Nikolay Timofeev-Ressovsky | |
---|---|
Born | 20 September [O.S. 7 September] 1900 Moscow |
Died | 28 March 1981 Moscow |
(aged 80)
Nationality | Soviet |
Known for | research in radiation genetics, experimental population genetics, and microevolution |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Biology |
Academic advisors | Nikolai Koltsov |
Nikolaj Vladimirovich Timofeev-Resovskij (Russian: Николай Владимирович Тимофеев-Ресовский; 20 September [O.S. 7 September] 1900 – 28 March 1981) was a Soviet biologist. He conducted research in radiation genetics, experimental population genetics, and microevolution. His work was of special importance to Soviet biology because it stood in direct opposition to the damage done by Lysenkoism, while his life was highlighted by scientific achievements in the face of severe personal hardship.
His life was described by Daniil Granin in the novel Zubr.
He was Director of the Genetics Division as the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Brain Research in the 1930s, where he received direct funding for his research from the Third Reich, who praised him as one of the world's best geneticists and trusted him because he was an opponent of Communism. His department of genetics in Nazi Berlin was also described in a novel by Elly Welt, Berlin Wild; although fictional names were used, the characters are recognizable.
Nikolaj Vladimirovich Timofeev-Resovski, began his university education from 1916 to 1917 at the Moscow City People’s University named after A. L. Shanyavskij. From 1917 to 1922, he studied at the First Moscow State University.
The First World War and the consequences of the Russian Revolution of 1917 interrupted his education for periods of time. At the outbreak of the Russian Civil War, Timofeev-Resovskij was a follower of the anarchist Peter Kropotkin. In 1918, he volunteered to serve in a small anarchist cavalry unit, which was part of the Green army, i.e., they were neither supporters of the Bolshevik Red army nor the White army of General Anton Ivanovich Denikin. Eventually, in 1919, the anarchists joined the Red army. As a private in the 12th Red Army, Timofeev-Resovskij took part in the last battle of the Civil War in the Crimea on the Polish front.