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==Biography==
==Biography==
Zhores Medvedev and his twin brother Roy were born on 14 November 1925 in [[Tbilisi]], [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]], [[USSR]]. In December 1950, Zhores was awarded a [[kandidat nauk|PhD degree]] for his research into sexual processes in plants. He became a Junior Research Scientist in the Agrochemistry and Biochemistry Department at [[Timiryazev Academy]] and he was promoted to Senior Research Scientist in 1954 and remained at the academy until 1963. Beginning in 1952, Medvedev had focused his attention on the problems of aging, concentrating on the turnover of proteins and nucleic acids. In 1961, he published the first paper suggesting that aging is the result of an accumulation of errors in the synthesis of proteins and nucleic acids. In 1962, Medvedev wrote his book on the history of [[Soviet genetics]] (later published in the United States as ''The Rise and Fall of [[T.D. Lysenko]]'', Columbia Univ. Press, 1969).
Zhores Medvedev and his twin brother Roy were born on 14 November 1925 in [[Tbilisi]], [[Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic|Transcaucasian SFSR]], [[USSR]]. He was drafted into the [[Red Army]] in 1943, but was soon discharged after being seriously wounded in a battle on the [[Taman Peninsula]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://aeon.co/ideas/zhores-medvedev-and-the-battle-for-truth-in-soviet-science?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=atom-feed|title=Zhores Medvedev and the battle for truth in Soviet science|last=Gordin|first=Michael D|date=6 February 2019|website=Aeon|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=6 February 2019}}</ref> He then began his studies in biology at the [[Timiryazev Agricultural Academy]] in [[Moscow]].<ref name=":0" /> In December 1950, Zhores was awarded a [[kandidat nauk|PhD degree]] for his research into sexual processes in plants. He became a Junior Research Scientist in the Agrochemistry and Biochemistry Department at Timiryazev Academy and he was promoted to Senior Research Scientist in 1954 and remained at the academy until 1963. Beginning in 1952, Medvedev had focused his attention on the problems of aging, concentrating on the turnover of proteins and nucleic acids. In 1961, he published the first paper suggesting that aging is the result of an accumulation of errors in the synthesis of proteins and nucleic acids. In 1962, Medvedev wrote his book on the history of [[Soviet genetics]], which passed an editorial review but was withheld by state censors. It was later published in the United States as ''The Rise and Fall of [[T.D. Lysenko]]''.


