In memoriam - Galina Motuzova (1940-2020)
Galina Motuzova, Professor of Soil Chemistry, passed away on October 30, 2020. Professor Motuzova served at the Department of Soil Chemistry, Lomonosov Moscow State University. She was a leading Russian expert in the systemic organization of chemical compounds in soils, soil buffering capacity, and early diagnosis of soil pollution. She published over 400 papers and authored original lecture courses on Soil Ecological Monitoring and Soil Resistance to External Chemical Impact.
Professor Motuzova was an energetic and science-devoted person. For many years she was the chairwoman of the Dissertation Council of the Soil Science Faculty of Lomonosov MSU, a member of the International Society for the Chemistry of Humus, the International Society for Biogeochemistry of Microelements, the International Society for the Conservation of Soil and Water Resources, and the International Working Group on Contaminated Lands. Being a member of the Central Council and chairwoman of the Soil Chemistry Commission of the Dokuchaev Soil Science Society, she initiated and organized a series of International Conferences on Contemporary Soil Pollution.
Her service was marked with numerous awards. She was a laureate of the USSR State Education Committee prizes for her works Contemporary Soil Research Techniques (1985) and Heavy Metals in the Environment (1988); was awarded the Veteran of Labor medal (1990) and the medal In Commemoration of the 850th Anniversary of Moscow (1997), a certificate of honor for the Virgin Lands campaign (1958), a certificate of honor for Merits in Development of Lomonosov MSU (1980), a jubilee badge on 250 years of Lomonosov MSU, and the Kovalsky medal (2014).
Everyone felt her indifference to both scientific and human problems, her kind attitude, a desire to listen and to help. Professor Motuzova treated her students as warmly and cordially as only a close and dear person can. Galina Vasilievna was an amazingly modest and selfless person. The pursuit of a career and financial enrichment, the satisfaction of personal ambitions – all these common incentives did not exist for her, she thought in completely different categories, lived by true human values.
By Elena Timofeeva (Lomonosov MSU) and Alexey Alekseenko (St. Petersburg Mining University)