Natalia Bekhtereva

Natalia Bekhtereva
Ната́лья Петро́вна Бе́хтерева
File:Behtereva.jpg
Born	(1924-07-07)7 July 1924 Leningrad, USSR
Died	22 June 2008(2008-06-22) (aged 83) Hamburg, Germany
Nationality	Soviet, Russian
Alma mater	First Pavlov State Medical University of St. Peterburg

Natalia Petrovna Bekhtereva (Russian: Ната́лья Петро́вна Бе́хтерева, IPA: [ˈbʲextʲɪrʲɪvə]; July 7, 1924 – June 22, 2008) was a Soviet and Russian neuroscientist and psychologist who developed neurophysiological approaches to psychology, such as measuring the impulse activity of human neurons. She was a participant in the documentary films The Call of the Abyss (Russian: Зов бездны) and Storm of Consciousness (Russian: Штурм сознания), which aroused wide public interest. Candidate of Biological Sciences, Doctor of Medicine, Full Professor.

Biography

She is Vladimir Bekhterev's granddaughter. In the summer of 1941, she entered the First Pavlov State Medical University of St. Petersburg, (more than 700 students entered the University; by the end of the training, only 4 graduates survived). She survived the Siege of Leningrad and in 1959 she became a Doctor of Medicine. She rose to become Director of the Soviet Institute for Experimental Medicine, which she administrated between 1970 and 1990. She worked as editor-in-chief of the academic journals Human Physiology (1975–1987) and International Journal of Psychophysiology (1984–1994). She was the founder of the Institute for Human Brain, operating under the auspices of the Soviet Academy of Sciences, of which she was elected a member in 1981.

She was awarded the Order of Lenin in 1984 and the USSR State Prize for 1985. In 1972, and the Wiener Medal in Cybernetics by the American Society for Cybernetics. She was also awarded the Medal "For Labour Valour", Order of the Badge of Honour, Order of the Red Banner of Labour, Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" III class and IV class, Order of Friendship of Peoples.

She died in the morning of June 22, 2008 in Hamburg at the St. George's Hospital in the 84th year of life after a long illness.

Tribute

File:Natalia Petrovna Bekhtereva.jpg

The beginning of scientific life. Graduate student. The end of the 40s.

On July 7, 2020, Google celebrated her 96th birthday with a Google Doodle.

6074 Bechtereva, an minor planet named after Natalia Bekhtereva.

The Bekhtereva Institute for Human Brain of the RAS is named after her.

Family

The grandfather is Vladimir Bekhterev (1857–1927) — psychiatrist, neuropathologist, physiologist, psychologist, founder of reflexology. The father is Peter Bekhterev (1886–1938) – engineer and inventor. The mother is Zinaïda Bekhtereva – doctor.

First husband is Vsevolod Medvedev (1924–2008) – physiologist. Son from the first marriage is Svyatoslav Medvedev (1949) – physiologist.

Second husband is Ivan Kashtelyan (died in 1990) – economist. The stepson is Alexander (died in 1990).

The granddaughter is Natalia Medvedeva – psychiatrist.

Publications

Bekhtereva published more than 360 works, some of them in English, including:

• 1962. Biopotentials of Cerebral Hemispheres in Brain Tumors.
• 1978. Neurophysiological Aspects of Human Mental Activity.
• 1981. Psychophysiology Today and Tomorrow. (editor).

Documentary films with her participation

• Зов бездны (The Call of the Abyss); (in Russian)
• Штурм сознания. Громкое дело (Storm of Consciousness High-profile case). (in Russian)

See also

• Vladimir Bekhterev

References

• "Наталья Бехтерева — какой мы её знали {сборник эссе, очерков}", под общей редакцией С. В. Медведева, г. Москва, издательство "АСТ", г. Санкт-Петербург, Сова, 2009 г. – 256 с.: иллюстрации; 16 с. ISBN 978-5-17-060803-4 (in Russian)

External links

• Профиль Натальи Петровны Бехтеревой на официальном сайте РАН (in Russian)
• Биография (in Russian)
• Биография2(in Russian)
• Наталья Бехтерева не любила, когда мозг сравнивали с компьютером // RIA Novosti. — 23.06.2008. (in Russian)
• Путешествие по лабиринтам мозга. Скончалась нейрофизиолог Наталья Петровна Бехтерева. // Lenta.ru — 23.06.2008. (in Russian)
• Natalya Bekhtereva at the ceo.spb.ru