Article ID: CBB000831700

Beyond Eugenics: The Forgotten Scandal of Hybridizing Humans and Apes (2008)

unapi

This paper examines the available evidence on one of the most radical ideas in the history of eugenics and utopianism. In the mid-1920s, the zoology professor Ilia Ivanov submitted to the Soviet government a project for hybridizing humans and apes by means of artificial insemination. He received substantial financing and organized expeditions to Africa to catch apes for his experiments. His project caused an international sensation. The American Association for the Advancement of Atheism announced its fund-raising campaign to support Ivanov's project but gave it a scandalously racist interpretation. Ivanov's own motivation remained unclear, as did the motivation of those in the Bolshevik government who supported Ivanov until his arrest in 1930. This paper discusses three hypothetical reasons for Ivanov's adventure: first, hybridization between humans and apes, should it be successful, would support the atheist propaganda of the Bolsheviks; second, regardless of the success of hybridization, Ivanov would catch and bring to Russia apes, which were necessary for the rejuvenation programs that were fashionable among the Bolshevik elite; and third, hybridization, should it be successful, would pave the way to the New Socialist Man whose `construction by scientific means' was the official purpose of the Bolsheviks. Ivanov's ideas were arguably important for the American proponent of reform eugenics, Herman Muller, and for the Soviet anthropologist Boris Porshnev.

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Description On the mid-1920s project developed by Ilia Ivanov, funded by the Soviet government, and supported as well by some American groups and eugenicists.


Included in

Article Hall, Lesley A. (2008) Eugenics, Sex and the State: Some Introductory Remarks. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences (p. 177). unapi

Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB000831700/

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Authors & Contributors
Hyun, Jaehwan
Tilley, Helen
Thomas, Marion
Tamano, Luana Tieko Omena
Siddiqi, Asif A.
Sánchez Arteaga, Juan Manuel
Concepts
Physical anthropology
Eugenics
Racism
Primates
Science and race
Controversies and disputes
Time Periods
20th century, early
20th century
19th century
20th century, late
Places
Soviet Union
United States
Japan
Germany
Brazil
Africa
Institutions
UNESCO
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