Mikhail Yakovlevich Basov — professor at Herzen University: His life, core scientific ideas, and the restoration of historical memory

Abstract

This article examines the main milestones in the life and scientific career of Mikhail Yakovlevich Basov (1892–1931), an outstanding Russian psychologist of the first third of the 20^th century. Basov was one of the founders of the Petersburg (Leningrad) psychological school and a professor of psychology and pedology at the State Institute of Scientific Pedagogy (1924–1931) and A. I. Herzen Leningrad Pedagogical Institute (1925–1931). The evolution of Basov’s views reflects the crisis of psychology at the beginning of the 20th century and the transition to the activity approach that integrates consciousness and behavior into a single structure of activity. The article lists Basov’s main scientific works, reflecting the development of his views on the psyche and behavior. It also mentions his colleagues and associates (L. S. Vygotsky, S. L. Rubinstein, V. S. Merlin, R. S. Abel’skaya, E. D. Gerke, E. Ya. Golant, E. I. Zeyliger-Rubinstein, M. A. Levina, A. I. Neklyudova, and others) and notes the dramatic events in his career associated with political developments in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Basov contributed to resolving the contradictions between subjective and objective psychology by proposing activity as a new subject of study, where the subject becomes aware of its behavior through external actions. The article demonstrates the continuity between the scientific traditions and activities of the first Department of Psychology, Pedology, and Methods of Pedological Examination established by Basov and the modern Department of Developmental and Educational Psychology at Herzen University.