Kurt Fabri
Encyclopedia
Kurt Ernestovich Fabri was an Austria
n-born Soviet
biologist
and professor at Moscow State University
who contributed to the scientific study of animal behavior in the Soviet Union
.
, the young Kurt Fabri immigrated with his family to the Soviet Union
, where his father, the prominent communist writer and journalist Ernst Fabri
was given political asylum amid the political turmoil in their native Austria
in 1932.
Kurt Fabri began studying biology
at the M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University in 1940, but was conscripted into the Red Army
after Operation Barbarossa
and served as an army medic and German language
translator in World War II
. He returned to his studies in 1946 and graduated from Moscow State University in 1949.
During the 1950s, when much of the work on animal behavior was still regarded as a pseudoscience
by the Soviet scientific establishment, itself preoccupied with promoting pseudoscientific theories such as Lysenkoism
, Fabri held jobs at a library and a radio station and worked at the V. L. Durov Animal Theater.
Fabri returned to scientific work in 1964 as an animal behavior researcher at the Biophysics Institute at Pushchino-na-Oke
and joined the faculty of Moscow State University as lecturer
in ethology
in 1966. Throughout this time, Fabri corresponded with scientific experts and publications in East Germany, Austria
, and the Soviet Union. As an ethologist, Fabri contributed to the popularization of the work of the pioneering ethologists Konrad Lorenz
and Nikolaas Tinbergen
in the USSR.
Fabri headed a research group of the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of the USSR in 1966-1971, investigating the psychological aspects of the interaction of pre-school children with animals. He earned his candidate of sciences degree for a dissertation in biology in 1967.
Awarded a doctor of sciences
degree in psychology for his seminal 1976 monograph on the foundations of zoopsychology, he was appointed full professor of general psychology of Moscow State University's faculty of psychology in 1983.
The main areas of Fabri's scientific work consisted of investigating the ontogenesis of animal behavior and psychology, psychological development, the psychology of primates, and the ethological and biopsychological prerequisites of anthropogenesis.
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n-born Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
biologist
Biologist
A biologist is a scientist devoted to and producing results in biology through the study of life. Typically biologists study organisms and their relationship to their environment. Biologists involved in basic research attempt to discover underlying mechanisms that govern how organisms work...
and professor at Moscow State University
Moscow State University
Lomonosov Moscow State University , previously known as Lomonosov University or MSU , is the largest university in Russia. Founded in 1755, it also claims to be one of the oldest university in Russia and to have the tallest educational building in the world. Its current rector is Viktor Sadovnichiy...
who contributed to the scientific study of animal behavior in the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
.
Biography
Born in ViennaVienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, the young Kurt Fabri immigrated with his family to the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, where his father, the prominent communist writer and journalist Ernst Fabri
Ernst Fabri
-Biography:Born in Vienna, Austria-Hungary on 7 May 1891, Ernst Fabri joined the Austrian Social Democratic movement in 1906. A member of the radical wing of the Social Democrats during World War I, Fabri became a founding member of the Austrian Communist Party and founded the Union of Proletarian...
was given political asylum amid the political turmoil in their native Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
in 1932.
Kurt Fabri began studying biology
Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
at the M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University in 1940, but was conscripted into the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
after Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...
and served as an army medic and German language
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
translator in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. He returned to his studies in 1946 and graduated from Moscow State University in 1949.
During the 1950s, when much of the work on animal behavior was still regarded as a pseudoscience
Pseudoscience
Pseudoscience is a claim, belief, or practice which is presented as scientific, but which does not adhere to a valid scientific method, lacks supporting evidence or plausibility, cannot be reliably tested, or otherwise lacks scientific status...
by the Soviet scientific establishment, itself preoccupied with promoting pseudoscientific theories such as Lysenkoism
Lysenkoism
Lysenkoism, or Lysenko-Michurinism, also denotes the biological inheritance principle which Trofim Lysenko subscribed to and which derive from theories of the heritability of acquired characteristics, a body of biological inheritance theory which departs from Mendelism and that Lysenko named...
, Fabri held jobs at a library and a radio station and worked at the V. L. Durov Animal Theater.
Fabri returned to scientific work in 1964 as an animal behavior researcher at the Biophysics Institute at Pushchino-na-Oke
Pushchino
Pushchino is a town in Moscow Oblast, Russia, situated south of Moscow, on the right side of the Oka River opposite the Prioksko-Terrasny Biosphere Reserve. As it can be confused with other towns with similar names, it is informally called Pushchino-on-Oka...
and joined the faculty of Moscow State University as lecturer
Lecturer
Lecturer is an academic rank. In the United Kingdom, lecturer is a position at a university or similar institution, often held by academics in their early career stages, who lead research groups and supervise research students, as well as teach...
in ethology
Ethology
Ethology is the scientific study of animal behavior, and a sub-topic of zoology....
in 1966. Throughout this time, Fabri corresponded with scientific experts and publications in East Germany, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, and the Soviet Union. As an ethologist, Fabri contributed to the popularization of the work of the pioneering ethologists Konrad Lorenz
Konrad Lorenz
Konrad Zacharias Lorenz was an Austrian zoologist, ethologist, and ornithologist. He shared the 1973 Nobel Prize with Nikolaas Tinbergen and Karl von Frisch...
and Nikolaas Tinbergen
Nikolaas Tinbergen
Nikolaas "Niko" Tinbergen was a Dutch ethologist and ornithologist who shared the 1973 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Karl von Frisch and Konrad Lorenz for their discoveries concerning organization and elicitation of individual and social behaviour patterns in animals.In the 1960s he...
in the USSR.
Fabri headed a research group of the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of the USSR in 1966-1971, investigating the psychological aspects of the interaction of pre-school children with animals. He earned his candidate of sciences degree for a dissertation in biology in 1967.
Awarded a doctor of sciences
Doktor nauk
Doktor nauk is a higher doctoral degree, the second and the highest post-graduate academic degree in the Soviet Union, Russia and in many post-Soviet states. Sometimes referred to as Dr. Hab. The prerequisite is the first degree, Kandidat nauk which is informally regarded equivalent to Ph.D....
degree in psychology for his seminal 1976 monograph on the foundations of zoopsychology, he was appointed full professor of general psychology of Moscow State University's faculty of psychology in 1983.
The main areas of Fabri's scientific work consisted of investigating the ontogenesis of animal behavior and psychology, psychological development, the psychology of primates, and the ethological and biopsychological prerequisites of anthropogenesis.
Selected publications
Fabri authored more than two hundred publications during his scientific career.- «Хватательная функция руки приматов и факторы ее эволюционного развития»
(The Grasping Function of the Primate Hand and Factors in its Evolutionary Development). Leningrad, 1964. - «Основы зоопсихологии»
(Foundations of Zoopsychology). Moscow, 1976. (Second edition 1993).
- «Игры животных и игры детей (сравнительно-психологические аспекты)», Вопросы психологии №3 С 26-34
("Animal Games and Children's Games (Comparative Psychological Aspects)", Voprosy psikhologii [Questions of Psychology] 3, pp. 26–34), 1982. - «Игра у животных»
(The Play of Animals). Moscow, 1985.
- «Введение в общую и прикладную ихтиопсихологию»
(Introduction to General and Applied Ichthyopsychology). Moscow, 1988.