BOGDANOV

Alexander Aleksandrovich Bogdanov (Russian: Алекса́ндр Алекса́ндрович Богда́нов; born Alyaksandr Malinovsky, Belarusian: Алякса́ндр Алякса́ндравіч Маліно́ўскі) (22 August 1873 [O.S. 10 August] – 7 April 1928) was a Russian and Soviet physician, philosopher, science fiction writer, and revolutionary of Belarusianethnicity.

He was a key figure in the early history of the Bolshevikfaction of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party, being one of its co-founders and a rival to Vladimir Leninuntil being expelled in 1909. In the first decade of the Soviet Union, he was an influential opponent of the government from a Marxist perspective. Bogdanov received training in medicine and psychiatry. His scientific interests ranged from the universal systems theory to the possibility of human rejuvenation through blood transfusion. He invented an original philosophy called “tectology,” now regarded as a forerunner of systems theory. He was also an economist, culture theorist, science fiction writer, and political activist.

In 1908, Bogdanov published the novel Red Star, about a utopia set on Mars. In it, he made predictions about future scientific and social developments. His utopia also dealt with feminist themes, which would become more common in later utopian science fiction, e.g., the two sexes becoming virtually identical in the future, or women escaping "domestic slavery" (one reason for physical changes) and being free to pursue relationships with the same freedom as men, without stigma. Other notable differences between the utopia of Red Star and present day society include workers having total control over their working hours, as well as more subtle differences in social behavior such as conversations being patiently "set at the level of the person with whom they were speaking and with understanding for his personality although it might very much differ from their own". The novel also gave a detailed description of blood transfusion in the Martian society.