PAVLOV IVAN: (1849-1936) Russian experimental neurologist and physiologist, known for his ...

PAVLOV IVAN: (1849-1936) Russian experimental neurologist and physiologist, known for his discovery of classical conditioning through his experiments with dogs. Nobel Prize winner in Physiology or Medicine, 1904. The personal passport of Pavlov, unsigned, the 8vo plain burgundy bound document printed in Cyrillic and French text and issued in Moscow in December 1921, numbered 4164 and featuring an original photograph of Pavlov neatly laid down to an inside page, the image depicting him seated in a three-quarter length pose, and with several pages bearing various official visa stamps, including those for his entry to, and exit from, Finland in March 1922. The passport also features the the official stamps and signatures of the head of the Special Department of the VChK (Cheka; the All-Russian Extraordinary Commission for Combating Counter-Revolution and Sabotage) as well as that of the head of the Foreign Department of the GPU (State Political Administration under the NKVD of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic).Together with an identical 8vo bound passport issued to Pavlov´s wife, Seraphima ´Sara´ Vasilievna Karchevskaya (1855-1947), numbered 4168 and also issued in Moscow in December 1921, with an original photograph of her neatly laid down to an inside page, the image depicting her seated in a three-quarter length pose, and also with various official visa stamps and signatures, including those for her travels to Finland with her husband. A rare and interesting pair of documents. Some light overall age wear, generally about VG, 2

Ivan Pavlov was praised by Vladimir Lenin and highly regarded by the Soviet government who, in 1922, allowed the physiologist to make a brief trip to Finland, which was followed by other visits abroad. The Soviet government used Pavlov´s fame and authority to restore the internationally disrupted scientific ties and cultural contacts, aiming to return Russia to the status of a civilised state. For the same purpose, in the 1930s, Pavlov was entrusted with receiving distinguished foreign guests in Leningrad, such as Niels Bohr and H. G. Wells.