The curse of oblivion: the memory of Nikolay Vavilov was never immortalized in Russia

The tombstone to the repressed president of the All-Union Agricultural Academy and the Russian Geographical Society, "Russian Darwin", was installed at the Saratov cemetery not even at the place of his burial.

Irina Mishina

It is said that at the Tehran conference, Churchill asked Stalin about the fate of Academician Vavilov. Stalin evaded a direct answer, saying that there are many talented scientists in the country, and he cannot know about the whereabouts of everyone. In fact, Stalin was well aware of the fate of the disgraced ex-president of VASKhNIL. During the Tehran conference, Vavilov was dying in a Saratov prison from dystrophy and heart failure, which developed against the background of pneumonia and general exhaustion of the body. The scientist who dreamed of "feeding the whole world" was slowly starved to death in the dungeon.

Nikolay Vavilov was arrested in 1940 on false denunciation and illegally accused of sabotage and connections with opposition political groups. In 1941, he was convicted under Articles 58-1, 58-6, 58-11 of the USSR Criminal Code (sabotage, assistance to bourgeois organizations, preparation or failure to report impending crimes). Vavilov was sentenced to death, which was later commuted to a 20-year term of imprisonment. In 1955, he was posthumously rehabilitated as a victim of repression as part of a campaign to debunk the "personality cult".

World science puts Nikolay Ivanovich Vavilov on a par with Mendeleev, Linnaeus and Darwin. Vavilov is the author of the law of homologous series, the theory of the origin of cultivated plants, the theory of the geographical distribution of genetic centers, and the scientific foundations of wheat breeding. He introduced new, more promising varieties of wheat, built experimental stations throughout the country. Vavilov is the creator of the world collection of seeds. During his life, Nikolay Ivanovich participated in more than 180 expeditions, visited five continents. His scientific works were read and appreciated in many countries of the world. But even after rehabilitation, the memory of the scientist could not be properly perpetuated. “And blasphemous, and not in a Christian way... Once again, I want to draw your attention to two dates. The burial place of Vavilov has been known since 1967, and they erect not a monument to him, but a cenotaph, quietly in 1970 in a completely different place, and even on the grave of a Saratov merchant. Isn't this a mockery of the memory of a scientist!?", - outrages Saratov journalist, writer Alexander Amusin, who for several years has been collecting materials about the last years of the great scientist.

Based on the materials collected by Amusin, a documentary was made about Vavilov's death in the dungeons of the prison, about his burial with criminals, about oblivion. Alexander Amusin's studies in many ways contradicted the official interpretations of events: the truth about Vavilov's death was hidden for a long time - after all, the murder of a world-famous scientist, in fact, lay a stain on the whole country.

Nikolay Vavilov was arrested on charges of counter-revolutionary activity and sentenced to capital punishment - execution in Moscow. At the beginning of the war in 1941, he was transferred to Saratov for the execution of the sentence. However, they decided not to shoot him - it was too much for the scientist, whose discoveries by that time were known in many countries. By the decision of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of June 23, 1942, the execution was replaced by 20 years of imprisonment, by way of pardon.

“On paper, Vavilov was pardoned, and seven months later he was destroyed. I managed, albeit partially, to get acquainted with the so-called "Vavilov Case". From what I was able to find out, it became clear that it was fabricated. I will give just one example. The file contained a copy of an extract from the protocol of interrogation of the former rector of the Timiryazev Agricultural Academy Nikolay Ivanovich Muralov dated August 7, 1940, while Muralov was shot by court order on February 1, 1937. Vavilov's brother, Alexander Ivanovich (president of VASKhNIL in 1935-1937 - editor's note ) was also forced to confess to Vavilov's "sabotage activities". And there were several such protocols from the supposedly living dead. All of them, naturally, testified to the scientist's "wrecking activity". Even the creation of the homologous series law in 1920 was incriminated as sabotage. And Soviet geneticists, who evaluated him positively, were declared "enemies of the people", - recalls the writer Alexander Amusin.

...Nikolay Vavilov was taken to the hospital of the Saratov prison No. 1 of the NKVD two days before his death in the most severe stage of dystrophy. However, no one was going to save him. In a conversation with journalist Alexander Amusin, forensic scientist Zoya Rezaeva confirmed that the death of the scientist was not accidental. Could Vavilov have been saved? “In the hospital, of course not”, - said the medical examine, - Judging by the documents, he entered 2 days before his death. In fact, in his death throes. Notice how the temperature dropped sharply: in the morning of January 24 it was 39.6 degrees, and in the evening it was already 37.3. But he could have been saved two weeks before he was admitted to the hospital. Moreover, this was what they should have done, but they did not. Was the death of the disgraced academician beneficial to someone? Most likely. Already 5-7 days before his death, he was so weak and emaciated that he could hardly walk and eat on his own. Of course, this could not pass unnoticed. His condition was reported to whoever should be, but no action was taken. Obviously, this happened deliberately", - reports the Saratov researcher Alexander Amusin the conclusion of the forensic expert.

