Olga Lepeshinskaya (biologist) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Olga Lepeshinskaya
|
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
Olga Borisovna Protopopova
August 18, 1871 Perm, Permsky Uyezd, Perm Governorate, Russian Empire
|
| Died | October 2, 1963 (aged 92) |
| Nationality | Russian |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Biology |
Olga Borisovna Lepeshinskaya (Russian: Ольга Борисовна Лепешинская), born as Protopopova (Russian: Протопопова), was a Soviet scientist who made many claims in biology. She lived from August 18, 1871, to October 2, 1963. She became well-known in the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences. However, her scientific ideas were later found to be incorrect or unproven. She believed that life could start from non-living things, which is called spontaneous generation. She also disagreed with the science of genetics.
Contents
Her Early Life and Education
Olga Lepeshinskaya finished her studies as a medical assistant, called a feldsher, in St. Petersburg in 1887. She then worked in different places in Siberia. In 1894, she joined a group in St. Petersburg that followed the ideas of Marxism. This was a political and economic way of thinking.
She married Panteleimon Nikolaievich Lepeshinsky, who was also a Marxist. In 1897, they were both arrested and sent away for three years to Siberia. They were near where Vladimir Lenin, a famous Russian leader, was also exiled.
Joining the Bolsheviks
Olga and Panteleimon became strong supporters of Lenin. They joined the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) when it started in 1898. They helped Lenin with his newspaper, Iskra, until 1903.
After that, they moved to Geneva, Switzerland, and opened a cafe. This cafe became a popular meeting spot for the Bolsheviks. These were Lenin's supporters, who were a smaller group among Russian exiles at the time.
Someone who knew Olga in Geneva said she greatly admired Lenin. They also said she was a very serious and practical woman. However, her general education was not very high, and she did not show much interest in science back then. Lenin himself thought that Panteleimon would do well with her.
Return to Russia and Medical Career
Olga and her husband went back to Russia to take part in the 1905 revolution. After it failed, they stopped their political activities for a while and became teachers.
In 1915, Olga finished her medical training in Moscow. She became a doctor and worked as an Assistant Professor of Therapy at Moscow University. She also took part in the October Revolution in 1917.
She taught at the University of Medicine in Moscow until 1926. For a short time in 1919, she worked at Tashkent University. Later, she worked at the Kliment Timiryazev Institute of Biology. In 1941, she became the head of the Department of Live Matter at the Institute of Experimental Biology. This institute was part of the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences. She stayed in this role for the rest of her career.
Olga Lepeshinskaya continued to work even when she was in her eighties. She passed away in Moscow at the age of 92 from pneumonia.
Her Scientific Claims
In the 1920s, Olga Lepeshinskaya disagreed with the work of her supervisor, Alexander Gurvitch. He studied special light rays from living things called biophotons. Olga claimed that dying cells, treated with strong ultraviolet light, released small amounts of UV light.
Later, she made more unusual claims. She said that cells could break apart into tiny pieces, called granules. These granules could then create new cells that were different from the original ones. She also claimed that crystals of non-living matter could turn into cells if you added certain acids.
Olga strongly believed in spontaneous generation. This is the idea that living things can come from non-living matter. She also talked about a "vital substance" that was essential for life. These ideas became official beliefs in the Soviet Union for a time. She even claimed that soda baths could make people younger, which led to a temporary shortage of baking soda.
She based her career on saying she saw new living cells appear from non-living materials. She supported these claims with evidence that was not real. Other scientists, who wanted to get ahead in the political science system, "confirmed" her findings. In reality, she filmed cells dying and breaking down, and then played the films backward to make it look like new cells were forming.
Official Support and Recognition
From May 22 to 24, 1950, a special meeting was held for the USSR Academy of Sciences and the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences. This meeting was supported by Joseph Stalin, the leader of the Soviet Union. Olga Lepeshinskaya gave the main speech, and her "discoveries" were praised as groundbreaking.
She received the Stalin Prize that year. Her ideas became a required part of biology lessons. In 1952, another meeting was held. It aimed to show that the old idea (from Rudolf Virchow) that "only a living cell can produce another cell" was wrong. Instead, they promoted a "new theory" that all living cells came from non-living matter.
Olga's influence and strong beliefs were similar to those of Trofim Lysenko, another controversial Soviet scientist. While her claims were never officially said to be wrong, they slowly faded away over time.
Even her own husband, Panteleimon Lepechinsky, did not think much of her scientific work. He once told a visitor, "Don’t you listen to her. She’s totally ignorant about science and everything she’s been saying is a lot of rubbish." However, her daughter Olga and son-in-law Vladimir Kryukov helped her with her work.
Literature
- Gratzer, W. B. 2000. The Undergrowth of Science: Delusion, Self-Deception and Human Frailty. Oxford University Press
- Lepeshinskaya, O. B., 1954. The Origin of Cells from Living Substance. several editions in several languages.
- Zhinkin L. N. and Mikhaĭlov V. P., 1958. On "The New Cell Theory" Science, New Series, Vol. 128, No. 3317 (Jul. 25, 1958), pp. 182–186
See also
In Spanish: Olga Borísovna Lepeshínskaya para niños
