Open AccessThe reaction of Soviet palaeontologists to the August 1948 Session of VASKhNIL (journal discussion in 1952/1953)
Author(s) -
G. I. Lyubina,
Maria M. Klavdieva
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
iop conference series. earth and environmental science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.179
H-Index - 26
eISSN - 1755-1307
pISSN - 1755-1315
DOI - 10.1088/1755-1315/579/1/012165
Subject(s) - soviet union , session (web analytics) , state (computer science) , history , environmental ethics , political science , law , philosophy , computer science , algorithm , politics , world wide web
Unlike the phenomenon of Lysenkoism that has been extensively covered in the history of science, the palaeontological discussion on the state of Soviet palaeontology in the wake of the notorious August 1948 Session of VASKhNIL that demolished Soviet genetics has remained overlooked so far. This paper describes the situation in Soviet palaeontology before this discussion and the role of Academician Borisyak in the development of palaeontology in the Soviet Union, and names the initiators, participants, and goals of the palaeontological discussion. The role of Davitashvili in the attempt to tarnish the name and scientific legacy of Borisyak is discussed in detail. However, despite overall atmosphere of despondency that reigned in Soviet biology at the time, the palaeontologists, overall, managed to assert both the priority and the value of their works and avoid administrative and physical repressions. This paper suggests the reasons why they succeeded.