Ilya Ivanovich IvanovBorn 1 Aug 1870; died 20 Mar 1932 at age 61.Soviet biologist who developed a practical procedure for artificially inseminating domestic animals (extending earlier research by Spallanzani who discovered that it was possible). In 1901 Ivanov founded the world's first centre for the artificial insemination of racehorses. Thereafter, his method was extensively used breeding farm animals. In 2005, Moscow newspapers reported that uncovered secret documents showed that Ivanov was ordered to use monkey sperm in humans as part of Stalin's quest for a super-warrior that would be “a new invincible human being, insensitive to pain, resistant and indifferent about the quality of food they eat.”His expensive work failed, and he was exiled in disgrace to Kazakhstan in 1931 where he died a year later.« |
