Death for science and loyalty to the king. Famous victims of the Inquisition. The Five Most Famous Victims of the Inquisition

Name: Giordano Bruno

Date of Birth: 1548

Age: 52 years old

Activity: Dominican monk, philosopher, poet, cosmologist

Family status: wasn't married

Giordano Bruno: biography

In February 1600, in the Piazza des Flowers of Rome, the Italian thinker Giordano Bruno was sentenced to death by burning by the Inquisition. Bruno's personality is so ambiguous that his role in world science and philosophy is still debated. Giordano developed a theory about the structure of the Universe, arguing that the stars are moving celestial bodies, and the Universe is infinite in time and space. But even with his heliocentric picture of the world, the Inquisition punished him only with arrest. Why was Bruno burned?

The situation is also interesting because over the past few decades the Catholic Church has revised a number of decisions of the Inquisition regarding scientists and philosophers, but Giordano Bruno was not one of them. Moreover, the church supports the decision of the Inquisition. So why did the church ministers dislike Giordano so much? Was it his scientific views or was the reason much deeper?

Childhood and youth

Philip Bruno was born in 1548, in the town of Nola near Naples, in the family of a hired soldier Giovanni and a poor peasant woman. In 1559, the boy went to Naples with the goal of studying the sciences, including dialectics, literature and logic. Four years later, Philip was sent to a monastery, where he spent 10 years. There the boy received a second name, under which he became known to the world - Giordano.

At the monastery, Philip studied in detail Copernicus’s book “On the Rotation of the Celestial Spheres” and spoke out against traditional beliefs and, pointing out their inconsistency with the data of practical observations. At the age of 24, Giordano became a priest and conducted his first service. Based on the bold statements of the young brother Giordano, the clergy suspected him of heresy.

This forced the young monk to go on the run. He left Italian territory in 1574 and wandered throughout Europe for 17 years. Over the years, Bruno visited Switzerland, England, France, and Germany. In 1577, having arrived in Toulouse (France), Bruno lectured on the science and philosophy of Aristotle. Two years later, Giordano, already in Paris, told the public about the works of the philosopher and theologian Lull, whose worldview he himself shared.

But five years later, the former church minister had a conflict with supporters of Aristotle’s teachings and he was forced to leave Paris, going to London. In England, Giordano worked fruitfully and wrote a number of philosophical treatises. In 1586, the thinker left for Germany, but he was forbidden to lecture in Marburg. Then Bruno took up teaching in Wittenberg.

The science

Giordano Bruno wrote philosophical treatises, spoke at debates, gave lectures, but everywhere in the end he was forced to stop promoting his ideas. The dignitary, who later participated in passing the death sentence on the thinker, wrote that Giordano was an outstanding mind, a philosopher of extraordinary knowledge and erudition.

Bruno strongly opposed the Catholic Church and, in general, any religion existing at that time, calling them the most serious obstacle that science would have to overcome on the path of its development. In 1584, his work “On Infinity, the Universe and Worlds” was published.

This work of his is sometimes considered as the basis of modern materialistic natural science, including the doctrine of the material unity of the world and the spatial and temporal infinity of the Universe.

During the same period, the work “Feast on the Ashes” was published, consisting of five dialogues dedicated to the promotion of Copernicus’ astronomical theories. Along with them, the author expresses his ideas about the infinity of the Universe and the plurality of worlds. In this work, for the first time, the belief in oneself as a superman, a messiah, which modern researchers often attribute to the philosopher, manifests itself.

Promoting Copernicus's ideas about the rotation of the Earth and other planets in orbits around the Sun, Bruno did not achieve success even with enlightened minds like and. Disillusioned with the states of central Europe, Bruno went to Prague. Several more books on magic were published there.

In general, Bruno's philosophy was based on Neoplatonism - he believed that there is a certain single beginning that gave continuation to everything in the Universe. But not only the first principle was called God by the thinker, but also nature, and even man - this is something the church could not tolerate.