Interestingly, being arrested, even in prison, Vavilov continued to work. "During my stay in the internal prison of the NKVD, during the investigation, when I had the opportunity to receive paper and pencil, I wrote a big book" The history of the development of world agriculture (world resources of agriculture and their use)", - wrote Nikolay Ivanovich Vavilov from prison to the leadership NKVD. While the scientist was being destroyed, he created a scientific work worthy of the activities of several institutes over the course of decades! Created from memory, between tortures. However, to this day, this manuscript, seized by the NKVD, is considered lost.

For many years, the burial place of the scientist was kept secret. Saratov researchers had to carry out serious work before Vavilov's grave was found. Based on the search results, on February 16, 1967, an act was drawn up certifying that grave No. 173 at plot No. 26 of the Resurrection cemetery is the burial place of the scientist. Over time, after his rehabilitation, they decided to erect a monument at this place. But it turned out to be too large, 18.5 tons, and Vavilov's burial place was far from the entrance. For these reasons, the cemetery authorities allocated a different place - near the central alley of the cemetery. And it suited everyone. Let the cenotaph, but on the central alley. But as it turned out later, the cenotaph monument to Vavilov was installed on the crypt of some Saratov merchant.

“In fact, the scientist was erected not by a city or a tombstone, but by a cenotaph. And this is a monument located where the remains of the deceased are not contained, a kind of symbolic grave. The cenotaph can be installed for the following reasons: if the body of the deceased was lost or destroyed (for example, during an earthquake, in a war) . The body of N.I. Vavilov was not lost or destroyed, this has been proven. Why is a city monument turned into a cenotaph for a scientist, and then erected on someone else's grave?", - asks Saratov journalist, writer Alexander Amusin.

In general, the history of the erection of the monument to Vavilov is full of contradictions. “The author of the monument is Konstantin Sergeevich Suminov. All sculptors from Moscow and Leningrad who worked on granite, who had received such an offer earlier, refused. Perhaps they were afraid. K.S. Suminov was the last sculptor to be contacted. Having learned about the tragic fate of the great scientist who died in the Saratov prison, he immediately agreed. He said that while working on the monument, he often heard behind his back that he was engaged in perpetuating the memory of an enemy of the people. And he also said the following: when the cemetery commandant saw what kind of colossus they were going to install to the former enemy of the people, she stopped work and began to call the authorities to ask again, but is it possible? The monument at this time was hung on chains between heaven and earth. Perhaps the role was played by the fact that the author of the monument, the sculptor Suminov, the son of the repressed, intervened. At the age of 13, he was exiled with his relatives after dispossession of kulaks to the Northern Territory. He spent his childhood in a concentration camp somewhere near Arkhangelsk”, - said Natalia Mikhailovna Panteyeva, a veteran of the Saratov Regional Museum of Local Lore, who has worked in the museum for 45 years.

For some reason, the installation of the monument to Vavilov took place in Saratov in an atmosphere of secrecy. Initially, it was planned to install it in a prominent place in the city. However, it was not possible to obtain permission from the authorities. The fact is that the decision to erect the monument was made in those years by the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR, and sometimes even the USSR. And according to this highest decision, it was decided to erect a monument to Nikolay Vavilov, a world-famous scientist, not in the city, but in the cemetery where N.I. Vavilov - you don't need to get permission for this. According to eyewitnesses, the opening of the monument took place without wide publicity: on September 25, 1970, a very limited circle of initiates gathered at the cemetery in Saratov.

Another thing is also strange: Vavilov was rehabilitated on August 20, 1955, and public holding of various events in order to preserve his memory began only after 1965. It would seem that the times of repression are long gone, but for some reason their echoes are felt even now. Why this is happening remains a question. By the way, until now, neither in Moscow, nor in St. Petersburg, where Nikolay Vavilov lived and worked, his memory has not yet been immortalized. Only on December 4, 2015, a monument to Vavilov was finally unveiled in the capital on the Listvennichnaya Alley of the Russian State Agrarian University - Moscow Timiryazev Agricultural Academy. Its installation was timed to coincide with the 150th anniversary of the university. It was created with funds raised by alumni. On the pedestal is inscribed: "Biologist, geneticist, geographer, traveler, genius of the twentieth century, graduate of 1911, academician." As you can see, there was no budgetary funds for the installation of a monument to the great scientist in Russia ... In St. Petersburg there is not a single monument to Vavilov at all. But it was there that Nikolay Ivanovich Vavilov worked as the founder and permanent director of the All-Union Institute of Plant Industry until the moment of his arrest. This Institute was the first in the VASKhNIL system. Vavilov was also the first president of this academy.

Tribute to the memory of the great scientist and the revival of his legacy today, unfortunately, is exclusively a matter of enthusiasts and public organizations. At the Center for Creative Initiatives "Great Volga-Ra" in Saratov, a People's Commission is being created to perpetuate the memory of Nikolay Vavilov. One of its tasks will be the creation of a single memorial to the academician at the cemetery of Saratov and the creation of a museum for the dead scientists.

Anyone can take part in the work of the People's Commission. Your suggestions, feedback, projects can be sent to the address: vvolgara@mail.ru and zemoboz@mail.ru.

P.S. The editors would like to thank the Velikaya Volga-Ra CTI and Zemskoye Obozreniye LLC for the materials provided.