Dr. Daniel A. Guravich was born in 1918 in Winnipeg, Canada, and earned his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Manitoba. Although educated as a scientist, he became seriously interested in photography during World War II when, following a rugged tour of duty in the Royal Canadian Armored Corps, he joined a combat photography unit.
Following the war, he received his doctorate in 1949 from the University of Wisconsin. It was then that he moved to Greenville and worked from 1949 to 1952 as a geneticist at the Delta Experiment Station in Stoneville. Discouraged with his work as a cotton geneticist, Guravich opened a camera store in Greenville and offered his services as a freelance photographer. Publishers of seed catalogs and editors of agricultural periodicals realized the extent of his expertise in both photography and their products and soon assignments came pouring in.
Although Guravich is most widely known and respected for his love and experience with polar bears, it wasn’t until 1969, at the age of 51 that he saw his first wild polar bear. It was then, as he watched the bear turn away, that he decided to photograph and publish images of polar bears in their natural surroundings.
As biologist, conservationist, and wildlife photographer, Guravich alerted the world to the Arctic and its heritage and popularized the Far North with its unique wildlife. As a biologist, Guravich understood the nature of the animals. As a conservationist, he sought to encourage others to preserve the Arctic environment along with its wonderful creatures. As a photographer, he captured the images of those things he fought to preserve and protect.
Initially, Guravich had a difficult time convincing editors to publish pieces on polar bears. Finally, the Smithsonian magazine allowed Guravich to travel to Churchill with writer Jack Wiley to report on the object of his fascination. The resulting article, published in February 1978, generated such an astounding flood of interest that the influential magazine published a second piece in 1986.
Guravich passed away almost 28 years ago at the age of 79, ending an eventful, joyful life filled with achievements and surrounded by admiring and devoted friends. Dan Guravich’s work and passion live on through Polar Bears International, the nonprofit organization he founded in 1992 that is devoted to conserving and promoting the understanding of Ursus maritimus, the sea bear or more commonly, the polar bear.
From a personal perspective, I was born in and grew up in Greenville, Mississippi. I worked in Stoneville, Mississippi. As I sat in my office in the evenings after all our staff had gone for the day, I sometimes wondered how the gentleman that introduced the polar bear to the world lived in Greenville and worked in Stoneville. It is also incredulous to realize my father-in-law, Arch Dalrymple, once commissioned Dan Guravich to travel to Amory to photograph his three beautiful daughters.
James L. Cummins is executive director of Wildlife Mississippi, a nonprofit conservation organization founded to conserve, restore, and enhance fish, wildlife, and plant resources throughout Mississippi. Their website is www.wildlifemiss.org.
