Ivan Maksymenko
Ivan Kyrylovych Maksymenko (; 23 February 1907 – 31 May 1976) was a Soviet and Ukrainian geneticist, doctor of biological sciences, professor, member of the Academy of Sciences of the Turkmen SSR (since 1959), and a Hero of Socialist Labour (1965). Biography 
He was born on February 23, 1907, in the village of Mykhailivka (now Cherkasy Raion of Cherkasy Oblast). He received his primary education in Ukraine, then studied in Tashkent, and worked in Turkmen SSR. Scientific activities 
His main areas of scientific research were selection and seed production of cotton. He revealed the patterns of hereditary change of cotton plants in remote hybridization and developed methods to accelerate the selection process. For the first time in the USSR, he bred varieties of cotton with naturally dyed fiber, which was a strategic raw material during the German-Soviet war (camouflage made of natural brown and green cotton was not recognizable from the air). He created valuable varieties of fine-fibrous cotton. Distinctions 
 Honored Science Worker of the Turkmen SSR
 Honored Agronomist of the Turkmen SSR
 Hero of Socialist Labour (1965) – for high achievements in breeding new varieties of cotton
 Three Orders of the Red Banner of Labour
 Two Orders of the Badge of Honour

Memorial 
In recent years he lived and died in Kyiv. His tomb is at Baikove Cemetery (plot No. 33). References 

1907 births
1976 deaths
People from Cherkassky Uyezd
Heroes of Socialist Labour
Recipients of the Order of the Badge of Honour
Recipients of the Order of Lenin
Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour
Soviet geneticists
Burials at Baikove Cemetery