Bogdanov, Anatolii Petrovich

Born Oct. 1 (13), 1834, in Nizhnedevitsk District, Voronezh’ Province; died Mar. 16 (28), 1896, in Moscow. Russian anthropologist, zoologist, and historian of zoology. One of the founders of anthropology in Russia. Organizer of the first anthropological institutions and popularizer of natural science knowledge. Corresponding member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences (1890); professor at Moscow University from 1867.

On Bogdanov’s initiative, the society of Amateurs of Natural Science, Anthropology, and Ethnography (1864) and the Society of Acclimatization of Animals and Plants were founded. Bogdanov was responsible for organizing ethnographical (1867), anthropological (1879), and polytechnical (1872) exhibits which laid the foundation for the polytechnical and anthropological museums in Moscow. He was the director of the Zoological Museum of Moscow University. He is the author of many works on zoology and on the history of zoology, including Bird Feather Coloration, 1858; Medical Zoology, vols. 1–2, 1883–88; Materials for the History of Scientific and Applied Work on Zoology in Russia, vols. 1–4, 1888–92; and Annals of Zoological Work of the Society in the First Twenty-five Years of Its Existence (1863–1888), vols. 1–2, 1888–90. Bogdanov wrote papers on anthropology devoted mainly to the craniology of the ancient population of Russia, including Materials for Anthropology of the Barrow Period in Moscow Province, 1867; On the Graves of the Scythian-Sarmatian Epoch in Poltava Province and on the Craniology of the Scythians, 1880; Measuring in Anthropological Relationships, 1879; and The Skull and Bones of People of the Stone Age, 1881, written jointly with M. A. Tikhomirov. In his contributions on anthropology, Bogdanov advanced the concept of a fundamental difference between units of racial systematics and linguistic and ethnic categories. He presented criticisms of the reactionary theories of racism and polygenism.