Письмо трёхсот · 1955

Letter of Three Hundred

300인의 편지

On 11 October 1955, roughly 300 Soviet scientists submitted a memorandum to the Presidium of the CPSU Central Committee demanding an end to Trofim Lysenko's monopoly over Soviet biology. The 21-page document detailed the pseudoscientific character of Lysenko's doctrines, the wholesale suppression of genetics research, and the concrete damage inflicted on agriculture; its signatories included prominent physicists and mathematicians such as Landau, Tamm, Sakharov, and Keldysh, broadening the protest beyond biology. Despite Khrushchev's personal hostility, the letter triggered Lysenko's resignation as president of VASKhNIL and became a landmark of collective resistance for scientific freedom in Soviet history.

Related people

Abram Alikhanov Andrei Sakharov

Sources

  1. Wikipedia (RU) full background on the 1955 letter, its signatories, and consequences
  2. Wikipedia (EN) English-language account of the letter's content, signatories, and historical impact
  3. vikent.ru extended excerpts from the original memorandum, including detailed critique of Lysenko's scientific and agricultural damage
  4. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov academic article on the pushback against Lysenkoism, describing the Letter of Three Hundred and its signatory lists
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