In 1963, Medvedev moved to [[Obninsk]] to the Institute of Medical Radiology, where he was appointed head of the molecular radiobiology laboratory. He published two books, ''Protein Biosynthesis and Problems of Heredity Development and Ageing'' (1963; English translation 1965 Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh) and ''Molecular Mechanisms of Development'' (1966; English translation 1968, Plenum Press, New York). Medvedev was dismissed from his position in 1969. Between 1968 and 1970, Medvedev wrote two more books: ''International Cooperation of Scientists and National Frontiers'' <ref>{{cite web|url=http://oculus.nlm.nih.gov/medvedev226|title=Zhores A. Medvedev, Mezhdunarodnoe sotrudnichestvo uchenykh i natsional 'nye granitsy 1969-1970|publisher=[[National Library of Medicine]]}}</ref> and ''Secrecy of Correspondence is Guaranteed by Law'' (about postal censorship in the USSR). They were published in 1971 as ''Medvedev Papers'' by Macmillan in London. These works were widely circulated in the USSR among scientists, and this activity resulted in Medvedev's arrest and forced detention in the [[Kaluga]] psychiatric hospital in May 1970. This action, however, produced many protests from scientists (academics [[Andrei Sakharov]], [[Pyotr Kapitsa]], [[Igor Tamm]], [[Vladimir Engelgardt]], [[Boris Astaurov]],<ref name="Time">{{cite journal|title=World: Protesting Spiritual Murder|journal=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|date=29 June 1970|issue=|pages=|url=http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,878842,00.html|accessdate=12 July 2011}}</ref> [[Nikolai Semyonov]], and others) and writers ([[Solzhenitsyn]], [[Tvardovsky]], [[Vladimir Tendryakov]], [[Vladimir Dudintsev]], etc.), which resulted in Medvedev's release (this experience was reflected in Zhores Medvedev's and Roy Medvedev's book ''A Question of Madness'', published by Macmillan in London in 1971).
In 1963, Medvedev moved to [[Obninsk]] to the Institute of Medical Radiology, where he was appointed head of the molecular radiobiology laboratory. He published two books, ''Protein Biosynthesis and Problems of Heredity Development and Ageing''{{Refn|1963; English translation 1965 Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh}} and ''Molecular Mechanisms of Development''{{Refn|1966; English translation 1968, Plenum Press, New York}}. Medvedev was dismissed from his position in 1969. Between 1968 and 1970, Medvedev wrote two more books: ''International Cooperation of Scientists and National Frontiers'' <ref>{{cite web|url=http://oculus.nlm.nih.gov/medvedev226|title=Zhores A. Medvedev, Mezhdunarodnoe sotrudnichestvo uchenykh i natsional 'nye granitsy 1969-1970|publisher=[[National Library of Medicine]]}}</ref> and ''Secrecy of Correspondence is Guaranteed by Law'' (about postal censorship in the USSR).{{Refn|They were published in 1971 as ''Medvedev Papers'' by Macmillan in London.}} These works were widely circulated in the USSR among scientists, along with a copy of his 1962 history of Soviet genetics (which had been published in ''Grani,'' a Russian journal published outside the USSR), and this activity resulted in Medvedev's arrest and forced detention in the [[Kaluga]] psychiatric hospital in May 1970. This action, however, produced many protests from scientists (academics [[Andrei Sakharov]], [[Pyotr Kapitsa]], [[Igor Tamm]], [[Vladimir Engelgardt]], [[Boris Astaurov]],<ref name="Time">{{cite journal|title=World: Protesting Spiritual Murder|journal=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|date=29 June 1970|issue=|pages=|url=http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,878842,00.html|accessdate=12 July 2011}}</ref> [[Nikolai Semyonov]], and others) and writers ([[Solzhenitsyn]], [[Tvardovsky]], [[Vladimir Tendryakov]], [[Vladimir Dudintsev]], etc.), which resulted in Medvedev's release (this experience was reflected in Zhores Medvedev's and Roy Medvedev's book ''A Question of Madness''{{Refn|Macmillan in London in 1971}}.


In 1971, Medvedev was given the job of Senior scientist of the Institute of Physiology and Biochemistry of Farm Animals in [[Borovsk]], in the Kaluga region. In 1972, he was invited for one year's research by the [[National Institute for Medical Research]] in London at its new Genetic Division. He remained in London and worked as Senior Research Scientist at the National Institute for Medical Research until his retirement in 1991. Medvedev published about 170 research papers and reviews, about sixty of them during his time in London. In 1973 he was one of the signers of the [[Humanist Manifesto II|Humanist Manifesto]].<ref>{{cite web | url= http://www.americanhumanist.org/Humanism/Humanist_Manifesto_II | title=Humanist Manifesto II | publisher=American Humanist Association | accessdate=October 9, 2012}}</ref> He received the Aging Research Award from the United States Association of Biogerontology in 1984 and the Rene Schubert Prize in Gerontology in 1985. Medvedev died in London on 15 November 2018, one day after his 93rd birthday, with his family by his side.<ref>{{cite web | url= https://newizv.ru/news/science/16-11-2018/v-londone-umer-zhores-medvedev?ind=1&page=1&show_dt=1 | title=В Лондоне умер Жорес Медведев| publisher=[[Novye Izvestia]]| accessdate=November 16, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url= https://rossaprimavera.ru/news/967f9f9c| title=Ушёл из жизни Жорес Медведев| publisher=IA Red Spring| accessdate=November 16, 2018}}</ref>
In 1971, Medvedev was given the job of Senior scientist of the Institute of Physiology and Biochemistry of Farm Animals in [[Borovsk]], in the Kaluga region. In 1972, he was invited for one year's research by the [[National Institute for Medical Research]] in London at its new Genetic Division. He remained in London and worked as Senior Research Scientist at the National Institute for Medical Research until his retirement in 1991. Medvedev published about 170 research papers and reviews, about sixty of them during his time in London. In 1973 he was one of the signers of the [[Humanist Manifesto II|Humanist Manifesto]].<ref>{{cite web | url= http://www.americanhumanist.org/Humanism/Humanist_Manifesto_II | title=Humanist Manifesto II | publisher=American Humanist Association | accessdate=October 9, 2012}}</ref> He received the Aging Research Award from the United States Association of Biogerontology in 1984 and the Rene Schubert Prize in Gerontology in 1985. Medvedev died in London on 15 November 2018, one day after his 93rd birthday, with his family by his side.<ref>{{cite web | url= https://newizv.ru/news/science/16-11-2018/v-londone-umer-zhores-medvedev?ind=1&page=1&show_dt=1 | title=В Лондоне умер Жорес Медведев| publisher=[[Novye Izvestia]]| accessdate=November 16, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url= https://rossaprimavera.ru/news/967f9f9c| title=Ушёл из жизни Жорес Медведев| publisher=IA Red Spring| accessdate=November 16, 2018}}</ref>