Today, researchers argue that Bruno’s ideas did not have significant scientific significance, since they only continued the teachings of Copernicus, expanding it, but not supporting it with evidence. All the main ideas and discoveries of Giordano lay in the plane of mysticism or psychology, and not at all astronomy.

However, it is wrong to completely deny the significance of Bruno’s discoveries for modern science: the philosopher was the first to put forward a hypothesis about the movement of continents, the presence of distant planets invisible to humans, etc.

Personal life

Almost nothing is known about Bruno's personal life. Giordano was not married, had no children, and the thinker did not even have students or followers. Some biographers make assumptions about the philosopher's homosexual inclinations. However, this is not surprising for the morals of the Middle Ages and, in particular, for church ministers.

In the photographs of surviving portraits, Giordano appears as a fragile young man with a thoughtful expression on his face. This thoughtfulness, passion for science and mysticism replaced the man with the delights of social life and carnal pleasures in the arms of women.

Death

Returning from his travels around Europe back to Italy, Giordano Bruno immediately fell into the hands of the Inquisition. According to a number of biographers, the philosopher could have avoided the death sentence if not for his speeches against monastic profits and estates and demands for their confiscation. Other researchers believe that the thinker’s statements about the plurality of worlds and the infinity of the Universe became the main reason that aroused the wrath of the Inquisition.

But Galileo’s theories clearly contradicted church doctrines, so why did the Inquisition treat him much more gently and tolerantly? According to researchers, the answer to this question lies in the methods used by thinkers. Galileo was a classical scientist who used mathematical tools to develop theories. And Giordano, rather, is a mystic, a thinker who used magic instead of scientific methods where there were not enough arguments.

A number of biographers say that the execution of Giordano Bruno was the result not so much of a struggle against science and enlightenment, but rather a struggle for power. Bruno was incredibly convincing in his teachings, and his main ideas were the rejection of religion as such, which was quite dangerous freethinking in the Middle Ages. Bruno was arrested after a denunciation from a certain Mocenigo, who accused the philosopher of heresy. The trial lasted six years, which the philosopher spent in captivity in a Roman prison.

A number of researchers believe that the Inquisition gave the former priest the opportunity to renounce heresy and stay alive, but he refused. The text of the verdict that the Inquisition passed on the heretic Giordano was lost; it is only known that the guilt was not in scientific theories, but in the blasphemy of a former church minister. It was the threat to church authority that became the main reason for the execution of the rebellious and stubborn philosopher.

The personality of Giordano Bruno is so extraordinary that there are more myths about him than facts from his real biography. This is due to the ambiguous attitude of researchers towards his theories and teachings. And indeed, a number of interesting facts took place in the life of the thinker. Thus, even during his life at the monastery, Brother Giordano expressed doubts about the immaculate conception of the Virgin Mary, horrifying the holy fathers. This fact was later often recalled by the Inquisition during the trial.

His long work in France, despite the local church ministers’ rejection of the philosopher’s ideas, is explained by his phenomenal memory. Henry III drew attention to her and asked to teach him mnemonics. An aristocrat from Venice later made the same request to Bruno, but later it was Mocenigo who wrote a denunciation against his teacher, accusing him of heretical statements.

According to the nobleman, Giordano considered Jesus a magician and argued that his death was accidental and did not atone for the sins of mankind, and that human souls are not immortal in the sense that Christians understand this concept, but are subject to reincarnation after the death of the physical body.

The sentence ultimately passed on the philosopher was “execution without shedding of blood,” which meant death at the stake. And the works of Giordano Bruno were on the list of literature prohibited by the Catholic Church until the mid-twentieth century.

Now on the Square of Flowers in Rome there is a monument to the thinker who considered himself a martyr. But even the opening of the monument was accompanied by scandal and anti-Catholic demonstrations. Another interesting fact is that, contrary to the wishes of the church, centuries later secular society rehabilitated the philosopher: in 1973, a film of the same name was even released in Italy, and even a crater on the Moon is named after Giordano Bruno.

