Ivan Pavlov

Ivan Pavlov was born in 1849 in a small village, Ryazan in Central Russia. His father was a village priest and his mother, the daughter of a priest. Both his parents had to work hard all day in the fields, as peasants, to earn a living. Since Ivan was the oldest amongst 11 children, he shouldered a great responsibility and worked very hard.

At the age of 10, a serious fall led to a long convalescence in his grandfather's care. His grandfather, an abbot at a monastery, encouraged Ivan to read. He insisted that Ivan write down his observations and comments, before he would talk about the reading with him. This practice instilled in him a lifelong habit of systematic observations and reporting.

Because of his fall, he could not attend school till he was 11. His father tutored him at home, and in 1860 hoping to embrace priesthood, he entered a theological seminary. Greatly inspired by Charles Darwin, he left the seminary to join the St. Petersburg University in 1870, to study chemistry and physiology.

He graduated from Petersburg in 1875 and then pursued a course in medicine. He entered the third year at the Medico Chirurgical Academy (later renamed Military Medical Academy).

He performed extremely important experiments on the augmentor nerves of the heart and presented this work as his thesis for the degree of Doctor of Medicine, which he received on May 23, 1883. He studied further, for the next couple of years, under the direction of cardiovascular physiologist, Carl Ludwig (at Leipzig) and the gastrointestinal physiologist Rudolf Heidenhain (at Breslau), in Germany.

The Family Man 

After graduating from the Military Medical Academy in 1881, Pavlov married Seraphima Vasilievna (Sara), a pedagogical student. Sara was an exceptional woman. A true friend and companion to Pavlov, she understood and appreciated him. Sara was out standing not only because of her deep religious feelings, but also for her great love of literature and talent for writing. For a considerable part Pavlov owed his scientific success to his wife.

Humiliating poverty marked the first 10 years of the Pavlov's married life. For sometime they were even forced to live apart with friends or relatives, wherever they could find hospitality. Ivan and Sara went on to be parents of three sons, Mirchik, Vladimir and Vsevolod, and a daughter, Vera. Sara survived Ivan and breathed her last in 1947.