===Dissent===
===Dissent===
Zhores Medvedev exposed the [[Kyshtym disaster|Kyshtym nuclear disaster]], which occurred at [[Mayak]] near [[Kyshtym]], [[Ozyorsk, Chelyabinsk Oblast]] in the Urals in 1957. He published the book ''The Nuclear Disaster in the Urals'' in 1979 (W.W. Norton, New York). Medvedev was an early victim of official attempts to stifle opposition by [[Political abuse of psychiatry in the Soviet Union|detaining dissidents in mental institutions]]. In London, Medvedev continued to edit the samizdat journal ''XX Century'' jointly with his brother Roy. The two also coauthored ''Khrushchev: The Years in Power'' (1978) and several other books, the last one ''The Unknown Stalin'' (2007).
In addition to his critical history of Soviet genetics, Zhores Medvedev exposed the [[Kyshtym disaster|Kyshtym nuclear disaster]], which occurred at [[Mayak]] near [[Kyshtym]], [[Ozyorsk, Chelyabinsk Oblast]] in the Urals in 1957. He published the book ''The Nuclear Disaster in the Urals'' in 1979{{Refn|W.W. Norton, New York}}. Medvedev was an early victim of official attempts to stifle opposition by [[Political abuse of psychiatry in the Soviet Union|detaining dissidents in mental institutions]]. In London, Medvedev continued to edit the samizdat journal ''XX Century'' jointly with his brother Roy. The two also coauthored ''Khrushchev: The Years in Power'' (1978) and several other books, the last one ''The Unknown Stalin'' (2007).

== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}


== References ==
== References ==

Revision as of 01:08, 7 February 2019

Template:Eastern Slavic name

Zhores Medvedev
Жорес Александрович Медведев
Born
Zhores Aleksandrovich Medvedev

(1925-11-14)14 November 1925
Tbilisi, Transcaucasian SFSR, USSR
Died15 November 2018(2018-11-15) (aged 93)
London, England, UK
NationalityRussian
Alma materRussian State Agricultural University
Known forhuman rights activism with participation in dissident movement in the Soviet Union
Scientific career
Fieldsagronomy, biology, gerontology

Zhores Aleksandrovich Medvedev (Template:Lang-ru; 14 November 1925 – 15 November 2018) was a Russian agronomist, biologist, historian and dissident. His twin brother is the historian Roy Medvedev.

Biography

Zhores Medvedev and his twin brother Roy were born on 14 November 1925 in Tbilisi, Transcaucasian SFSR, USSR. He was drafted into the Red Army in 1943, but was soon discharged after being seriously wounded in a battle on the Taman Peninsula.[1] He then began his studies in biology at the Timiryazev Agricultural Academy in Moscow.[1] In December 1950, Zhores was awarded a PhD degree for his research into sexual processes in plants. He became a Junior Research Scientist in the Agrochemistry and Biochemistry Department at Timiryazev Academy and he was promoted to Senior Research Scientist in 1954 and remained at the academy until 1963. Beginning in 1952, Medvedev had focused his attention on the problems of aging, concentrating on the turnover of proteins and nucleic acids. In 1961, he published the first paper suggesting that aging is the result of an accumulation of errors in the synthesis of proteins and nucleic acids. In 1962, Medvedev wrote his book on the history of Soviet genetics, which passed an editorial review but was withheld by state censors. It was later published in the United States as The Rise and Fall of T.D. Lysenko.

