Boris Fyodorovich Porshnev (russian: Бори́с Фёдорович По́ршнев; , in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

– 26 November 1972, 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 millio ...

) was a Soviet historian known for his works on popular revolts in

Ancien Régime ''Ancien'' may refer to * the French word for "ancient, old" ** Société des anciens textes français * the French for "former, senior" ** Virelai ancien ** Ancien Régime ** Ancien Régime in France ''Ancien'' may refer to * the French word for ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

and a doctor of social sciences working on

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries between ...

prehistory Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use ...

, and neurolinguistics as relating to the origins of man.

Cryptozoology

Porshnev took interest in

cryptozoology Cryptozoology is a pseudoscience and subculture that searches for and studies unknown, legendary, or extinct animals whose present existence is disputed or unsubstantiated, particularly those popular in folklore, such as Bigfoot, the Loch Ness ...

and has been described with Marie-Jeanne Koffman as the "revered parents of Russian monster-hunting." Porshnev led several Soviet expeditions to the Pamir Mountains and north-western

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 10 ...

to search for the Mongolian " Almas" (wild man).Loxton, Daniel; Prothero, Donald (2013). ''Abominable Science: Origins of the Yeti, Nessie, and Other Famous Cryptids''. Columbia University Press. pp. 103-104. He was driven by a Marxist ideology to find the "wild man" to confirm materialism and evolutionary human origins. He believed that the almas were a relict population of the Neanderthals who had survived the Ice Age of the

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was finally confirmed in ...

epoch. His expeditions were unsuccessful and his career went into decline. In the late 1960s, Porshnev's idea that relict Neanderthals could explain Asian or Russian bigfoot sightings became known as the "Porshnev theory". The idea influenced cryptozoologists

Bernard Heuvelmans Bernard Heuvelmans (10 October 1916 – 22 August 2001) was a Belgian-French scientist, explorer, researcher, and writer probably best known, along with Scottish-American biologist Ivan T. Sanderson, as a founding figure in the pseudoscienc ...

and

Ivan T. Sanderson Ivan Terence Sanderson (January 30, 1911 – February 19, 1973) was a British biologist and writer born in Edinburgh, Scotland, who became a naturalized citizen of the United States. Along with Belgian-French biologist Bernard Heuvelmans, San ...

. Porshnev co-authored a book in French with Heuvelmans which argued that Neanderthals still exist. It has not been translated into English. Porshnev was given permission by the Soviet Academy of Sciences to establish a Commission to study the question of relict hominids. Although it was later dissolved, in 1963 he produced a book summarising the evidence the Commission had obtained and his views on Neanderthal survival which was circulated in a limited number of copies. A copy of the book was obtained by the Centre for Fortean Zoology (CFZ) and translated; it was published in 2021 with maps, illustrations, notes and an index.Porshnev, Boris (2021) ''The Soviet Sasquatch''. CFZ Press.

Selected publications

* ''Les soulèvements populaires en France de 1623 à 1648'', S.E.V.P.E.N.,

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, 1963; reprinted as ''Les soulèvements populaires en France au XVIIe siècle'', Flammarion, Paris, 1972. * ''Les buts et les revendications des paysans lors de la révolte bretonne de 1675'', in '' Les Bonnets Rouges'', Union Générale d'Éditions (collection 10/18), Paris, 1975. * in collaboration with

: ''L'homme de Néanderthal est toujours vivant'', 1974. The original edition of LES SOULEVEMENTS POPULAIRES ... appeared in Russian as NARODNIE VOSSTANYA VO FRANTSII PERED FRONDOI,1623-1648 (Moscow, 1948).

References

External links

By the Centenary of Boris Fedorovich Porshnev

Leninist theory of revolution and social psychology
{{DEFAULTSORT:Porshnev, Boris 1905 births 1972 deaths Cryptozoologists Historians of France Materialists Prehistorians Russian anti-capitalists Soviet Marxist historians Writers from Saint Petersburg Soviet professors

Cryptozoology

Selected publications

See also

References

Further reading

External links