The History of the USSR Academy of Sciences’ Participation in the International Congresses of Biochemistry (1949–1961)

The article examines the history of the first five international congresses of biochemistry, held in 1949–1961, and the USSR Academy of Sciences’ participation in these congresses. International congress organizers persistently invited Soviet scientists to collaborate, which answered the Academy’s wishes. At the same time, however, numerous restrictions that existed in the USSR hindered international contacts. It is shown how these restrictions were gradually eased over these 12 years and how the attitude of Soviet leadership towards international scientific cooperation evolved from prohibiting Soviet scientists’ participation in international conventions to permitting such participation although subject to prior approval by the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee. Looking into the history of the said international biochemical congresses provides an idea of main research areas in biochemistry of the time, of the role of individual scientists in their development and the role of socio-cultural factors in the advancement of biochemical research, and of the importance of international congresses. The main feature of the evolution of biochemistry at the time was the formation of a new biological discipline of molecular biology on the basis of biochemistry.