In 1963, Medvedev moved to Obninsk to the Institute of Medical Radiology, where he was appointed head of the molecular radiobiology laboratory. He published two books, Protein Biosynthesis and Problems of Heredity Development and Ageing[2] and Molecular Mechanisms of Development[3]. Medvedev was dismissed from his position in 1969. Between 1968 and 1970, Medvedev wrote two more books: International Cooperation of Scientists and National Frontiers [4] and Secrecy of Correspondence is Guaranteed by Law (about postal censorship in the USSR).[5] These works were widely circulated in the USSR among scientists, along with a copy of his 1962 history of Soviet genetics (which had been published in Grani, a Russian journal published outside the USSR), and this activity resulted in Medvedev's arrest and forced detention in the Kaluga psychiatric hospital in May 1970. This action, however, produced many protests from scientists (academics Andrei Sakharov, Pyotr Kapitsa, Igor Tamm, Vladimir Engelgardt, Boris Astaurov,[6] Nikolai Semyonov, and others) and writers (Solzhenitsyn, Tvardovsky, Vladimir Tendryakov, Vladimir Dudintsev, etc.), which resulted in Medvedev's release (this experience was reflected in Zhores Medvedev's and Roy Medvedev's book A Question of Madness[7].

In 1971, Medvedev was given the job of Senior scientist of the Institute of Physiology and Biochemistry of Farm Animals in Borovsk, in the Kaluga region. In 1972, he was invited for one year's research by the National Institute for Medical Research in London at its new Genetic Division. He remained in London and worked as Senior Research Scientist at the National Institute for Medical Research until his retirement in 1991. Medvedev published about 170 research papers and reviews, about sixty of them during his time in London. In 1973 he was one of the signers of the Humanist Manifesto.[8] He received the Aging Research Award from the United States Association of Biogerontology in 1984 and the Rene Schubert Prize in Gerontology in 1985. Medvedev died in London on 15 November 2018, one day after his 93rd birthday, with his family by his side.[9][10]

Dissent

In addition to his critical history of Soviet genetics, Zhores Medvedev exposed the Kyshtym nuclear disaster, which occurred at Mayak near Kyshtym, Ozyorsk, Chelyabinsk Oblast in the Urals in 1957. He published the book The Nuclear Disaster in the Urals in 1979[11]. Medvedev was an early victim of official attempts to stifle opposition by detaining dissidents in mental institutions. In London, Medvedev continued to edit the samizdat journal XX Century jointly with his brother Roy. The two also coauthored Khrushchev: The Years in Power (1978) and several other books, the last one The Unknown Stalin (2007).

Notes

References

  1. ^ a b Gordin, Michael D (6 February 2019). "Zhores Medvedev and the battle for truth in Soviet science". Aeon. Retrieved 6 February 2019. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  2. ^ 1963; English translation 1965 Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh
  3. ^ 1966; English translation 1968, Plenum Press, New York
  4. ^ "Zhores A. Medvedev, Mezhdunarodnoe sotrudnichestvo uchenykh i natsional 'nye granitsy 1969-1970". National Library of Medicine.
  5. ^ They were published in 1971 as Medvedev Papers by Macmillan in London.
  6. ^ "World: Protesting Spiritual Murder". Time. 29 June 1970. Retrieved 12 July 2011.
  7. ^ Macmillan in London in 1971
  8. ^ "Humanist Manifesto II". American Humanist Association. Retrieved October 9, 2012.
  9. ^ "В Лондоне умер Жорес Медведев". Novye Izvestia. Retrieved November 16, 2018.
  10. ^ "Ушёл из жизни Жорес Медведев". IA Red Spring. Retrieved November 16, 2018.
  11. ^ W.W. Norton, New York

Works

Articles

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