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westland committed Jan 2, 2024
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Leon Trotsky was the first to speak of the need to create the “communist man,” a “super-human” who would represent the highest stage of human evolution. The average Soviet citizen, Trotsky declared, would rise to the creative level of an “Aristotle, Goethe, or Marx.” Trotsky's call was heeded. In 1927, Vladimir Bekhterev, a Russian neurologist and rival of Ivan Pavlov, envisioned the Soviets' very own "Pantheon of Brains." After Lenin’s death in 1924, Uncle Vlad's brain was dissected by the German neuroscientist Oskar Vogt, then the world’s leading expert in cytoarchitectonics (don't ask ... please). The brain dissection, along with the mummification of Lenin’s body, became part of the effort to uphold the leader’s remains as the infallible foundation of the Soviet state. I visited the mummified Lenin in his tomb in 1996 and on that part I think they did a pretty good job, though who knows how much of the original Lenin they are showing these days (I've also made it to two other embalmed communists, Mao and Ho, but didn't get a chance to see Kim).
Leon Trotsky was the first to speak of the need to create the “communist man,” a “super-human” who would represent the highest stage of human evolution. The average Soviet citizen, Trotsky declared, would rise to the creative level of an “Aristotle, Goethe, or Marx.” Trotsky's call was heeded. In 1927, Vladimir Bekhterev, a Russian neurologist and rival of Ivan Pavlov, envisioned the Soviets' very own "Pantheon of Brains."

Lenin’s brain joined those of other proclaimed geniuses in a “Pantheon of Brains,” which displayed the Soviet Union’s finest minds in glass cases. After Lenin’s death in 1924, Uncle Vlad's brain was dissected by the German neuroscientist Oskar Vogt, then the world’s leading expert in cytoarchitectonics (don't ask ... please). The brain dissection, along with the mummification of Lenin’s body, became part of the effort to uphold the leader’s remains as the infallible foundation of the Soviet state. Oskar Vogt employed a microtome somewhat akin to a deli meat slicer, to cut Lenin’s brain into 30,000 pieces in an effort to understand the mind of the greatest Bolshevik. So that exhibit is closed, permanently.

I visited the mummified Lenin in his tomb in 1996 and on that part I think they did a pretty good job, though who knows how much of the original Lenin they are showing these days (I've also made it to two other embalmed communists, Mao and Ho, but didn't get a chance to see Kim).

Bekhterev’s project began as essentially a Marxist version of the Paris Pantheon, the cathedral turned mausoleum that holds the remains of great French thinkers including Voltaire and Rousseau. In Bekhterev’s vision, Lenin’s brain would join those of other Soviet luminaries in a scientific shrine to Bolshevik superiority. In his pitch to officials to open a Pantheon as soon as possible, Bekhterev stressed that the genius body count had been rising: “In this fiery period of building the USSR,” he said, “people burn out quickly.” Fewer, but better Russians, indeed.

Sadly, Bekhterev’s association with the lab was short-lived. In 1927, he was summoned to the Kremlin to perform a medical exam on Stalin and (unwisely) diagnosed him as paranoid. Two days later, Bekhterev died, reputedly of food poisoning. Later that week at the Brain Institute, his brain was pickled and dissected.

There are anatomical brain collections in major cities around the world, including Paris, Stockholm, Philadelphia, and Tokyo. At its peak, Cornell University’s Wilder Brain Collection contained anywhere from 600 to a staggering 1,200 brains. Still, these fall far short of the overachieving Soviets.

Lenin’s brain joined those of other proclaimed geniuses in a “Pantheon of Brains,” which displayed the Soviet Union’s finest minds in glass cases. Unfortunately a microtome somewhat akin to a deli meat slicer, was used to cut Lenin’s brain into 30,000 pieces in an effort to understand the mind of the greatest Bolshevik. So that exhibit is now closed. The institute went on to dissect the brains of dozens of great Bolsheviks, including those of Sergei Eisenstein, Maxim Gorky, and Joseph Stalin. The brain-cataloging continued all the way until 1989, when the fall of the USSR put an end to any new brains.
There are anatomical brain collections in major cities around the world, including Paris, Stockholm, Philadelphia, and Tokyo. At its peak, Cornell University’s Wilder Brain Collection contained anywhere from 600 to a staggering 1,200 brains. Still, these fall far short of the overachieving Soviets. Their institute went on to dissect the brains of dozens of great Bolsheviks, including those of Sergei Eisenstein, Maxim Gorky, and Joseph Stalin. The brain-cataloging continued all the way until 1989, when the fall of the USSR put an end to any new exhibits.



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