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studies at the University of St. Petersburg and
the Military Medical Academy, also in St.
Petersburg. He distinguished himself as a stu-
dent and was asked by Sergei Botkin, one of
Russia's most prominent physicians, to establish
what amounted to one of Europe's first labora-
tories for experimental work with animals,
where he established a tradition of working with
unanesthetized dogs. His early research focused
on blood pressure, then moved on to the study
of the digestive tract. He developed what is
known as “Pavlov's pouch,” which advanced the
possibilities for experiment and observation.
From 1884 to 1886, he pursued postgraduate
studies in Breslau (now Wroclaw, Poland) and
Leipzig, Germany. In 1891 he became director of
the physiological department of the Institute of
Experimental Medicine. Six years later he
became a professor at his old academy, the Mili-
tary Medical Academy.
Despite numerous achievements, Pavlov's
fame rests mostly on his work on conditioned
reflexes, begun in 1897. Using dogs, he mea-
sured the degree to which they formed an asso-
ciation between arbitrary stimuli such as a
metronome beat and the delivery of food. Over
the next four decades he continued these stud-
ies, eventually applying their lessons to the
study of human psychology. Pavlov's work had a
crucial influence on the development of behav-
ioral psychology in the 20th century.
In 1904 he became the first Russian, and first
physiologist, to receive a Nobel Prize, awarded to
him mostly for his work on digestive glands. In
1915 he received the Copley Medal from the
Royal Society. His own homeland recognized his
achievements with an election to the
ACADEMY
OF SCIENCES
in 1907, a position he held until his
death in 1936. Although opposed to the Bolshe-
vik revolution and communism, he maintained
his status as an academician and the Soviet gov-
ernment allowed him to continue his research.
It built him a special laboratory in 1935 in
Leningrad (St. Petersburg). A prolific writer, his
most influential work was translated and pub-
lished in English as
Conditioned Reflexes
(1927).
Pavlova, Anna Pavlovna
(1881-1931)
dancer and teacher
A beloved dancer who did much for populariz-
ing classical ballet throughout the world,
Pavlova was born in St. Petersburg. There she
studied at the Imperial Theater School and made
her debut at the prestigious Mariinskii Theater in
1899, becoming a prima ballerina in 1906. Orig-
inally a member of the Imperial Russian Ballet in
St. Petersburg, she made guest appearances
abroad that gave her a taste for independence.
After several international tours, she joined
Sergei
DIAGHILEV
's Ballets Russes in 1909, featur-
ing in
Les Sylphides.
Seeking independence and
control of her career, she left Diaghilev's com-
pany in 1911. After one last trip to Russia in
1914, she settled in London, where she formed a
small ballet company, which was never permit-
ted to be more than a background to her own
highly individual performing genius. With this
company she ceaselessly toured around the
Anna Pavlova
(Library of Congress)
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