Ivan Sechenov
Ива́н Миха́йлович Се́ченов
Portrait of Ivan Sechenov by Ilya Repin.
Born(1829-08-13)August 13, 1829
DiedNovember 15, 1905(1905-11-15) (aged 76)
Moscow, Russian Empire
NationalityRussian
EducationSt. Petersburg Main Military Engineering School
Alma mater
Scientific career
Fields
Institutions

Doctor Ivan Mikhaylovich Sechenov (Russian: Ива́н Миха́йлович Се́ченов; August 13 [O.S. August 1] 1829November 15 [O.S. November 2] 1905),[1] was a Russian psychologist, physiologist, and medical scientist.

The very famous Russian scientist of human reflexes Pavlov referred to him as the "Father of Russian physiology and scientific psychology" at his time, but today we rather consider Sechenov as scientist in medical physiology, and father of Russian physiology and also researcher in psychology, but also in relation to it in neurological physiology. Sechenov is also considered one of the originators of objective psychology [2] as an attempt to introduce objectiveness in the rather wide Russian psychology field and the many developments in it.

Biography

Sechenov was born in the village of Tepli Stan, which is now known as Sechenov, Gorky Oblast.[3] He was a son of a nobleman and a peasant. Sechenov was first taught by private tutors and he had mastered German and French at an early age.[4] By the age of 14, he was admitted to the St. Petersburg Military Engineering School.[4] After his military training, he became interested with medicine so he studied medicine at Moscow University, completing an M.D. degree in 1856.[5] He received the best of Russian education both in basic and clinical sciences.[3] He then pursued higher medical education abroad[5] and was mentored and influenced by European scientists that included Johannes Müller, Emil DuBois-Reymond, Hermann von Helmholtz, Carl F. W. Ludwig, Robert W. Bunsen, and Heinrich Magnus.[4] Sechenov worked as a professor at the Medical Surgery Academy until 1870.[6]

Sechenov's major interest was neurophysiology (the structure of the brain). He showed that brain activity is linked to electric currents and developed an interest in electrophysiology. Among his discoveries was the cerebral inhibition of spinal reflexes. He also maintained that chemical factors in the environment of the cell are of great importance.

From 1856–1862 Sechenov studied and worked in Europe in laboratories of Mueller, du Bois-Reymond, von Helmholtz (Berlin), Felix Hoppe-Seyler (Leipzig), Ludwig (Vienna), and Claude Bernard (Paris).

Like several other Russian scientists of the period Sechenov was often in conflict with the tsarist government and conservative colleagues, but he did not emigrate. In 1866, the censorship committee in St. Petersburg attempted judicial procedures accusing Sechenov of spreading materialism and of "debasing of Christian morality".

Impact

Sechenov's work laid the foundations for the study of physiology, reflexes, neurology, animal and human behaviour, and neuroscience. He also was noticed by Russian psychologists for his essays in psychology and the need of objectivist approach. Sechenov influenced Pavlov, many Russian physiologists and Vladimir Nikolayevich Myasishchev, when the Institute of Brain and Psychic Activity was set up in 1918.

For some he was influential to Bekhterev but this may be argued as many schools in psychology and physiology date Bekhterev as a Russian scientist much earlier than Pavlov and Sechenov.

Sechenov also authored the Russian classic, Reflexes of the Brain,[8] which introduced electrophysiology to neurophysiology at laboratories and in medical education.

Trivia

Selected works

  • 1860 "Materials on future of physiology", Материалы для будущей физиологии.. St. Petersburg (Part I "Some facts for the future study of alcohol intoxication", in Russian)
  • 1862 "On animal electricity", О животном Электричестве. St. Petersburg (in Russian)
  • 1863 "Reflexions of the brain", Рефлексы головного мозга. Medical newspaper, Медицинский вестник 47-48 ("Reflexes of the brain", in Russian)
  • 1866 "Physiology of the nervous system", Физиология нервной системы. St. Petersburg (in Russian)
  • 1873 "Who should and How to develop Psychology", "Кому и как разрабатывать психологию?." Vestnik Evropy 4 (in Russian)
  • 1897 The Physiological Criteria of the Length of the Working Day
  • 1900 Participation of the Nervous System in Man's Working Movements
  • 1901 Participation of the Senses and Manual dexterity in Sighted and Blind Persons
  • 1901 Essay on Man's Working Movements

Commemoration

References

  1. Ivan Sechenov at the Garant information center
  2. Learning, Gale, Cengage (2015-03-13). A Study Guide for Psychologists and Their Theories for Students: IVAN PAVLOV. Gale, Cengage Learning. ISBN 9781410333377.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. 1 2 Haas, L. F. (1998-10-01). "Ivan Mikhailovich Sechenov (1829-1905)". Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry. 65 (4): 554. doi:10.1136/jnnp.65.4.554. ISSN 0022-3050. PMC 2170266. PMID 9771783.
  4. 1 2 3 "Sechenov, Ivan M. | Encyclopedia.com". www.encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2019-04-04.
  5. 1 2 Lawson, Robert B.; Graham, Jean E.; Baker, Kristin M. (2016). A History of Psychology: Globalization, Ideas, and Applications. New York: Routledge. p. 399. ISBN 9780130141231.
  6. Saunders, Barbara R. (2006). Ivan Pavlov: Exploring the Mysteries of Behavior. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow Publishers, Inc. pp. 30. ISBN 9780766025066.
  7. Peter Kropotkin (1901). "The Present Crisis in Russia". The North American Review.
  8. Reflexes of the Brain (1965), S. Belsky translator, The MIT Press via Internet Archive
  9. "Сборная России по медицине" [Russia team on medicine]. Medportal.ru. 21 April 2015. Archived from the original on 21 November 2021. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  10. "Сборная России по медицине" [Russia team on medicine]. Farm.tatarstan.ru. 21 April 2015. Archived from the original on 9 February 2022. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
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