Ivan Ivanovich Schmalhausen
Encyclopedia
Ivan Ivanovich Schmalhausen was a Russia
n and Soviet
zoologist
and evolution
ist. He was one of the central figures in the development of the modern evolutionary synthesis
.
__FORCETOC__
, Russian Empire
(now Ukraine
) on April 23, 1884 to Luise Schmalhausen (Luisa Ludwigovna Schmalhausen) and Johannes Theodor Schmalhausen
(1849–1894). His father was one of the founding fathers of Russian paleobotany.
In 1901 Ivan Ivanovich Schmalhausen graduated gymnasium
and enrolled at Kiev University
, but was expelled a year later after taking a part in the student disturbances. In 1902 he resumed his university studies at Kiev. Around 1902 he became acquainted with the founder of the Russian school of evolutionary morphology, Alexey Severtzov (1866–1936). He went on to become Professor of Darwinism at Moscow University and Director of the Institute for Evolutionary Morphology.
In 1904 Schmalhausen, under the guidance of Severtzov, completed his first scientific work on the embryonic development of lungs in a Grass Snake
. He graduated from the university on 1909.
In 1910 Schmalhausen married Lydia Kozlova, a teacher of French from a small provincial Russian town.
He educated many eminent botanists, including Józef Paczoski
, the founder of phytosociology
.
In 23 August 1948 he became victim of order 1208, one of a series signed by Minister of Higher Education in the USSR, S. Kaftanov, which led to the mass dismissals of many university professors. This destroyed his career, as it removed his professorship and also decreed that his books and research projects be destroyed. This was because he was accused of being a Weissmannist and pro-Morganist, who promoted the neo-Darwinian theory of evolution by natural selection, at a time when T. D. Lysenko
and his followers were emphasising a process of heredity that focused on interaction with the environment and the inheritance of acquired characteristics along Lamarckian lines. This theory was being put into practice in agriculture under Michurin, who claimed to have improved wheat using Lamarckian techniques, and was central to the Stalin's politics which stressed that hard work led to improvement in future generations.
He had just written his book Factors of Evolution, which was translated into English and published in the west in 1949 and returned to work in morphology.
In 1955, Schmalhausen was one of the signers of the "Letter of 300"a collective letter by three hundred scientists denouncing Lysenkoism
.
He died on October 7, 1963 in Leningrad
.
living at the boundary of its tolerance, in extreme or unusual conditions with regard to any aspect of its existence will be more vulnerable to small differences in any other aspect. Therefore the variance of data is not simply noise interfering with the detection of so-called "main effects", but also an indicator of stressful conditions leading to greater vulnerability.
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n and Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
zoologist
Zoology
Zoology |zoölogy]]), is the branch of biology that relates to the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct...
and evolution
Evolution
Evolution is any change across successive generations in the heritable characteristics of biological populations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organisation, including species, individual organisms and molecules such as DNA and proteins.Life on Earth...
ist. He was one of the central figures in the development of the modern evolutionary synthesis
Modern evolutionary synthesis
The modern evolutionary synthesis is a union of ideas from several biological specialties which provides a widely accepted account of evolution...
.
__FORCETOC__
Biography
Ivan Ivanovich Schmalhausen was born in KievKiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
, Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
(now Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
) on April 23, 1884 to Luise Schmalhausen (Luisa Ludwigovna Schmalhausen) and Johannes Theodor Schmalhausen
Johannes Theodor Schmalhausen
Johannes Theodor Schmalhausen was a botanist, known for his studies of East-European plants - External links :...
(1849–1894). His father was one of the founding fathers of Russian paleobotany.
In 1901 Ivan Ivanovich Schmalhausen graduated gymnasium
Gymnasium (school)
A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
and enrolled at Kiev University
Kiev University
Taras Shevchenko University or officially the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv , colloquially known in Ukrainian as KNU is located in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine. It is the third oldest university in Ukraine after the University of Lviv and Kharkiv University. Currently, its structure...
, but was expelled a year later after taking a part in the student disturbances. In 1902 he resumed his university studies at Kiev. Around 1902 he became acquainted with the founder of the Russian school of evolutionary morphology, Alexey Severtzov (1866–1936). He went on to become Professor of Darwinism at Moscow University and Director of the Institute for Evolutionary Morphology.
In 1904 Schmalhausen, under the guidance of Severtzov, completed his first scientific work on the embryonic development of lungs in a Grass Snake
Grass Snake
The grass snake , sometimes called the ringed snake or water snake is a European non-venomous snake. It is often found near water and feeds almost exclusively on amphibians.-Etymology:...
. He graduated from the university on 1909.
In 1910 Schmalhausen married Lydia Kozlova, a teacher of French from a small provincial Russian town.
He educated many eminent botanists, including Józef Paczoski
Józef Paczoski
Józef Konrad Paczoski was an eminent Polish botanist, who coined the term "phytosociology" and was one of the founders of this branch of botany .- Early life :...
, the founder of phytosociology
Phytosociology
Phytosociology is the branch of science which deals with plant communities, their composition and development, and the relationships between the species within them. A phytosociological system is a system for classifying these communities...
.
In 23 August 1948 he became victim of order 1208, one of a series signed by Minister of Higher Education in the USSR, S. Kaftanov, which led to the mass dismissals of many university professors. This destroyed his career, as it removed his professorship and also decreed that his books and research projects be destroyed. This was because he was accused of being a Weissmannist and pro-Morganist, who promoted the neo-Darwinian theory of evolution by natural selection, at a time when T. D. Lysenko
Trofim Lysenko
Trofim Denisovich Lysenko was a Soviet agronomist of Ukrainian origin, who was director of Soviet biology under Joseph Stalin. Lysenko rejected Mendelian genetics in favor of the hybridization theories of Russian horticulturist Ivan Vladimirovich Michurin, and adopted them into a powerful...
and his followers were emphasising a process of heredity that focused on interaction with the environment and the inheritance of acquired characteristics along Lamarckian lines. This theory was being put into practice in agriculture under Michurin, who claimed to have improved wheat using Lamarckian techniques, and was central to the Stalin's politics which stressed that hard work led to improvement in future generations.
He had just written his book Factors of Evolution, which was translated into English and published in the west in 1949 and returned to work in morphology.
In 1955, Schmalhausen was one of the signers of the "Letter of 300"a collective letter by three hundred scientists denouncing Lysenkoism
Lysenkoism
Lysenkoism, or Lysenko-Michurinism, also denotes the biological inheritance principle which Trofim Lysenko subscribed to and which derive from theories of the heritability of acquired characteristics, a body of biological inheritance theory which departs from Mendelism and that Lysenko named...
.
He died on October 7, 1963 in Leningrad
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
.
Schmalhausen's Law
Schmalhausen's Law is a general principle that a populationPopulation
A population is all the organisms that both belong to the same group or species and live in the same geographical area. The area that is used to define a sexual population is such that inter-breeding is possible between any pair within the area and more probable than cross-breeding with individuals...
living at the boundary of its tolerance, in extreme or unusual conditions with regard to any aspect of its existence will be more vulnerable to small differences in any other aspect. Therefore the variance of data is not simply noise interfering with the detection of so-called "main effects", but also an indicator of stressful conditions leading to greater vulnerability.