Bibliography

• 1582 – “On the Shadows of Ideas”
• 1582 – “The Art of Memory”
• 1582 – “Song of Circe”
• 1582 – “On the abbreviated construction and addition of the art of Lull”
• 1583 – “The Art of Remembering”, or “The Art of Remembering”
• 1583 – “Sealing of Seals”
• 1584 – “Feast on the Ashes”
• 1584 – “On the cause, the beginning and the one”
• 1584 – “On infinity, the universe and worlds”
• 1585 – “The Killen Donkey”
• 1586 – “On the interpretation of dreams”
• 1588 – “Theses against mathematicians”
• 1595 – “Code of Metaphysical Terms”

Story:/ However

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Why was Giordano Bruno burned?

The minority is always wrong - at first!

...The scientist was sentenced to be burned.

When Giordano ascended the fire,

The Supreme Nuncio in front of him lowered his gaze...

- I see how afraid you are of me,

Not being able to refute science.

But the truth is always stronger than fire!

I don’t renounce and I don’t regret.

...The heretic was executed for his idea,

The fire was burning on the Square of Flowers...

...Then they threatened Galileo with torture...

With science, darkness will not build bridges.

As the Earth turns, he is ready to renounce...

The earth is round, Galileo declared in 1633, but in order to avoid the fate of Giordano Bruno, being burned alive at the stake, he was forced to abandon his teaching and admit that the earth cannot rotate. But, leaving the Inquisition hall, the great scientist uttered his famous phrase:“But still she spins!” Whether it was true or not, the stubborn exclamation has survived the centuries. It now means:“Say what you want, I’m sure I’m right!”

On Orthodox forums there are often topics about the burning of Giordano Bruno, where Christians very passionately and convincingly argue that Bruno was burned “not for science,” but for heresy. Thank you for the fact that the very fact of grief is not denied. And Bruno himself, presumably, did not care what he was formally burned alive for - for science or heresy. Well, they burned and burned, so what...

Needless to say, Christianity strenuously disavows the medieval persecution of science, trying to tear away Bruno’s image as a martyr of science and prove that the entire Holy Inquisition are the nicest, kindest and most intelligent people. In principle, we have almost been convinced that science in the Middle Ages developed solely thanks to the care and patience of the Inquisition. I willingly believe it.

Bruno refused to recognize the main of his theories as false and was sentenced to death by the Catholic Church, and then burned alive by Christians at the stake in Rome's Campo di Fiore on February 17, 1600. Bruno's last words were:“You probably announced this verdict with more fear than I listened to it... Burning does not mean refute.”

There is such a legend. When Giordano Bruno was being burned in the Piazza des Flowers in Rome, the fire suddenly began to die out: either the wind blew, or the wood became damp. From the crowd of onlookers watching the execution, an old woman, God's dandelion, suddenly rushed to the pyramid of firewood on which Giordano was tied and carefully thrust an armful of dry straw into the dying fire. Remember what Baron Munchausen said in the famous film by Mark Zakharov:“In the end, Galileo also renounced! That's why I always loved Giordano Bruno more..." . And indeed, even under the threat of the death penalty, the medieval thinker remained true to his convictions.

Why did Giordano Bruno so frighten the Catholic Church that, having lost to him in a philosophical dispute, it did not find any other way to fight philosophy and science than to burn its representative? Bruno in his teaching asserted what every person has known for a long time and was even recently recognized by the Vatican, which acquitted Galileo. The Universe is infinite, as is the number of stars in it. The Sun is not a fire lit by the Christian god to revolve around a stationary strip of the Earth and illuminate it, but one of the countless stars, which, like the Earth, rotates in space along its own trajectory. Our Earth is not the only planet in the universe where life exists.

