The activist of the Bolshevik party, Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Bogdanov, was a famous philosopher and scientist. He became the founder of several scientific theories.
early years
The future doctor and natural scientist Alexander Alexandrovich Bogdanov was born on August 22, 1873 in the village of Sokolka, Grodno province. At birth, he had the surname Malinovsky. His father was a Vologda visitor and a public teacher.
Malinovsky studied at the Tula classical gymnasium, which he graduated with a gold medal in 1892. A capable young man chose a scientific path. He entered the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of Moscow University. This institution of higher education, like all other Russian universities, was a nest of radically-minded youth. Alexander Alexandrovich Bogdanov joined the Narodnaya Volya from the Union of Northern Fellowships. This movement was prohibited by the authorities and was under the control of the secret police.
In 1894, these people were dispersed. Alexander Alexandrovich Bogdanov was expelled from his university. He was arrested and sentenced to exile in Tula. There, Malinovsky fell into working circles. Despite the fact that the young man was forced to leave the university, he was still very interested in science. In 1897 he wrote The Short Course in Economics. This book was highly appreciated by Vladimir Lenin. The leader of the world proletariat was well-read, and it was difficult to pleasantly surprise him with any publication. Therefore, it is significant that Lenin called the first book of Malinovsky “a remarkable phenomenon” in Russian economic literature.
New Arrest and Emigration
After the end of the Tula exile, Bogdanov entered Kharkov University, where he studied from 1895 to 1899. This time he chose the medical faculty. At the same time, the young researcher was fond of not only the natural sciences, but also the humanities. His views were most fully reflected in the works published at that time.
In 1899, after Malinovsky received his medical degree, he was again arrested for his political activities. The court sentenced the activist to deportation, first to Kaluga, and then to Vologda. In his father’s homeland, the doctor worked in a psychiatric hospital. In 1904, the link expired. The revolutionary went to Switzerland.
At the front
In 1913, Alexander Alexandrovich Bogdanov returned to Russia. The biography of this person is a typical cast of the era. A year after Malinovsky’s return to his homeland, the First World War began. He, as a highly qualified specialist, was sent to the front as a doctor.
Bloody battles with the Germans made an indelible impression on Bogdanov. A doctor and a connoisseur of physiology, he, like no one, could appreciate how deadly and terrible the weapons of the new century were. The war made the revolutionary a staunch and ideological pacifist. Already in the young Soviet state, the Bolshevik tried to do everything to promote cultural growth and the formation of the proletariat. Bogdanov (Malinovsky) Alexander Alexandrovich believed that only progress would help humanity get rid of wars.
Worldview
Bogdanov's philosophical views developed throughout his life. In his youth, he was most influenced by Marxism and positivism. The combination of these two schools resulted in a new theory, the author of which was Bogdanov Alexander Alexandrovich. The biography of this scientist is known primarily due to the fact that he became the founder of tectology.
It has another name - universal organizational science. This discipline was described in detail by the author in his three-volume work “Tectology”. Bogdanov studied the effectiveness of the interaction of two or more elements in a single system. These studies were conceived by the researcher as a search for the answer to the question of how to increase the productivity of the economy.
Among the Bolsheviks, the theory of tectology did not take root. Lenin's supporters often criticized the ideas that Alexander Alexandrovich Bogdanov expressed in his writings. Contribution to management - this is the main result of his scientific activities in this area today. Much later, after the death of Malinovsky, his theoretical constructions became popular among cybernetics.
Tectology
Bogdanov’s tectology stemmed not only from Marxism. Another important source for this theory was monism. The author in his main work argued about the need to create an ideology to increase labor productivity.
Bogdanov was also a supporter of systematic planning in the economy even before this system became fundamental in the Soviet Union. The scientist hoped that in the future all human activity would reach a fundamentally new level through the fusion of science, production and ideology.
Proletcult
The scientist and philosopher Bogdanov Alexander Alexandrovich was a member of the RSDLP since 1905. He belonged to the first generation of the Bolsheviks. When the party of Lenin came to power in Russia after the October Revolution, Bogdanov, who finally abandoned his original surname, began to occupy important state scientific posts.
Until 1921, the scientist was a professor at Moscow University (he taught political economics). Then he was a member of the Communist Academy and was a member of its presidium.
In the first years of the existence of the Soviet state, Bogdanov did much to establish his ideology. In 1917, the Proletcult was created. This organization was part of the People's Commissariat of Education. She organized cultural, educational, and promotional events for workers. One of the main characters in Proletkult was Alexander Bogdanov. Management, which he studied in the framework of the theory of tectology, was finally useful to him in practice.
Soviet ideologist
Bogdanov advocated a complete change in attitude towards culture. He believed that previous works of art expressed the worldview and interests of only one class (for example, landowners, slave owners, the bourgeoisie or the peasantry). But the proletarians did not have their own culture as such. Therefore, it was necessary to create it from scratch. Alexander Alexandrovich Bogdanov was engaged in this. The biography (a brief description is presented in the article) is an example of the path of an important state ideologist.
According to the scientist and philosopher, proletarian art was supposed to be dynamic and lead the people forward - into a brighter future, that is, into communism. Living images, expressed on paper, in books and films, were intended to capture and systematize the vast life experience of the workers of the Soviet Union. As a man of science, Bogdanov could confidently say that art is much more democratic than accurate knowledge. This means that with its help it is possible to build the necessary system of thoughts and direct the people's will into the channel useful to the state. The head of the Proletcult declared that the victory of the world revolution required the cultural independence of the workers.
Bogdanov criticized the attitude of the bourgeoisie to art. For Westerners, it was primarily a way to have fun. The art of the proletariat was different. It inspired the struggle against class enemies, rallying people around the idea. The scientist continued his thought: with this attitude to art, any work with the Soviet Union became a socially important work. Culture for Bogdanov was a method of organizing a team. This principle is the direct brainchild of the theory of tectology. For example, a war song helps soldiers act in battle in a coordinated and effective manner. The labor anthem rallies the artel and brigade.
Blood transfusion experiments
As a biologist, the scientist was fond of theories about the possible rejuvenation of the human body. In this regard, he founded the State Scientific Institute of Blood Transfusion in 1926. A lot of research on this topic was conducted by Alexander Alexandrovich Bogdanov. A systematic analysis of his work in biology shows that he really believed in human rejuvenation through transfusion of fresh and young blood into the body.
These bold ideas of Bogdanov were actively supported by state propaganda for some time. Stalin, who at that time was rapidly moving towards sole power, helped the scientist establish the Blood Institute in Moscow. Bogdanov became the director of this unique institution for his time.
Death
In some experiments with blood transfusion, Alexander Alexandrovich Bogdanov himself (1873–1928) also participated. During one of these procedures, he died tragically. The blood that was transferred to the scientist from the student’s body caused a rejection reaction and death. This case clearly showed the danger of such radical experiments. Gradually, similar programs of the Blood Institute were curtailed.
At the funeral of the famous Bolshevik, Bukharin spoke. He called the deceased comrade a fanatic. This is partly true. There were few scientists so stubborn and absorbed in their work as Alexander Alexandrovich Bogdanov. Photos from his funeral were in all the newspapers of the country.