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Всесоюзная академия сельскохозяйственных наук имени В. И. Ленина | |
 The logo of VASKhNIL | |
Other name | VASKhNIL (ВАСХНИЛ) |
|---|---|
| Active | 1929–1992 |
| Affiliation | Soviet Union |
| Location | |
VASKhNIL (Russian:ВАСХНИЛ), the acronym for theLenin All-Union Academy of Agricultural Sciences or theV.I. Lenin Academy of Agricultural Sciences (Всесоюзная академия сельскохозяйственных наук имени В. И. Ленина), was theSoviet Union's academy dedicated toagricultural sciences, operating from 1929 to thedissolution of the Soviet Union in 1992.
Built upon the model of theAcademy of Sciences of USSR, VASKhNIL included not only a body of academicians but also a vast network of research institutions scattered all over the Union, with thousands of researchers and plant and cattle breeders.
| Period | President |
|---|---|
| 1929–35 | Nikolai Vavilov |
| 1935–37 | Alexander Muralov |
| 1937–1938 | Georgy Maeister |
| 1938–56 | Trofim Lysenko |
| 1959–61 | Pavel Lobanov |
| 1961–62 | Trofim Lysenko (second term) |
| 1962–65 | Mikhail Olshanskiy |
| 1965–78 | Pavel Lobanov, second term |
| 1978–83 | Petr Vavilov |
| 1984–92 | Alexander Nikonov |
The academy operated from 1929 to thedissolution of the Soviet Union in 1992.
In the 1930s–40s, meetings of the academy members ('sessions' of VASKhNIL) provided the floor for debates betweenLysenkoists andgeneticists. AfterTrofim Lysenko had taken control over the academy, it became for about thirty years a stronghold of Lysenkoism. The proverbial amongRussian biologistsAugust session of VASKhNIL [ru] (July 31–August 7, 1948) organised under control of theCommunist Party (Joseph Stalin personally corrected the drafts of the Lysenko's opening address "On the Situation in Biological Science") led to a formal ban on teaching "Mendelist-Weismannist-Morganist" genetics (a pejorative label based on the names ofGregor Mendel,August Weismann, andThomas Hunt Morgan), which was effective until the early 1960s. Sovietplant breeding efforts - largely carried out by the VASKhNIL - were well funded, however not as effective as they might have been.[1] This was partly due to this era of forced Lysenkoism.[1]
The end of the Soviet era in 1991 brought a sudden fall in funding for plant breeding.[1] Then on 4 February 1992, the VASKhNIL ceased to exist and was succeeded by theRussian Academy of Agricultural Sciences [ru] (Russian:Российская академия сельскохозяйственных наук, РАСН), which became a part of theRussian Academy of Sciences in 2013.[2][1][3]
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