He argued that the same laws apply throughout the universe, and they are based on the material principle. On June 9, 1889, in Rome, in the square of flowers - Campo dei Fiori, where the great scientist Giordano Bruno was burned in 1600, a monument to him was erected. The church made its last justification for the inhumanity of the “holy” Inquisition through the mouth of the Jesuit historian Luigi Cicuttini in 1950, who literally said the following:"The manner in which the Church intervened in Bruno's case is justified... the right to intervene is an inherent right, which is not subject to the influence of history" ...Neither subtract nor add.

Notice of the burning of Giordano Bruno.

On Thursday morning, at Campo di Fiore, the Dominican criminal Brother Nolanets, about whom it has already been written before, was burned alive; the most stubborn heretic, who at his own will created various dogmas against our faith and, in particular, against the Most Holy Virgin and the saints, stubbornly wanted to die, remaining a criminal, and said that he was dying as a martyr and voluntarily, and knew that his soul would ascend along with the smoke to Correct. But now he will see whether he was telling the truth.

...No, people have not forgotten that fire

At the turn of the Renaissance.

And three centuries have not passed since then -

Became a monument to Bruno for his torment.

In monastic granite vestments

He looks at Rome from the Square of Flowers...

Heirs of the "seditious" teaching

They follow him in understanding the world.

The path to other Universes is open, to other worlds...

Why did the State Duma speaker “burn” Copernicus, for Galileo’s statement?

“But still she spins!” - “Say what you want, I’m sure I’m right!”

“The boyars in the Duma speak according to what is not written, so that everyone’s stupidity can be seen.” - Peter the First.

State Duma Speaker Boris Gryzlov demonstrated his scholarship “without a piece of paper” in an online interview. Speaking on May 28, 2010 at the press center of Gazeta.Ru (the speech was broadcast on the Internet), he, in particular, touched upon issues of pseudoscience. Speaking about this, the speaker said the following phrase:“These are the Middle Ages! So, Copernicus was burned at the stake because he said, “Still, the Earth rotates!”

Let us recall that Nicolaus Copernicus lived peacefully to the age of 70 and died of a stroke. Phrase“But still the Earth rotates!” attributed to Galileo Galilei, who also died in his bed. And the scientist philosopher Giordano Bruno was burned.“To burn does not mean to refute.”

So in the future we shouldn’t be too surprised if tomorrow our parliamentary “stargazer”, who, by the way, is also the chairman of the Supreme Council of the United Russia party, declares that the constellation Ursa Major is named so solely in honor of his favorite party, and corporation MP ROC “United Ecumenical Religion” and other religions cannot exist in Rus'...

“...And don’t be so tragic, my dear. Look at this with your usual humor... With humor!.. In the end, Galileo also renounced us. “That’s why I always loved Giordano Bruno more…”

Grigory Gorin “The Same Munchausen”

Not subject to rehabilitation

Over the past decades, the Catholic Church has carried out a real revolution, revising a lot of decisions once made by the Inquisition regarding scientists and philosophers of the past.

October 31, 1992 Pope John Paul II rehabilitated Galileo Galilei, recognizing as erroneous the forcing of a scientist to renounce the theory Copernicus under penalty of death, carried out in 1633.

Like Galileo, at the end of the 20th century the official Vatican retroactively acquitted many, but not Giordano Bruno.

Moreover, in 2000, when the 400th anniversary of Bruno's execution was celebrated, Cardinal Angelo Sodano called Bruno's execution a "sad episode", but nevertheless pointed out the correctness of the actions of the inquisitors, who, in his words, "did everything possible to save his life." That is, to this day the Vatican considers the trial and sentence against Giordano Bruno justified.

Why did he annoy the holy fathers so much?

Dangerous Doubts

He was born in the town of Nola near Naples, in the family of a soldier Giovanni Bruno, in 1548. At birth, the future scientist received the name Filippo.

At the age of 11, the boy was brought to study in Naples. He grasped everything on the fly, and his teachers promised him a brilliant career.

In the 16th century, for smart Italian boys, the most promising career path seemed to be the path of a priest. In 1563 Filippo Bruno entered the monastery Saint Dominic, where two years later he becomes a monk, receiving a new name - Giordano.

