Nikolai Ivanovich Vavilov was an early 20th century Russian plant scientistwho was killed by Joseph Stalin in 1943 for his adherence to basic geneticprinciples. Vavilov is well known within plant breeding and plantevolutionary biology circles, yet the science of Vavilov is just asimportant to the field of weed science. Specifically, Vavilov proposed thatcertain weeds adapted to weed control practices to survive in prehistoricalagrarian societies. Most would refer to this adaption as crop mimicry, butthe term “Vavilovian mimicry” is more apt. Vavilovian mimicry requires threefactors: a model—the crop or desirable plant; a mimic—the weed; and anoperator—the discriminating agent, possibly human, animal, or machine. In amodern context, it is proposed that weed adaptation to herbicideapplications be included as a form of Vavilovian mimicry, with theacknowledgement that the operator is the herbicide. In this context,Vavilovian mimicry is the adaption of the weed mimic to be perceived by theoperator as visually, physically, or biochemically indistinguishable fromthe crop model. This review will cover the history and legacy of Vavilov ina condensed version in the hope that weed scientists will hold thisindividual in high regard in our future endeavors and begin to acknowledgeVavilov as one of the first scientists to propose that weeds can mimic theattributes of crops.