Nikolai Koltsov
| Nikolai Konstantinovich Koltsov | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | July 14, 1872 Moscow |
| Died |
December 2, 1940 (aged 68) Leningrad |
| Nationality | Russian / Soviet |
| Fields |
Genetics Molecular biology |
| Alma mater | Moscow University |
| Notable students | Nikolay Timofeeff-Ressovsky Vladimir Pavlovich Efroimson |
Nikolai Konstantinovich Koltsov (Russian: Николай Константинович Кольцов; July 14, 1872 – December 2, 1940) was a Russian biologist and a pioneer of modern genetics. Among his students were Nikolay Timofeeff-Ressovsky, Vladimir Pavlovich Efroimson and Nikolay Dubinin.
Koltsov graduated from Moscow University in 1894 and was a professor there (1895-1911). He established and directed the Institute of Experimental Biology in the middle of 1917, just before the October revolution. He was a member of the Agricultural Academy (VASKhNIL).
In 1920, Koltsov was arrested as a member of the non-existent "anti-Soviet Tactical Center" invented by the VCheKa. Prosecutor Nikolai Krylenko demanded the death sentence for Koltsov (67 of around 1000 arrested people were executed). However, after a personal appeal to Vladimir Lenin by Maxim Gorky Koltsov was released and was restored to his position as the head of the Koltsov Institute of Experimental Biology.
In 1937 and 1939, the supporters of Trofim Lysenko published a series of propaganda articles against Nikolai Koltsov and Nikolai Vavilov. They wrote: "The Institute of Genetics of the Academy of Sciences not only did not criticize Professor Koltsov's fascistic nonsense, but even did not dissociate itself from his "theories" which support the racial theories of fascists". His death in 1940 was claimed to have been due to a stroke. However, "the biochemist Ilya Zbarsky revealed that the unexpected death of Koltsov was a result of his poisoning by the NKVD", the secret police of the Soviet Union. The same day his wife committed suicide.
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