So, Brother Giordano is firmly on the first step towards the rank of cardinal, and maybe even accession to the papal throne. And why not, because Giordano’s abilities amaze his mentors.

Over time, however, the enthusiasm fades away, and Brother Giordano simply begins to scare other monks, questioning church canons. And when rumors reached the authorities that Brother Giordano was not sure of the purity of conception Virgin Mary, something like an “internal audit” began in relation to him.

Giordano Bruno realized that it was not worth expecting its results, and fled to Rome, and then moved on. Thus began his wanderings around Europe.

Man and the Universe

The fugitive monk earned money by lecturing and teaching. His lectures attracted great attention.

Bruno was an active supporter of the heliocentric system of Nicolaus Copernicus and boldly defended it in disputes. But he himself went even further, putting forward new theses. He stated that stars are distant suns around which planets can also exist. Giordano Bruno assumed the presence of planets in the solar system that are still unknown. The monk declared the infinity of the Universe and the multiplicity of worlds on which the existence of life is possible.

Heliocentric system of the world. Photo: www.globallookpress.com

In reality, it's not that simple. Of course, the holy fathers were not delighted with the fact that Brother Giordano was completely destroying the canonical ideas about the world around him, sanctified by the church.

But if Bruno, like Galileo Galilei later, had based his conclusions on pure science, he would have been treated more kindly.

However, Giordano Bruno was a philosopher who based his ideas not only on logical thinking, but also on mysticism, while encroaching on the fundamental postulates of Catholicism - we have already cited as an example doubts about the virginity of the Virgin Mary’s conception.

Mason, magician, spy?

Giordano Bruno developed Neoplatonism, especially the idea of ​​a single beginning and the world soul as the driving principle of the Universe, freely crossing it with other philosophical concepts. Bruno believed that the goal of philosophy is not the knowledge of a supernatural God, but of nature, which is “God in things.”

The fact that Giordano Bruno was persecuted not only and not so much for the creative development of the Copernican theory is also evidenced by the fact that at the time when he gave his lectures, the church had not yet officially banned the doctrine of the heliocentric system of the world, although it did not encourage it .

Giordano Bruno, like any searching and doubting philosopher, was a very complex person who did not fit into a simple framework.

This allowed many in the post-Soviet period to say: “We were lied to! In fact, Giordano Bruno was a mystic, a freemason, a spy and a magician, and they burned him for his cause!”

Some even started talking about Bruno's homosexual preferences. By the way, there would be nothing surprising in this, because in Europe of the 16th century, despite the rampant Inquisition, same-sex relationships were quite widespread, and perhaps primarily among representatives of the church...

The delighted king and stubborn Shakespeare

But let’s move away from the “slippery” topic and return to the life of Giordano Bruno. As already mentioned, his seditious lectures turned him into a wanderer.

Nevertheless, Giordano Bruno also found very influential patrons. So, for some time he favored himself King Henry III of France, impressed by the knowledge and memory of the philosopher.

This allowed Bruno to live and work peacefully in France for several years, and then move to England with letters of recommendation from the French king.

But a fiasco awaited Bruno in Foggy Albion - he failed to convince either the royal court or leading figures of science and culture of the correctness of Copernicus’s ideas, such as William Shakespeare And Francis Bacon.

Two years later, he was treated with such hostility in England that he again had to leave for the Continent.

Portrait of Giordano Bruno (modern copy of an early 18th century engraving). Source: Public Domain

Student's denunciation

Among other things, Giordano Bruno was engaged in mnemonics, that is, the development of memory, and was quite successful in this, which at one time amazed the French king.

In 1591, young Venetian aristocrat Giovanni Mocenigo invited Bruno so that the philosopher could teach him the art of memory.

Bruno accepted the offer willingly and moved to Venice, but soon the relationship between student and teacher deteriorated.

