Background
Soyfer, Valery Nikolayevich was born on October 16, 1936 in Gorky, RSFSR, Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics. Came to the United States, 1988. Son of Nikolay Ilya Soyfer and Anna A. Kuznetsova.
( In this book, Dr. Soyfer, a former Soviet scientist who...)
In this book, Dr. Soyfer, a former Soviet scientist who had met Lysenko, documents the destruction of science and scientists under the influence of Lysenko. Contrary to numerous opinions, Lysenko was an poorly educated agronomist who happened to have been in the right place at the right time: In the '30s, "Pravda" wrote him up as a pioneering scientist. Recognizing that newspapers and popular support could fuel his rise to the top of Soviet society, he set about making a name for himself as a scientist in non-academic journals and periodicals. His peasant upbringing and miraculous findings--never empirically proven or duplicated--made him a star proletarian scientist, the kind needed to bring about true Communism. Along his way to the top, he was assisted by many people who thought him a sincere, but ill preparted, scientist; he later had many of these people purged after gaining the almost total support of Stalin and Khrushchev. His grand claims of producing superior cattle and wheat, among other things, consistently failed, yet no one dared oppose or even question his policies. Whether to propel himself upward, bring down the academics he apparently detested, or protect himself and his "science", Lysenko nearly eliminated all serious work in genetics, agriculture, and biology from the '30s into the '60s. Numerous scientists were exiled, fired, or executed during his reign as the people's scientist; according to the author, the effects still linger in Russia. An amazing story of how, when politics decrees what science is acceptable and how it is going to work in the political paradigm, the results can be tragic.
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Soyfer, Valery Nikolayevich was born on October 16, 1936 in Gorky, RSFSR, Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics. Came to the United States, 1988. Son of Nikolay Ilya Soyfer and Anna A. Kuznetsova.
Bachelor of Science in Agronomy, Timiryazev Agricultural Academy, Moscow, 1957. Master of Science in Biophysics, Lomonosov State University, Moscow, 1961. Doctor of Philosophy in Molecular Genetics, Kurchatov Institute Atomic Energy, Moscow, 1964.
Doctor Physical and Mathematics Sciences, Moscow, 1994.
Head Group Institute General Genetics, Moscow, 1966-1970. Director Laboratory Molecular Genetics, 1970-1979. Science director Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics Institute Applied Molecular Biology and Genetics, 1974-1976.
President Moscow Indiana University, 1985-1988. Distinguished professor Ohio State University, Columbus, 1988-1990. Robinson professor George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, 1990-1993, distinguished professor molecular genetics, since 1993.
Science secretary Council on Molecular Biology and Genetics, Moscow, 1972-1980. Member Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics Governmental Council on Molecular Biology and Molecular Genetics, 1974-1980. Invited lecturer Halle-Wittenburg University, German Democratic Republic, 1975.
Principal investigator Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics State Committee on Science, 1972, 74, 78, National Institutes of Health, 1990, Department of Energy, 1992, Open Society Institute, 1995-1998.
( In this book, Dr. Soyfer, a former Soviet scientist who...)
Chairman board Friends of St. Petersburg Indiana University, New York, since 1990. President Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics Amnesty International Group, Moscow, 1983-1988. Member Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics Society Geneticists and Breeders (founding), Great Britain Genetical Society, Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics Biochemistry and Microbiol.
Society, International Society for History, Philosophy and Social Studies of Biology (charter), European Culture Club (charter), International Science Federation (board directors 1992-1995, chairman board International Soros Science Education program), National Academy of Sciences Ukraine, Russian Academy Natural Science, American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, others.
Married Nina I. Yakovleva, August 12, 1961. Children: Marina, Vladimir.