1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910287938603321

Autore

Krement͡sov N. L.

Titolo

With and without Galton : Vasilii Florinskii and the fate of eugenics in Russia / / Nikolai Krementsov

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Open Book Publishers, 2018

Cambridge, England : , : Open Book Publishers, , [2018]

©2018

ISBN

979-1-03-652506-3

1-78374-513-4

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (696 pages)

Disciplina

509.24

Soggetti

Eugenics - Soviet Union - History

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Nota di contenuto

Preface; List of Abbreviations; List of Illustrations; Note on Names, Transliterations, and Translations; Acknowledgments; The Faces of Eugenics: Local Mirrors and Global Reflections; I. "HYGIENIC" AND "RATIONAL" MARRIAGE; 1. The Author: Vasilii Florinskii; 2. The Publisher: Grigorii Blagosvetlov; 3. The Book: Darwinism and Social Hygiene; 4. The Hereafter: Words and Deeds; II. "BOURGEOIS" AND "PROLETARIAN" EUGENICS; 5. Rebirth: Eugenics and Marxism; 6. Resonance: Euphenics, Medical Genetics, and Rassenhygiene; 7. Afterlife: Medical Genetics and "Racial" Eugenics.

8. Science of the Future: With and Without GaltonApologia: The Historian's Craft; Notes; Index.

Sommario/riassunto

In this lucid and insightful work, Nikolai Krementsov argues that the concept of eugenics brings together ideas, values, practices, and fears energised by a focus on the future. It has proven so seductive to different groups over time because it provides a way to grapple with fundamental existential questions of human nature and destiny. With and Without Galton develops this argument by tracing the life-story of Florinskii's monograph from its uncelebrated arrival amid the Russian empire's Great Reforms, to its reissue after the Bolshevik Revolution, its decline under Stalinism, and its subsequent resurgence: first, as a



founding document of medical genetics, and most recently, as a manifesto for nationalists and racial purists.  Krementsov's meticulously researched 'biography of a book' sheds light not only on the peculiar fate of eugenics in Russia, but also on its convoluted transnational history, elucidating the field's protean nature and its continuing and contested appeal to diverse audiences, multiple local trajectories, and global trends. It is required reading for historians of eugenics, science, medicine, education, literature, and Russia, and it will also appeal to the general reader looking for a deeper understanding of this challenging subject.