Moreover, in May 1592, Mocenigo began writing denunciations to the Venetian Inquisition, reporting that Bruno was saying “that Christ performed imaginary miracles and was a magician, that Christ did not die of his own free will and, as far as he could, tried to avoid death; that there is no retribution for sins; that souls created by nature pass from one living being to another,” and so on and so forth. The denunciations also spoke of the “plurality of worlds,” but for the inquisitors this was already deeply secondary in comparison with the above accusations.

A few days later, Giordano Bruno was arrested. The Roman Inquisition sought his extradition from Venice, but they hesitated for a long time. Procurator of the Venetian Republic Contarini wrote that Bruno “committed the gravest crime in terms of heresy, but he is one of the most outstanding and rare geniuses that can be imagined, and has extraordinary knowledge, and created a wonderful teaching.”

Was Bruno seen as a schismatic?

In February 1593, Bruno was finally transported to Rome, and he spent the next six years in prison.

Brother Giordano was demanded to repent and renounce his ideas, but Bruno stubbornly stood his ground. The investigators clearly lacked the talent to shake the stubborn man's position in philosophical discussions.

At the same time, adherence to the Copernican theory and its creative development, although they figured in the accusation, were clearly of interest to the inquisitors to a much lesser extent than the attempts of Giordano Bruno on the postulates of the religious doctrine itself - the very ones that he began in the monastery of St. Dominic.

The full text of the sentence passed on Giordano Bruno has not been preserved, and during the execution something strange happened. The charges were read to those gathered in the square in such a way that not everyone understood who was actually being executed. Brother Giordano, they say, does not believe in the virgin birth and ridiculed the possibility of turning bread into the body of Christ.

The trial of Giordano Bruno.

Probably every schoolchild, when asked why the Inquisition dealt with Giordano Bruno, will answer this way: in the 17th century. the young scientist was burned at the stake because he was a supporter of the Copernican heliocentric system, that is, he argued that the Earth revolves around the Sun. In fact, in this widespread myth, only one thing is true: Giordano Bruno was really burned by the Inquisition in 1600. Everything else requires clarification.

The development of science does not always correspond to the interests of the state and politicians. And if one contradicts the other, then for a scientist the matter may end in prison or execution. However, it also happens that a man of science himself is involved in politics. Alexey Durnovo talks about five scientists who had to pay dearly for their beliefs.

Who it. Spanish theologian, naturalist and physician.

What is my fault? Servetus conducted scientific experiments prohibited by the church, which once prompted him to think that the doctrine of the creation of the world by God might be erroneous. At first he expressed his thoughts very carefully, but then he went wild. Servetus made very bold and harsh judgments about God and the role of the church in a changing world. It is not surprising that the Inquisition began to hunt him. Servetus was arrested, but, not without the help of friends, managed to escape their imprisonment.

Miguel Servet managed to quarrel with both Catholics and Protestants

The problem is that Servetus’ ideas were not to the liking of not only Catholics, but also Protestants. The leader of the Genevan Protestants, John Calvin, with whom Servetus corresponded, managed to declare the scientist an enemy of the city and a dangerous criminal. Servetus apparently did not know about this, because in 1553 he arrived in Geneva in search of refuge...

Bottom line. Servetus was arrested on Calvin's orders and later executed.

Consequences. Servetus's works revolutionized the understanding of his contemporaries about the human circulatory system. In particular, the scientist proved the existence of pulmonary circulation, which subsequently helped save more than one thousand lives.

Who it. Italian Dominican monk, poet, philosopher and astronomer.

What is my fault? Bruno brought to the masses the ideas of Copernicus that the Earth is not the center of the universe. And since the teachings of Copernicus were declared a dangerous heresy, Bruno was also persecuted. But he insisted on his own, expressed more and more bold ideas, and from the point of view of the church, he fell more and more into heresy. And the monk-philosopher, meanwhile, said that the Sun is not the only celestial body of this kind in the Universe.

