Mikhail Pridorogin

Born Oct. 19 (31), 1862, in Saratov Province; died June 13, 1923, in Moscow. Soviet zootechnician.

In 1887, Pridorogin graduated from the Petrovskoe Agricultural and Forestry Academy (now the K. A. Timiriazev Moscow Agricultural Academy). From 1895 he was a professor at the academy and held the chair of specialized animal husbandry. His principal works were on animal husbandry, horse raising, and the breeding of farm animals. He was a great specialist on animal conformation. In his monograph Conformation: Evaluation of Farm Animals by External Examination, he set forth principles for such evaluation, developed a means for determining the ages of animals, and suggested a method for calculating liveweight from body measurements and using them as references to describe the conformation. He worked on problems relating to the improvement of old breeds of farm animals and the creation of new breeds.