Alexander Ivanovich Oparin (Russian: Алекса́ндр Ива́нович Опарин) (March 2 [O.S. February 18] 1894 – April 21, 1980) was a Soviet biochemist and author of the theory of the origin of life. His other major works were in fields of biochemical grounds for vegetable raw material processing and enzyme reactions in plant cells. He showed that many food production processes are based on the biocatalysis and developed foundations of the industrial biochemistry in the USSR. ^[1] Image File history File links Alexander Oparin in 1946. ... is the 61st day of the year (62nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Old Style or O.S. is a designation indicating that a date conforms to the Julian calendar, formerly in use in many countries, rather than the Gregorian calendar, currently in use in most countries. ... 1894 (MDCCCXCIV) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... is the 111th day of the year (112th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar). ... Soviet redirects here. ... Biochemistry is the study of the chemical processes and transformations in living organisms. ... This article does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Ribbon diagram of the enzyme TIM, surrounded by the space-filling model of the protein. ... Plant cell structure Plant cells are quite different from the cells of the other eukaryotic kingdoms organisms. ... The food industry is the complex, global collective of diverse businesses that together supply much of the food energy consumed by the world population. ... Biocatalysis can be defined as the utilization of natural catalysts, called enzymes, to perform chemical transformations on organic compounds. ...

Life

Oparin was born in Uglich. He graduated from the Moscow State University in 1917. In 1924 he put forward a theory of life on Earth developing through gradual chemical evolution of carbon-based molecules in primeval soup. In 1935, he along with academician Aleksei Bakh, founded the Biochemistry Institute by the USSR Academy of Sciences.^[1] In 1939 Oparin became a Corresponding Member of the USSR Academy of Sciences, and in 1946 - a full member of the Academy. In 1940s and 1950s he supported pseudo-scientific theories of Trofim Lysenko and Olga Lepeshinskaya, who made claims about "the origin of cells from noncellular matter", and 'taking the party line' helped his career ^[2]. In 1970, he was elected President of the International Society for the Study of the Origins of Life. On his passing on April 21, 1980, he was interred in Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow. Transfiguration cathedral in the kremlin Uglich (Russian: У́глич, pronounced ooglitch) is a historic town in Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, on the Volga River. ... Moscow State University M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University (Russian: Московский государственный университет имени Ðœ.Ð’.Ломоносова, often abbreviated МГУ, MSU, MGU) is the largest and the oldest university in Russia, founded in 1755. ... 1917 (MCMXVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar (see: 1917 Julian calendar). ... Year 1924 (MCMXXIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Chemical evolution has two meanings and uses. ... For other uses, see Carbon (disambiguation). ... 3D (left and center) and 2D (right) representations of the terpenoid molecule atisane. ... This page may meet Wikipedias criteria for speedy deletion. ... 1935 (MCMXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar). ... Russian Academy of Sciences (Росси́йская Акаде́мия Нау́к) is the national academy of Russia. ... Year 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1946 (MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full 1946 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... A typical 18th century phrenology chart. ... Trofim Denisovich Lysenko (Russian: Трофи́м Дени́сович Лысе́нко) (September 29, 1898–November 20, 1976) was a Soviet politician who made pretense of being a biologist. ... Year 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link shows full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Grave of Anton Chekhov Novodevichy Cemetery (Новодевичье кла́дбище, Novodevichye kladbishche) is the most famous cemetery in Moscow, Russia, situated next to the World Heritage Site, the 16th-century Novodevichy Convent, which is the citys third most popular tourist site. ... For other uses, see Moscow (disambiguation). ...

Oparin became Hero of Socialist Labour in 1969, received the Lenin Prize in 1974 and was awarded the Lomonosov Gold Medal in 1979 "for outstanding achievements in biochemistry". He was also awarded five Orders of Lenin. Hero of Socialist Labor medal. ... Lenin Prize (Russian: Ле́нинская пре́мия) was one of the highest awards in the Soviet Union. ... The Lomonosov Gold Medal, named after Russian scientist and polymath Mikhail Lomonosov, is awarded each year since 1959 for outstanding achievements in the natural sciences and the humanities by the USSR Academy of Sciences and later the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS). ... The Order of Lenin (Russian: Орден Ленина, Orden Lenina), named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was the highest national order of the Soviet Union. ...

Aleksandr Oparin (right) and Andrei Kursanov in the enzymology laboratory, 1938

he did stuff Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... Andrei Lvovich Kursanov (Russian: ) (November 8, 1902, Moscow - September 20, 1999) was a Soviet physiologist and biochemist, academician (1953), and Hero of the Soviet Union (1969). ... Ribbon diagram of the catalytically perfect enzyme TIM. An enzyme is a protein that catalyzes, or speeds up, a chemical reaction. ...

Bibliography and references

• Oparin, A. I. The Origin of Life. Moscow: Moscow Worker publisher, 1924 (in Russian)
  • English translation: Oparin, A. I. The Origin of Life. New York: Dover (1952) (first translation published in 1938).
• Oparin, A., Fesenkov, V. Life in the Universe. Moscow: USSR Academy of Sciences publisher, 3rd edition, 1956 (in Russian)
  • English translation: Oparin, A., and V. Fesenkov. Life in the Universe. New York: Twayne Publishers (1961).

Major works

• "The External Factors in Enzyme Interactions Within a Plant Cell"
• "The Origin of Life on Earth"
• "Life, Its Nature, Origin and Evolution"
• "The History of the Theory of Genesis and Evolution of Life"

Footnotes

1. ^ ^{a b} Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd edition, entry on "Опарин", available online here
2. ^ Vadim J. Birstein. The Perversion Of Knowledge: The True Story of Soviet Science. Westview Press (2004) ISBN 0-813-34280-5

Title page of the 3rd ed. ...

See also

• Oparin Medal