Ivan Ivanovich Schmalhausen (; 23 April 1884 – 7 October 1963) was a Ukrainian and later

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

zoologist Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the structure, embryology, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct, and how they interact with their ecosystems. Zoology is one ...

and

evolutionary biologist Evolutionary biology is the subfield of biology that studies the evolutionary processes such as natural selection, common descent, and speciation that produced the diversity of life on Earth. In the 1930s, the discipline of evolutionary biol ...

of German descent. He developed the theory of

stabilizing selection Stabilizing selection (not to be confused with negative or purifying selection) is a type of natural selection in which the population mean stabilizes on a particular non-extreme trait value. This is thought to be the most common mechanism of ...

, and took part in the development of the

modern evolutionary synthesis Modern synthesis or modern evolutionary synthesis refers to several perspectives on evolutionary biology, namely: * Modern synthesis (20th century), the term coined by Julian Huxley in 1942 to denote the synthesis between Mendelian genetics and s ...

. He is remembered, among other things, for Schmalhausen's law, which states that a population at its limit of tolerance in one aspect is vulnerable to small differences in any other aspect.

Early life and education

Ivan Ivanovich Schmalhausen was born in

Kiev Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

(now

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

) on April 23, 1884, to Luise Schmalhausen (Luisa Ludwigovna Schmalhausen) and

Johannes Theodor Schmalhausen Johannes Theodor Schmalhausen (1849–1894) was a Russian botanist of German descent, known for his studies of East-European plants. Early life and education Johannes Theodor Schmalhausen was born in St Petersburg. His father was a librarian a ...

(1849–1894). His father was one of the founders of Russian

paleobotany Paleobotany or palaeobotany, also known as paleophytology, is the branch of botany dealing with the recovery and identification of plant fossils from geological contexts, and their use for the biological reconstruction of past environments ( pal ...

. In 1901, Schmalhausen graduated from the and enrolled at

Kiev University The Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (; also known as Kyiv University, Shevchenko University, or KNU) is a public university in Kyiv, Ukraine. The university is the third-oldest university in Ukraine after the University of Lviv and ...

, but was expelled a year later after taking a part in student disturbances. In 1902 he resumed his university studies at Kiev in the faculty of biological science. Around 1902 he became acquainted with the founder of the Russian school of evolutionary morphology, Alexey Severtsov (1866–1936). In 1904, Schmalhausen, under the guidance of Severtsov, completed his first scientific work on the embryonic development of lungs in the

grass snake The grass snake (''Natrix natrix''), sometimes called the ringed snake or water snake, is a Eurasian semi-aquatic non- venomous colubrid snake. It is often found near water and feeds almost exclusively on amphibians. Subspecies Many subspecie ...

. He graduated from the university in 1909. In 1910, he married Lydia Kozlova, a French language teacher at Kiev Women Gymnasium.

Career

In 1912 Schmalhausen became a professor of zoology in

. From 1920–1930 he was head of the Department of Vertebrate Zoology. During 1930–1941 Schmalhausen was director of

Institute of Zoology The Institute of Zoology (IoZ) is the research division of the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) in England. It is a government-funded research institute specialising in scientific issues relevant to the conservation of animal species and their ha ...

in Kiev, at the same during 1936–1948 he was director of Institute of Evolutionary Morphology in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

and during 1939–1948 - also a head to the Department of

Darwinism ''Darwinism'' is a term used to describe a theory of biological evolution developed by the English naturalist Charles Darwin (1809–1882) and others. The theory states that all species of organisms arise and develop through the natural sel ...

Moscow University Moscow State University (MSU), officially M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University,. is a public research university in Moscow, Russia. The university includes 15 research institutes, 43 faculties, more than 300 departments, and six branches. Al ...

. The Institute of Zoology in Kiev was later named in his honour the I. I. Schmalhausen Institute of Zoology. He published his most well known book, ''Faktory Evolyutsii'' in 1946. This was translated by

Theodosius Dobzhansky Theodosius Grigorievich Dobzhansky (; ; January 25, 1900 – December 18, 1975) was a Russian-born American geneticist and evolutionary biologist. He was a central figure in the field of evolutionary biology for his work in shaping the modern ...

and appeared in English as ''Factors of Evolution: The Theory of Stabilizing Selection'' in 1949. On 23 August 1948 he became victim of order 1208, one of a series signed by Minister of Higher Education in the

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, , which led to the mass dismissals of many university professors. This destroyed his career, as it removed his professorship and also decreed the destruction of his books and research projects. This action came about due to accusations of Weismannism and pro-

Morgan Morgan may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Morgan – A Suitable Case for Treatment'', also called ''Morgan!'', a 1966 comedy film * ''Morgan'' (2012 film), an American drama * ''Morgan'' (2016 film), an American science fiction thriller * ...

ism, and of promoting the neo-Darwinian theory of

evolution by natural selection Natural selection is the differential survival and reproduction of individuals due to differences in phenotype. It is a key mechanism of evolution, the change in the heritable traits characteristic of a population over generations. Charle ...

, at a time when

Trofim Lysenko Trofim Denisovich Lysenko (; , ; 20 November 1976) was a Soviet agronomist and scientist.''An ill-educated agronomist with huge ambitions, Lysenko failed to become a real scientist, but greatly succeeded in exposing of the “bourgeois enemies o ...

and his followers were emphasising a process of heredity that focused on interaction with the environment and the inheritance of acquired characteristics along

Lamarck Jean-Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet, chevalier de Lamarck (1 August 1744 – 18 December 1829), often known simply as Lamarck (; ), was a French naturalist, biologist, academic, and soldier. He was an early proponent of the idea that biolo ...

ian lines. (Lysenko put his theory into practice in

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

, claiming to have improved

wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...

using Lamarckian techniques.

Lysenkoism Lysenkoism ( ; ) was a political campaign led by the Soviet biologist Trofim Lysenko against genetics and science-based agriculture in the mid-20th century, rejecting natural selection in favour of a form of Lamarckism, as well as expanding upon ...

played a major role in Stalin's politics, stressing that hard work led to improvement in future generations.) During these events in 1948 Schmalhausen was removed from the heading positions in

institutions, Institute of Evolutionary Morphology and Department of

. Until the end of his life he worked in the Zoological Institute in

Leningrad Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

as a common senior researcher. In 1955, Schmalhausen was one of the signatories of the " Letter of 300"a collective letter by 300 scientists denouncing

. He died on October 7, 1963, in

Schmalhausen's law

Schmalhausen's law is a general principle that a

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

living at the boundary of its tolerance, in extreme or unusual conditions with regard to any aspect of its existence will be more vulnerable to small differences in any other aspect. Therefore, the variance of data is not simply noise interfering with the detection of so-called "main effects", but also an indicator of stressful conditions leading to greater vulnerability.Richard Lewontin and Richard Levins. "Schmalhausen's Law." ''Capitalism, Nature, Socialism'', 11(4) (2000): 103–108

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schmalhausen, Ivan 1884 births 1963 deaths Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv alumni Evolutionary biologists Ukrainian people of German descent Full Members of the USSR Academy of Sciences Members of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine Modern synthesis (20th century) Scientists from Kyiv 20th-century Ukrainian zoologists Soviet zoologists Ukrainian embryologists 20th-century Russian scientists