The Russian Period in the Life and Work of Sergei Metalnikov
Authors: Шебырова Л.Г. 
Published: July 2020

Статья посвящена российскому периоду биографии Сергея Ивановича Метальникова, выдающегося ученого – зоолога, протистолога, микробиолога, иммунолога и философа. На основании архивных и опубликованных документов с использованием классических теоретических методов исторического исследования подробно восстановлены основные события его жизни (вплоть до момента эмиграции во Францию): детство, университетские годы, создание семьи, формирование научных интересов, начало работы в науке и постепенная адаптация в научном социуме, зарубежные командировки и стажировки, становление как исследователя и крупного деятеля науки и образования. Особое внимание уделено деятельности ученого на Высших женских (Бестужевских) курсах. Показано, что исследуемый период в жизни С. И. Метальникова был весьма успешным с точки зрения его научной карьеры, однако обстоятельства и последовательные политические взгляды вынудили его в конце концов покинуть страну.

The article is devoted to the Russian period of the biography of Sergei Ivanovich Metalnikov, an outstanding Russian scientist, who emigrated to France after the revolution. He was a zoologist, protistologist, microbiologist, immunologist and philosopher. The personality of the scientist is interesting both for biologists and for historians of science and technology, as well as for the history of Russian scientific emigration. His life was also connected with the South of Russia: his family owned the Artek estate in Crimea, and he is deservedly considered to be one of the founders of Taurida University. The aim of the current article is to reconstruct the main events of his life, first of all those that formed his personality as a scientist, starting from childhood and continuing with the university years and the first independent steps in science, those related to his activities in the field of science and education. The article is based on archival and published documents, the main events of his life until the moment of emigration to France are reconstructed in details using classical theoretical methods of historical research. Among archival documents, his two autobiographies from the State Archive of the Russian Federation and the Manuscripts Department of the Institute of Russian Literature should be mentioned. Besides them, the article is based on other documents from the Central State Historical Archive of St. Petersburg, the Archive of the Russian Academy of Sciences and its Saint Petersburg branch, the Manuscripts Department of the National Library of Russia. The article covers in detail his childhood, family, university years, the formation of scientific interests, the beginning of his work in science and adaptation in the scientific community, foreign trips and trainee ship, his formation as a scientist from a junior researcher to a prominent person in science and education. Particular attention in the article is devoted to Metalnikov’s activities at the Higher Women’s (Bestuzhev) courses, which have not received an adequate coverage in the literature yet. It is shown that the relevant period in Metalnikov’s life and work can be described as a very successful career. He managed to develop from a young scientist to a professor, a prominent and respected specialist of a wide scientific range. Nevertheless, the turbulent events in the life of the country and the personal civil position of the scientist led to his desire to emigrate from Russia and work abroad, and scientific achievements became the basis for the fact that he successfully succeeded.