Alexander Alexandrovich Bogdanov (Malinovsky): biography, scientific activity

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

A leader of the Bolshevik Party Alexander Alexandrovich Bogdanov was a famous philosopher and scientist. He became the founder of several scientific theories.

Early years

The future doctor and naturalist Alexander Alexandrovich Bogdanov was born on August 22, 1873 in the village of Sokolka, Grodno province. At birth, he had the surname Malinovsky. His father was a visiting Vologda resident and a folk teacher.

Malinovsky studied at the Tula Classical Gymnasium, graduating with a gold medal in 1892. A capable young man chose a scientific path. He entered the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of Moscow University. This institution of higher education, like all other Russian universities, was a nest of radical youth. Alexander Alexandrovich Bogdanov joined the People's Will from the Union of Northern Compatriots. This movement was forbidden by the authorities and was under the control of the Okhrana.

In 1894, these Narodnaya Volya were dispersed. Alexander Alexandrovich Bogdanov was expelled from his university. He was arrested and sentenced to exile in Tula. There Malinovsky got into working circles. Despite the fact that the young man is forcedleft the university, he was still very interested in science. In 1897 he wrote a "Short Course in Economics". This book was highly appreciated by Vladimir Lenin. The leader of the world proletariat was well-read, and it was difficult to pleasantly surprise him with any publication. It is therefore significant that Lenin called Malinovsky's first book a "remarkable phenomenon" in Russian economic literature.

New arrest and emigration

After the end of the Tula exile, Bogdanov entered Kharkov University, where he studied from 1895 to 1899. This time he chose the Faculty of Medicine. At the same time, the young researcher was fond of not only the natural sciences, but also the humanities. His views were most fully reflected in the writings published at that time.

In 1899, after Malinovsky received his medical degree, he was again arrested for his political activities. The court sentenced the activist to deportation, first to Kaluga and then to Vologda. In his father's homeland, the doctor worked in a psychiatric hospital. In 1904, the exile expired. The revolutionary went to Switzerland.

At the front

In 1913 Bogdanov Alexander Alexandrovich returned to Russia. The biography of this person is a typical cast of the era. A year after the return of Malinovsky to his homeland, the First World War began. As a highly qualified specialist, he was sent to the front as a doctor.

Bloody battles with the Germansmade an indelible impression on Bogdanov. A doctor and an expert in physiology, he, like no one else, could appreciate how deadly and terrible the weapons of the new age had become. The war made the revolutionary a steadfast and ideological pacifist. Already in the young Soviet state, the Bolshevik tried to do everything to promote the cultural growth and education of the proletariat. Bogdanov (Malinovsky) Alexander Alexandrovich believed that only progress would help humanity get rid of wars.

Worldview

Philosophical views of Bogdanov developed throughout his life. In his youth, he was most influenced by Marxism and positivism. The combination of these two schools resulted in a new theory, the author of which was Bogdanov Alexander Alexandrovich. The biography of this scientist is known primarily due to the fact that he became the founder of tectology.

It has another name - general organizational science. This discipline was described in detail by the author in his three-volume work "Tectology". Bogdanov studied the effectiveness of the interaction of two or more elements in a single system. These studies were conceived by the researcher as a search for an answer to the question of how to increase the productivity of the economy.

The theory of tektology did not take root among the Bolsheviks. Lenin's supporters often criticized the ideas that Alexander Aleksandrovich Bogdanov expressed in his writings. Contribution to management is the main result of his scientific activity in this area today. Much later, after the death of Malinovsky, his theoretical constructions became popular amongcybernetics.

Tectology

Bogdanov's tektology followed not only from Marxism. Monism became another important source for this theory. The author in his main work discussed the need to create an ideology to increase labor productivity.

Also, Bogdanov was a supporter of planning in the economy even before this system became fundamental in the Soviet Union. The scientist hoped that in the future all human activity would reach a fundamentally new level due to the fusion of science, production and ideology.

Proletcult

Scientist and philosopher Alexander Alexandrovich Bogdanov has been a member of the RSDLP since 1905. He belonged to the first generation of Bolsheviks. When Lenin's party came to power in Russia after the October Revolution, Bogdanov, who finally abandoned his original surname, began to hold important state scientific posts.

Until 1921, the scientist was a professor at Moscow University (he taught political economy). Then he was a member of the Communist Academy and was a member of its presidium.

In the first years of the existence of the Soviet state, Bogdanov did a lot for the formation of its ideology. Proletkult was created in 1917. This organization was part of the People's Commissariat of Education. She organized cultural, educational and propaganda events for the workers. Bogdanov Alexander became one of the main characters in ProletkultAlexandrovich. Management, which he studied in the framework of the theory of tektology, finally came in handy for him in practice.

Soviet ideologue

Bogdanov advocated a complete change in attitude towards culture. He believed that the old works of art expressed the worldview and interests of only one class (for example, landlords, slave owners, the bourgeoisie or the peasantry). But the proletarians did not have their own culture as such. Therefore, it had to be created from scratch. This is what Alexander Aleksandrovich Bogdanov did. His biography (a brief description is presented in the article) is an example of the path of an important state ideologist.

According to the scientist and philosopher, proletarian art had to be dynamic and lead the people forward - to a brighter future, that is, to communism. Living images, expressed on paper, in books and films, were intended to capture and systematize the vast life experience of the workers of the Soviet Union. As a man of science, Bogdanov could confidently say that art is much more democratic than exact knowledge. This means that with its help it is possible to build the necessary structure of thoughts and direct the people's will in a useful direction for the state. The head of the Proletkult declared that the cultural independence of the workers was needed for the victory of the world revolution.

Bogdanov criticized the attitude of the bourgeoisie to art. For Western people, it was primarily a way to have fun. The art of the proletariat was different. It inspired the fight against classenemies, rallied people around the idea. The scientist continued his thought: with such an attitude towards art, any work in the Soviet Union became a socially important work. Culture for Bogdanov was a method of organizing a team. This principle is a direct brainchild of the theory of tectology. For example, a war song helps soldiers to act in a coordinated and efficient manner in combat. The labor anthem unites the artel and the brigade.

Experiments with blood transfusion

As a biologist, the scientist was fond of theories about the possible rejuvenation of the human body. In this regard, in 1926 he founded the State Scientific Institute of Blood Transfusion. A lot of research on this topic was conducted by Alexander Alexandrovich Bogdanov. A systematic analysis of his works in biology shows that he really believed in human rejuvenation through the transfusion of fresh and young blood into the body.

These bold ideas of Bogdanov were actively supported by state propaganda for some time. Stalin, who at that time was rapidly moving towards personal power, helped the scientist with the founding of the Blood Institute in Moscow. Bogdanov became the director of this institution, unique for its time.

Death

Aleksandr Alexandrovich Bogdanov (1873–1928) himself participated in some experiments with blood transfusion. During one of these procedures, he tragically died. The blood that was transfused to the scientist from the body of a student causedrejection reaction and death. This case clearly showed the danger of such radical experiments. Gradually, similar programs of the Blood Institute were curtailed.

Bukharin spoke at the funeral of the famous Bolshevik. He called the deceased comrade a fanatic. This is partly true. There were few scientists so stubborn and absorbed in their work as Alexander Alexandrovich Bogdanov. Photos from his funeral were in all the newspapers of the country.