WLADIMIR KOWALEVSKY'S SOURCES OF IDEAS AND THEIR IMPORTANCE FOR HIS WORK AND FOR RUSSIAN EVOLUTIONARY PALAEONTOLOGY

Abstract

Studies of documents and data about W.O. Kowalevsky's life and work have shed new light on his scientific background. After graduating from the School of Jurisprudence in St. Petersburg, he was first engaged in book publishing, but in 1868 began studies at the Anatomical Institute of the Medical-Surgical Academy, founded by N.I. Pirogov, a famous surgeon and anatomist. Pirogov's ideas were adopted by P.F. Lesshaft (1837–1907), later a prominent anatomist and founder of functional anatomy in Russia. Another teacher was the famous physiologist I.M. Sechenov. Only with the background of this new functional anatomy was Kowalevsky able to link up various data to form his own theories and create classical palaeontological works in the space of two and a half years (1871–1873). His influence on the development of vertebrate palaeontology has been lasting. In Russia and the Soviet Union, Kowalevsky and Lesshaft had such successors as A.P. Pavlov (1854–1929), A.A. Borissiak (1872–1944), N.N. Yakovlev (1870–1966), and many other disciples in younger generations of palaeontologists.