Aleksey Leontyev
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Aleksei Nikolayevich Leontiev ( rus, Алексе́й Никола́евич Лео́нтьев, p=lʲɪˈonʲtʲjɪf; February 18, 1903 – January 21, 1979), was a
Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
developmental psychologist Developmental psychology is the scientific study of how and why humans grow, change, and adapt across the course of their lives. Originally concerned with infants and children, the field has expanded to include adolescence, adult development ...
and
philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...
and a founder of
activity theory Activity theory (AT; russian: link=no, Теория деятельности) is an umbrella term for a line of eclectic social-sciences theories and research with its roots in the Soviet psychological activity theory pioneered by Sergei Rubinste ...
.


Biography

Aleksei Leontiev's life was closely linked to the
Lomonosov Moscow State University M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU; russian: Московский государственный университет имени М. В. Ломоносова) is a public research university in Moscow, Russia and the most prestigious ...
(MGU). In 1921, he began his studies at the historical-philological faculty of the university. The historical-philological faculty, at the time, included a Department of Philosophy at which Georgy Chelpanov was teaching psychology, and Leontiev studied psychology with him. In 1924, Leontiev graduated from what became the Faculty of Social Sciences. Leontiev worked with
Lev Vygotsky Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky (russian: Лев Семёнович Выго́тский, p=vɨˈɡotskʲɪj; be, Леў Сямёнавіч Выго́цкі, p=vɨˈɡotskʲɪj; – June 11, 1934) was a Soviet psychologist, known for his work on ps ...
and
Alexander Luria Alexander Romanovich Luria (russian: Алекса́ндр Рома́нович Лу́рия, p=ˈlurʲɪjə; 16 July 1902 – 14 August 1977) was a Soviet neuropsychologist, often credited as a father of modern neuropsychology. He develope ...
from 1924 to 1930, collaborating on the development of Marxist psychology as a response to behaviorism and the focus on the stimulus-response mechanism as an explanation for human behavior. Leontiev left Vygotsky's group in
Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
in 1931, to take up a position in
Kharkiv Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.Moscow State University M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU; russian: Московский государственный университет имени М. В. Ломоносова) is a public research university in Moscow, Russia and the most prestigious ...
. In 1966, Leontiev became the first ever Dean of the newly established Faculty of Psychology at the Moscow State University, where he worked until his death in 1979.


Scientific work

Leontiev's early scientific work was done in the framework of Vygotsky's cultural-historical research program and focused on the exploration of the phenomenon of cultural mediation. Representative of this period is Leontiev's study on mediated memory in children and adults ''The development of higher forms of memory'', 1931. Leontiev's own research school is based on a thorough psychological analysis of the phenomenon of activity. Systematic development of the psychological foundations of
activity theory Activity theory (AT; russian: link=no, Теория деятельности) is an umbrella term for a line of eclectic social-sciences theories and research with its roots in the Soviet psychological activity theory pioneered by Sergei Rubinste ...
was started in the 1930s by Kharkiv group of psychologists headed by Leontiev and included such researchers as
Zaporozhets ZAZ Zaporozhets ( uk, Запоро́жець) was a series of rear-wheel-drive superminis (city cars in their first generation) designed and built from 1958 at the ZAZ factory in Soviet Ukraine. Different models of the Zaporozhets, all of whi ...
, Galperin, Zinchenko, Bozhovich, Asnin, Lukov, etc. In its fullest form, activity theory was subsequently developed and institutionalized as the leading psychological doctrine in the Soviet Union in the post-war period after Leontiev had moved to Moscow and took a position at the
Moscow State University M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU; russian: Московский государственный университет имени М. В. Ломоносова) is a public research university in Moscow, Russia and the most prestigious ...
. For Leontiev, the psychological macrostructure of 'activity' consisted of those processes "that realize a person's actual life in the objective world by which he is surrounded, his social being in all the richness and variety of its forms" (Leontiev 1977). The core of Leontiev's work is the proposal that we can examine human processes from the perspective of their psychological macrostructure in three interrelated units. The stimulating unit is that of ''activity'' and ''motives'' that drive it. The behavior-orientation unit is that of ''actions'' and their associated ''goals'', and the conditional unit is the analysis of ''operations'' that serve as ''means'' for the achievement of actions goals.


Leontiev's texts online

In English * Problems of the Development of the Mind, 1959 (1st ed.), 1965 (2nd ed.), 1972 (3rd ed.), 1981 (4th ed.); translated in English in 1981:
''The problem of the origin of sensation''
(pp. 7–53). In Problems of the Development of the Mind. (Trans. M. Kopylova) Moscow: Progress Publishers

(pp. 156–326). Problems of the Development of the Mind. (Trans. M. Kopylova) Moscow: Progress Publishers.
Alexei Leont'ev archive @ marxists.org.uk


1977

1978
The Development of Mind
1981 In Russian * Леонтьев А.Н. (1947)

* Леонтьев А.Н. (1977)

( ttp://lib.ru/PSIHO/LEONTIEV/dsl.txt ''idem'' * Леонтьев А.Н. (2000)
Лекции по общей психологии
* Леонтьев А. Н. (1978)
Воля
* Леонтьев А. Н. (1986)


External links

In English * Wertsch, J. V. The Concept of Activity in Soviet Psychology. Sharpe, 1981. * Veer, R.v.D. and Valsiner, J. Understanding Vygotsky: a quest for synthesis. Oxford: Blackwell, 1991. * Leontiev, A. A. The Life and Creative Path of A.N. Leontiev. Journal of Russian & East European Psychology, May/Jun2005, Vol. 43 Issue 3, p8-69, * Leontiev, A.N., The Development of Mind, a reproduction of the Progress Publishers 1981 edition, plus "Activity and Consciousness," originally published by Progress Publishers, 1977, published by Erythrospress, se

* Yasnitsky, A. (2011)
Vygotsky Circle as a Personal Network of Scholars: Restoring Connections Between People and Ideas
Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science, . In Russian * Short bio @ th

* Bio

* Леонтьев А.А
Жизненный и творческий путь А.Н.Леонтьева


See also

*
Cultural-historical activity theory Cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT) is a theoretical framework which helps to understand and analyse the relationship between the human mind (what people think and feel) and activity (what people do). It traces its origins to the founders of ...
*
Large-group capacitation Large-group capacitation is an adult education and social psychology concept associated with the Brazilian sociologist Clodomir Santos de Morais, and grounded in the "activity" of the individual and the social psychology of the large group.de ...
* Leading activity


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leontiev, Aleksei Leont'ev Leont'ev 20th-century psychologists 20th-century Russian philosophers Leont'ev, Alexei Nikolaevich Leont'ev, Aleksey Academicians of the RSFSR Academy of Pedagogical Sciences Academicians of the USSR Academy of Pedagogical Sciences Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Lenin Prize winners Recipients of the Order of the Badge of Honour Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Cognitive scientists Leont'ev, Alexei Nikolaevich Soviet Marxists Soviet philosophers Leont'ev, Alexei Nikolaevich Burials at Kuntsevo Cemetery