Article ID: CBB001202379

Nikolai Vavilov in the years of Stalin's “Revolution from Above” (1929–1932) (2014)

unapi

Kolchinsky, Eduard I. (Author)


Centaurus: International Magazine of the History of Mathematics, Science, and Technology
Volume: 56
Pages: 330-358


Publication Date: 2014
Edition Details: Part of a Special Issue: Contemporary Russian Scholarship on the History of Science in Russia.
Language: English

This paper examines new evidence from Russian archives to argue that Soviet geneticist and plant breeder, Nikolai I. Vavilov's fate was sealed during the ‘Cultural Revolution’ (‘Revolution from Above’) (1929–1932). This was several years before Trofim D. Lysenko, the Soviet agronomist and widely portrayed archenemy and destroyer of Vavilov, became a major force in Soviet science. During the ‘Cultural Revolution’ the Soviet leadership wanted to subordinate science and research to the task of socialist reconstruction. Vavilov, who was head of the Institute of Plant Breeding (VIR) and the All-Union Academy of Agricultural Sciences (VASKhNIL), came under attack from the younger generation of researchers who were keen to transform biology into a proletarian science. The new evidence shows that it was during this period that Vavilov lost his independence to determine research strategies and manage personnel within his own institute. These changes meant that Lysenko, who had won Stalin's support, was able to gain influence and eventually exert authority over Vavilov. Based on the new evidence, Vavilov's arrest in 1940 after he criticized Lysenko's conception of Non-Mendelian genetics was just the final challenge to his authority. He had already experienced years of harassment that began before Lysenko gained a position of influence. Vavilov died in prison in 1943.

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Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB001202379/

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Authors & Contributors
Roll-Hansen, Nils
Saito, Hirofumi
Aleksandr Alekseevich Semenov
Tsuyoshi Fujioka
Wise, M. Norton
Wieland, Thomas
Concepts
Genetics
Agriculture
Plant genetics
Science and politics
Biology
Science education and teaching
Time Periods
20th century, early
20th century
20th century, late
21st century
19th century
Places
Russia
Soviet Union
Japan
Germany
United States
Spain
Institutions
Universitet Kazan
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