| AdminHistory | Boris Semeonoff was born in St Petersburg, Russia. His mother happened to take him on holiday to Scotland in 1914 and when war was declared, she decided to stay on and was able to make a living teaching Russian. Her textbook has been much used by students over the years. Boris was sent to George Watson's School and then went on to Edinburgh University where he studied English language
and literature.
He first joined the teaching staff of Edinburgh's Department of Psychology in 1933 under its then chairman, James Drever primus. His career was interrupted after World War II broke out when he went to work for the War Office Selection Board, whose especial concern was to select women to infiltrate occupied Europe. After the war, Boris returned to Edinburgh, where the department was by now run by James Drever secundus, who had served in the navy.
Boris became well known in The British Psychological Society. He and his wife, Catherine, were to be seen at every annual conference. He was BPS President for the year 1968/69, and in July 1969 gave his Presidential Address 'Changing horizons: An essay in autobiography' (Bulletin of the The British Psychological Society, July 1969 and available on-line).
He was for some years Editor of the British Journal of Psychology and also served as President of the Psychology Section of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. But it is as a teacher, rather than as an author, that he will best be remembered by generations of students who graduated in psychology at the University of Edinburgh.
Boris was widely known in musical circles as an opera-lover who had a unique collection of gramophone records, in 1951, he published his Record Collecting: A Guide for Beginners. |
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