History

Sechenov Institute of Evolutionary Physiology and Biochemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences traces its history back to the early 1950s. Its organization and development are inseparably connected with the name of the founder of evolutionary physiology as a scientific discipline in its own right, outstanding Soviet physiologist Academician Leon A. Orbeli.

Leon Orbeli

L.A. Orbeli
1882—1958

The Institute originates from a small group of associates assembled by L.A. Orbeli in Оctober 1950 in accordance with the resolution of the Presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences. Initially, the group comprised 8 people, and their research was focused on the formation of higher nervous activity in children. In September 1954, this group was expanded and transformed into the Laboratory of Evolutionary Physiology of the USSR Academy of Sciences. The Laboratory aimed to explore the functions of the animal and human nervous system during ontogenesis, as well as to elucidate the effects of ionizing radiation on animal organisms. By early 1955, the Laboratory already employed 37 people.

After all, in January 1956, the Laboratory was reorganized into the Sechenov Institute of Evolutionary Physiology of the USSR Academy of Sciences, and L.A. Orbeli was appointed its Director. In April 1956, at his proposal, the Presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences adopted a resolution on the Institute’s structure and a strategic plan for research development. The construction of the first Institute’s laboratory building on then Staropargolovsky (now Maurice Thorez) Avenue had begun shortly afterwards.

At the time of Institute’s organization, the central lines of its research were formulated as a study of the developmental pathways of animal functions in onto- and phylogenesis, an elucidation of the basic patterns of this development and the mechanisms of function transformation under the influence of environmental factors, as well as an investigation of specific patterns of sophisticating the physiological mechanisms of children’s higher nervous activity, as determined by biological regularities and the history of human society development.

By the end of 1957, the Institute included 9 laboratories, 8 of which were formed on the basis of the Institute itself, and one was transferred from the former P.F. Lesgaft Institute of Natural Sciences. In addition to physiological laboratories, research units of biochemistry, morphology and pathology of human higher nervous activity were incorporated in the structure of the Institute.

Ginecinsky A.G.

A.G. Ginecinsky
1895—1962

However, L.A. Orbeli did not have enough time to bring the organization of the Institute to an end. He had gone on December 9, 1958, having managed, however, to do his life’s work: evolutionary physiology has gained a solid scientific substantiation, broad perspective and organizational grounds.

After L.A. Orbeli’s death, the Institute was headed by his disciple and closest assistant, a renowned Soviet physiologist, correspondent member of the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences, Prof. A.G. Ginetsinsky. Under his leadership, the Institute continued to grow and improve its structure.

Creps E.M.

E.M. Creps
1899—1985

From June 1960 to March 1975, the institute was headed by Acad. E.M. Kreps, an I.P. Pavlov’s disciple and L.A. Orbeli’s co-worker, the author of fundamental studies in comparative physiology and biochemistry of the nervous system. During the period of his directorship, the Institute was enriched with new laboratories and equipped with then state-of-the-art research technologies. Due to E.M. Kreps, it was a time of the rapid development of studies in evolutionary biochemistry, and largely for these reason, the Institute added to its name, having become the Sechenov Institute of Evolutionary Physiology and Biochemistry of the USSR Academy of Sciences.

In 1967, the second laboratory building was put into operation, thus enabling to considerably expand the frontline of studies in the main areas of evolutionary physiology, biochemistry and morphology. By the end of 1967, there were already 23 laboratories and 2 research groups in the Institute.

In November 1969, a monument to Acad. L.A. Orbeli, the founder of the Institute, was erected in front of the Insitute’s main building.

Gowyrin V.A.

V.A. Gowyrin
1924—1994

From 1975 to 1980, the Institute was headed by Acad. V.A. Govyrin, who joined the L.A. Orbeli’s team in the year of Institute’s foundation. His name is associated with fundamental discoveries in the physiology of the autonomic nervous system. In those years, the Institute’s structure was further improved (22 laboratories and 6 groups were clustered into 5 departments based on the thematic principle) and new Institute-wide units were established (a group of instrumental methods of analysis and a department of scientific and technical information).

Svidersky V.L.

V.L. Svidersky
1931—2013

From 1981 to 2004, the Institute worked under the direction of Acad. V.L. Svidersky, a distinguished specialist in the field of comparative and evolutionary physiology of the nervous system, head of one of the oldest research units of the Institute, Laboratory of Invertebrate Neurophysiology.

From 2004 to 2015, the Institute was managed by Acad. N.P. Veselkin, an outstanding neurophysiologist, head of the Laboratory of Neuron-Neuron Interactions Evolution.

Since July 17, 2015, an incumbent Director of the Institute is M.L. Firsov, PhD, DSci, who is heading the Laboratory of Sense Organs Evolution.