Abstract

The article presents a critical account of the views of a prominent Russian Darwinian, K.A. Timiriazev, on Mendelism (1909-1916). It is shown that these views reflect the standpoint of orthodox English Darwinians who also rejected Mendelism in the early 20th century. An erroneous interpretation of Mendelism and the denial of its universal significance for understanding heredity can be accounted for by Timiriazev's failure to realize the fundamental difference between genotypic and phenotypic regularities. In spite of the fact that these views were criticised in Timiriazev's lifetime (S.G. Navashin, E.A. Bogdanov, N.K. Kol'tsov), they were supported by some Darwinian zoologists (N.M. Kulagin, M.A. Menzbier) and then revived during the campaign against genetics by T.D. Lysenko and his adherents (1936-1964). The views of all the above-mentioned scientists are considered in the article