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K. Roullier was born in Nizhni Novgorod. His father,
originally a Frenchman, was a boot-maker, and his mother was a midwife.
Graduated from Medical-Surgeon Academy in 1833 where he attended
lectures of G. Fischer and A. Lovetsky. After that, he was serving
for several years as a junior physician in a dragoon regiment because
of being shot of money, but was invited by G. Fischer to Natural
History Department of the above Academy in 1836. He won doctor's
degree in 1837 and began to read lectures in zoology and mineralogy
as an assistant professor, along with curating the Cabinet with
collections of the same name. He moved to the University in 1840
to become director of the Museum and a lecturer at the Department
of Natural History, and was given a rank of full professor of zoology
in 1850.
K. Roullier was one of the first evolutionists
in Russia and is famous as a founder of what was called later ecology.
He was a brilliant lecturer advocating for studying native animals
in respect to their relations with the environments. He also was
interested in paleontology and conducted intensive investigations
of fossils in the field. One of his most prominent students and
followers was A.P. Bogdanov.
The Museum was being actively increased in respect
to representatives of native fauna, both living and extinct, in
the years of Roullier. Moving of collections (more than 15 thousands
of specimens) from Medical-Surgeon Academy to the University in
1842-1844 was most significant event. He also invited K. Renar from
that Academy to curate the University Museum.
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