Serebrovsky, Alexander Sergeevich

Father, Sergei Mitrofanovich Serebrovsky, after graduating from the Academy of Arts in 1890, was invited to the post of architect in Kursk. His mother, Julia Dmitrievna, was a native of the city of Livny . Serebrovsky had five children: 4 sons and a daughter.

He studied at the real school of Tula . In 1909, after graduating from college and completing some subjects for a gymnasium course, Alexander Serebrovsky entered the natural department of the Physics and Mathematics Faculty of Moscow University , after which he participated in the battles of the First World War in 1914, then worked at the experimental station near Tula (1918— 1921), and in 1921, at the suggestion of N.K. Koltsov (during his studies, he began working in the laboratory of N.K. Koltsov as his student), he took over the management of the department of the genetic station in the Moscow region (Anikovskaya genetic station, 1921-1928). From 1921 to 1927 he worked at the Institute of Experimental Biology of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR , from 1929 to 1932 - at the Biological Institute. K.A. Timiryazev.

Quote from Serebrovsky’s 1929 book “Anthropogenetics and Eugenics in a Socialist Society”: “The solution to the problem of organizing selection in human society will undoubtedly only be possible under socialism after the final destruction of the family, the transition to socialist education and the separation of love from childbearing . We believe that the solution to the question of organizing selection in a person will be the spread of obtaining conception from artificial insemination with recommended sperm, and not necessarily from a beloved man. ”

In 1929, he was the head of the department for poultry farming and the course of poultry farming and poultry industry at the Moscow Zootechnical Institute ^[4] .

From the memoirs of N.P. Dubinin :

... when in 1929 the question arose of organizing a genetics laboratory in the system of the K. A. Timiryazev Research Institute , this business was entrusted to A. S. Serebrovsky . Our laboratory moved from Smolensky Boulevard to 48 Pyatnitskaya ... By then, the Moscow Zootechnical Institute was divided into a number of institutes for certain types of animal husbandry. In the old building, in particular, the Institute for Pig Production remained. Its director asked me to stay at the Institute and give a course in genetics. In Balashikha , near Moscow, the Institute of Fur Breeding and Astrakhan Farming appeared . His leadership also strongly invited me to head the department of genetics and breeding. I was 22 years old at that time, but they all already knew me well from lectures and classes at the Zootechnical Institute

^[five]

From 1930 to the end of his life, he was the head of the department of genetics that he founded at the Faculty of Biology of Moscow State University . In 1931, he organized the genetics and selection sector at the All-Union Institute of Animal Husbandry .

Major works in animal genetics, gene theory, population genetics. At the turn of the 1920s and 1930s, he put forward a number of important theoretical points: he formulated a hypothesis of gene divisibility (and the possibility of measuring its size in crossing over units), introduced the concept of a population’s gene pool , and laid the foundations for genogeography . He proposed a fundamentally new method of combating insect pests, based on the mass production of male harmful species with genetic anomalies (1940).

At the IV session of the Supreme Agricultural Academy in December 1936, A. S. Serebrovsky stated:

Under the supposedly revolutionary slogans “for true Soviet genetics”, “against bourgeois genetics”, “for undistorted Darwin”, etc., we have a fierce attack on the greatest achievements of science of the 20th century, we have an attempt to throw us back half a century.

Wife - Raisa Isaakovna Serebrovskaya (nee Halperina; 1888-1981), biologist and geneticist.

The author of more than 150 scientific papers, including seven monographs.

1. Serebrovsky A.S. Hybridization of animals. - M. — L .: Biomedgiz, 1935 .-- 289 p.
2. Serebrovsky A. S. Selection of animals and plants. - M.: Kolos, 1969 .-- 295 p.
3. Serebrovsky A.S. Genetic analysis. - M .: Nauka, 1970 .-- 342 p.
4. Serebrovsky A.S. Theoretical foundations of the translocation method of controlling harmful insects. - M .: Nauka, 1971. - 87 p.
5. Serebrovsky A. S. Some problems of organic evolution. - M .: Nauka, 1973. - 168 p.
6. Serebrovsky A. S. Selected works on genetics and chicken selection. - M .: Nauka, 1976 .-- 404 p.

Serebrovsky skillfully popularized science: the book “Biological walks” was reprinted three times (3rd edition, abbr. - M .: Nauka, 1973. - 168 p. - 50,000 copies).

• Order of the Red Banner of Labor (06/10/1945)
• medal "For Valiant Labor in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945."

A. S. Serebrovsky married while still at university. His wife, R.I. Serebrovskaya, also being a geneticist, throughout his life has been his faithful assistant and friend.

• Genogeography

• Alexander Sergeevich Serebrovsky, 1892-1948 / RAS; Comp. L. V. Shutko, ed. entry Art. S.V. Shestakov . - M .: Nauka , 1993 .-- 49 p. - ( Materials for the biobibliography of scientists . A series of biological sciences. Genetics. Issue 5). - 310 copies. - ISBN 5-02-004176-9 .
• Serebrovsky, Alexander Sergeevich // Biologists: biographical reference book / ed. ed. F.N. Serkov . Kiev: Naukova Dumka , 1984. S. 566-567.
• Rokitsky P.F. A. S. Serebrovsky as a geneticist and breeder // Serebrovsky A. S. Selection of animals and plants. M., 1969;
• Khesin R. B. Gene theory in the works of A. S. Serebrovsky // Nature . 1972. No. 8;
• Shakhov N.F. Alexander Sergeevich Serebrovsky - our fellow countryman // Kursk Territory. Local history readings. 1989. Issue. 2.
• Shapiro N.I. In memory of A.S. Serebrovsky (18.II.1892 - 26.VI.1948) // Genetics . 1966. No. 9. P. 3-11.
• Konovalov V.S., Zabludovsky E.E.A. S. Serebrovsky (1892-1948). Fate and life in science (inaccessible link) // Bulletin of the Kharkov National University named after V.N. Karazin. Series: biology. 2007

• Serebrovsky Alexander Sergeevich // Biographical Encyclopedia of RAAS, VASKHNIL
• Serebrovsky Alexander Sergeevich // Great Soviet Encyclopedia : [in 30 vol.] / Ch. ed. A.M. Prokhorov . - 3rd ed. - M .: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1969-1978.
• Profile of Alexander Sergeevich Serebrovsky on the official website of the RAS
• Nikolai Petrovich Dubinin, The Eternal Movement (About life and about yourself). (inaccessible link)