Московский городской народный университет имени А. Л. Шанявского: у истоков экспериментальной биологии

Фандо Роман Алексеевич


Институт истории естествознания и техники им. С.И. Вавилова РАН, Москва, Россия

DOI: 10.24411/2076-8176-2017-11943

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Рассмотрена история создания и деятельности Московского городского народного университета (Университет им. А.Л. Шанявского), который полностью финансировался на частные средства. Основной задачей его стало распространение высшего образования среди населения и повышение интереса общества к науке. В стенах этого Университета сформировалась отечественная школа экспериментальной биологии, во главе которой был Н.К. Кольцов. Благодаря демократизации системы управления учебным процессом и научно-исследовательской деятельностью, приобретению необходимого лабораторного оборудования, привлечению талантливой молодёжи в стенах Университета им А.Л. Шанявского возник научный центр в области экспериментальной биологии. Многие ученики Н.К. Кольцова, проходившие обучение в его лаборатории, впоследствии стояли у истоков таких дисциплин, как генетика, цитология, механика развития, экспериментальная эмбриология, физико-химическая биология.

Ключевые слова: Московский городской народный университет им. А.Л. Шанявского, демократизация образования и науки, научные школы, экспериментальная биология.

The A.L. Shanyavsky Moscow City People’s University: at the Beginning of Experimental Biology
Roman A. Fando

S.I. Vavilov Institute for the History of Science and Technology, the Russian Academy of Science

DOI: 10.24411/2076-8176-2017-11943

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Based on the new archival materials, this paper reviews the history of the privately funded A.L. Shanyavsky Moscow People’s University whose main objective was promoting higher education among the population and raising an interest in science. The paper describes the evidence of the Moscow People’s University’s important role in enhancing and teaching scientific knowledge. The preeminence of A.L. Shanyavsky University in experimental science resulted from the causes outlined in the paper. The Russian school of experimental biology, led by N.K. Koltsov, formed at the University. The democratization of education and research management system, the acquisition of necessary laboratory equipment, and attracting young talents resulted in a scientific center for experimental biology emerging at the A.L. Shanyavsky University. The students of the Laboratory of Experimental Biology could choose their own path of education and professional scientific development, and issued their own journal to publish the results of their research. Koltsov organized a biological colloquium to discuss the findings in advanced areas of biology. The colloquium was so popular among the students that the room could not accommodate everyone wishing to attend. Koltsov took advantage of his contemporaries’ interest in science to find the patrons of science to provide funding for both his laboratory and publications of results of his pupils’ research. The analysis of various documentary sources enabled the author to prove that Koltsov’s scientific school in the field of experimental biology took shape at the A.L. Shanyavsky University. The tipping point for higher education came after the 1917 October Revolution, when the Bolsheviks were unable to keep the unique A.L. Shanyavsky University going. Having realized that the People’s University was in total decline, Koltsov moved some of his laboratory’s equipment to the Institute of Experimental Biology created by him in 1917, to which his pupils transferred. Many of N.K. Koltsov’s pupils, including B.L. Astaurov, A.S. Serebrobsky, N.V. Timofeeff-Ressovsky, trained at his laboratory later becoming the pioneers in new disciplines such as genetics, cytology, mechanics of development, experimental embryology, and physicochemical biology.

Keywords: A.L. Shanyavsky Moscow City People’s University; democratization of education and science; scientific schools; experimental biology.

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