2-490-865 - Historisk Bildbyrå/Mustang media/Heritage Images

Trofim Lysenko, Soviet agronomist, c1930s(?). Lysenko (1898-1976) became a prominent figure in Soviet agriculture in the 1930s after the severe famines and loss of agricultural productivity that occurred after the large-scale collectivisation of Russian farming ordered by Stalin. He rejected Mendel's theories of genetics, favouring instead the hybridisation theories of Ivan Michurin, and carried out research aimed at increasing crop yields. Lysenko's work failed to produce the results he promised however and by the 1950s his aggricultural methods had been largely abandoned.