injuries.
When outsiders discovered that many staffers had refrained from eating the seeds and nuts that could have saved them, they were astonished. Even decades later, when they were interviewed, staff members were routinely peppered with “why didn’t you?” questions in reference to what could have saved their fellows. Though a few staffers did entreat to be allowed to do so, and later high-ups who had been evacuated before the siege wrote to allow them to do so, most of the scientists believed in their mission and Vavilov’s vision. After the war, these seeds could be what would prevent starvation for themselves, their children, and their nation. To yield and consume what they had worked so hard to gather and save would negate everything that they stood for.
And indeed, crossbred varieties of crop plants that were developed from the seed bank have been planted around the world and increased yields. There are also more seed banks around the world now and, as scientists say, they’re in a race to gather and preserve. The Plant Institute in St. Petersburg is woefully underfunded and its outlying locations were under attack by developers looking to build luxury dachas until international press articles caused them to back off. One tidbit of a story made me smile. A nineteenth century Dutch vessel was intercepted by a Royal Navy ship. Seeds that a passenger had stuck in a bag were taken to London, forgotten, found two hundred years later and are now growing. As I thought about that I stopped to remember what a miracle crop seeds are. Plant them, give them the conditions they need, and voila – food. B+
~Jayne
By 1967 a hundred million acres of Russian agricultural land had been planted with seeds derived from the Institute’s collection. By 1979 that area had almost doubled to a third of all Russia’s arable land. Today the seed bank in St. Petersburg holds more than 320,000 separate samples, a collection that has proven invaluable in ensuring food security in Russia, with more than forty-five hundred new and unique types of plant bred from original samples collected by Vavilov and his teams.
Ninety percent of the seeds and planted crops held in the St. Petersburg collection are found in no other scientific collections in the world. More than a thousand crossbred varieties of these plants bear the name of their discoverer, Vavilov. In kitchens and dining rooms around the world, people continue to benefit from the sacrifice of the men and women who gave their lives during the siege.
AmazonBNKoboBook DepositoryGoogle
Oh this does sound fascinating. And I see there’s an audiobook version as well.
This sounds so interesting. Thanks
This sounds like a wonderful book but… it made me remember the seed bank in Abu Gharib which was destroyed by the US during the Iraq War. It had over 1400 seed varieties, and according to at least one article was a thousand years old.
In the course of looking that up to refresh my memory I stumbled on an article in The Economist about how Ukraine’s seed bank is now in danger. That was published in May of 2022, and I don’t know what the status of that seed bank is now.
So… I guess the more things change, the more things stay the same. :-(