The last three Pontiffs apologized to Giordano Bruno

Bruno traveled throughout Europe trying to convince prominent people of the time that Copernicus was right. It seems that even Shakespeare was among those with whom he discussed these issues. But the great playwright did not believe the ideas of the great astronomer. In 1591, Bruno invited the Venetian aristocrat Giovanni Mocenigo. They did not see eye to eye, and Mocenigo wrote a denunciation against his guest. The Inquisition took up the matter, Bruno was arrested and imprisoned.

Bottom line. In 1660, Giordano Bruno was burned at the stake as a dangerous heretic possessed by the devil.

Consequences. Now even the Catholic Church admits that Bruno, Copernicus and Galileo were right. And although the Vatican offers money to refute the heliocentric system, in recent years Popes John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Francis I have each expressed regret over the execution of Giordano Bruno.

Who it. Outstanding French chemist.

What is my fault? It is obvious that he was engaged not only in science, but also in social and political activities. He was a participant in the French Revolution and led the collection of taxes.

In 1794 he was arrested by the Jacobins. Several petitions were filed in Lavoisier's defense. The petitioners drew the attention of Robespierre, Saint-Just and Couthon to the fact that Antoine was a world-famous scientist. But the Jacobins had their own way of looking at things. As a result, Robespierre put a resolution on one of the petitions: “The Republic does not need scientists.”

If you have held a chemistry textbook in your hands, you have definitely seen a portrait of Lavoisier

Bottom line. He was sent to the guillotine.

Consequences. If you held a chemistry textbook in your hands, you definitely saw a portrait of Lavoisier there. If you have ever been to the Eiffel Tower, then you have come across his name carved at the very base. It is difficult to list all his achievements. Probably the main one is an accurate description of the composition of air, although he was not the one who introduced the terms nitrogen and oxygen. Lavoisier is considered the founder of modern chemistry, and the subsequent history of France proved that the republic still needed scientists.

Who it. Biologist, botanist, geneticist and breeder.

What is your fault? Didn't get along with the main party agronomist Trofim Lysenko. Frankly speaking, Stalin’s idea of ​​​​the development of selection ran counter to general scientific principles. In the dispute between Vavilov and Lysenko, the party supported the latter. After all, Lysenko was a man of proletarian origin, who, moreover, promised to greatly increase the harvest through vernalization - the widespread transformation of winter crops into spring crops.

Modern communists seem to have forgotten about the role of the CPSU in the fate of Vavilov

Vavilov and Lysenko might have gotten along if Lysenko had not denied genetics, calling it a bourgeois lie. In the end, the CPSU carried out a decisive defeat of genetics, and Vavilov was arrested and sent to the Gulag.

Bottom line. In 1943, Vavilov died in a Saratov prison from hunger and pneumonia. It is known that he was repeatedly subjected to bullying and torture.

Consequences. The CPSU and Lysenko skillfully turned genetics into a forbidden doctrine. The USSR, one of the world's leading countries in the development of this science, has fallen to the last position. Vavilov was rehabilitated in 1955. The most surprising thing is that many modern communists are very fond of mentioning genetics and the works of Vavilov among the great achievements of Stalin and Soviet science. Which, in turn, often angers the scientific community.

Who it. Outstanding British mathematician and cryptographer.

What is my fault? Indecent behavior and intimacy with a man, which in the post-war years was considered a criminal offense in Britain. The mysterious story between Turing and worker Arnold Murray became public. The mathematician was ostracized and bullied. Under pressure, he agreed to hormone therapy.

Alan Turing is the most famous victim of homophobia of all time

Bottom line. He committed suicide. Probably because of the atmosphere of intolerance that has developed around him.

Consequences. Turing was an outstanding mathematician whose work made an important contribution to the victory in World War II. It was his ideas that helped decipher the German Enigma code, which was used to encrypt Wehrmacht messages. Turing was considered a hero, but the story of Murram ruined his life. He was rehabilitated only in 2013, although already in 2009, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown publicly apologized for what happened to the scientist. Turing is considered the most famous victim of homophobia of all time. His works formed the basis for the development of computer science and the creation of artificial intelligence.