Many people know the famous psychologist and specialist in psycholinguistics, the author of numerous works that greatly influenced the development of domestic science, Alexei Alekseevich Leontiev. The biography of this outstanding scientist is quite rich, as well as his professional activities. He has come a long scientific way from philology to psychology and pedagogy.
Having received a basic philological education, A. A. Leontiev gravitated towards the interdisciplinary space in the field of humanitarian knowledge. Over time, the central issue of his research was the topic of communication, which he considered as a general theoretical one and having an impact on other disciplines related to psychology.
Leontiev is one of the first Russian researchers involved in the development of the theory of "Pedagogical communication" in didactics. Despite the huge number of his own works known to science (about 900 works and 30 books), Aleksey Alekseevich became the first publishersome works of such famous scientists as I. A. Baudouin de Courtenay, L. S. Vygotsky, E. D. Polivanov, A. N. Leontiev and L. P. Yakubinsky.
Leontiev family
On January 14, 1936, the Leontievs had a son, Alexei. His family - mother Margarita Petrovna (1905-1985), father Alexei Nikolaevich (1903-1979) and his parents, Alexandra Alekseevna and Nikolai Vladimirovich, then lived in Moscow.
According to their friends, family relations were very warm. This concerned both relations with the parents of Alexei Nikolaevich, and the spouses among themselves. Margarita Petrovna devoted her life to the family and support of her great husband, was for him a reliable rear and support until the last day of his life.
Father. Professional activity
Father - outstanding Russian psychologist Alexei Nikolaevich Leontiev. The biography of A. N. Leontiev is extremely rich in scientific activity. Under the guidance of Lev Semenovich Vygotsky (1896-1934), together with Alexander Romanovich Luria (1902-1977), whom Leontiev met at the Institute of Psychology, having come to work after graduating from Moscow State University, they developed a well-known cultural-historical theory and conducted numerous experimental studies aimed at to study the mechanisms of formation of psychological processes.
In joint work with them, as well as with a number of other colleagues, he studied in detail the problems of the relationship between practical activity and consciousness, understanding, communication through activity. Thus, in the 1930s heformed a general psychological concept of activity, which to this day has a great influence on the development of theoretical trends in the psychology of both domestic and foreign researchers.
Thus, A. N. Leontiev is rightfully considered the creator of an extensive scientific psychological school and numerous works that influenced not only the development of psychology, but also pedagogy, philosophy, cultural studies, and other humanities. The famous scientific work, which was published in 1975 by the senior Alexei Leontiev, “Activity. Consciousness. Personality”, is a generalizing work on the theory of activity.
Childhood
was evacuated by Moscow State University. The family was able to return to their home only in 1943.
Even before A. A. Leontiev began to study at school, he studied in a children's group for the study of the German language. The preparation was quite serious, and the tasks were difficult (for example, translating texts). When he entered school No. 110, Aleksey Alekseevich was not assigned to the first grade, but immediately to the second. Moreover, according to the results of studies conducted among students, he was enrolled in the list of child prodigies. The result of studying at school was a gold medal.
Institutional years
According to Alexei Alekseevich himself, back in 1953, when he graduatedschool, it was absolutely clear that doing science was his true calling. Among the various options for admission, he considered various humanities and even organic chemistry.
As Leontiev A. A. recalls, psychology was undoubtedly among those sciences that attracted him. But he did not enter this faculty. Of course, one of the main reasons was that his father was in charge of the Department of Psychology at Moscow State University. Lomonosov. As a speci alty in other educational institutions, psychology was either absent or was just beginning to appear. Therefore, A. A. Leontiev chose the Faculty of Philology.
Starting professional work
Aleksey Alekseevich successfully graduated from the university with a degree in linguistics in 1958. His graduation thesis was highly appreciated by teachers and became the basis for 2 publications. The result of this work was the offer of a teaching position at the Institute of Linguistics of the USSR Academy of Sciences.
During his work, he became the author and co-author of publications that differed in a variety of directions. In addition, by 1963 he defended his Ph. D. in general linguistic views of Ivan Aleksandrovich Baudouin de Courtenay.
Psycholinguistics
Besides outstanding philological abilities and knowledge, Aleksey Alekseevich was also attracted by other humanities. His works confirmed that Alexei Leontiev is a psychologist, psycholinguist and teacher. His main topic of that period of scientific work was psycholinguistics (the book was published in 1967). At the same time, the Faculty of Psychology was founded at Moscow State University, wheresubject of the same name was introduced. In addition to this course, which Aleksey Alekseevich taught for the rest of his life, he also developed and read other disciplines of psychological, socio-psychological, psycholinguistic, pedagogical, forensic and other areas.
Aleksey Alekseevich became a Doctor of Philosophy in 1968. It should also be noted that the release of this doctoral dissertation on psycholinguistic speech modeling was preceded by 9 monographs of various thematic areas, which do not lose their relevance in our time. The doctoral degree allowed Alexei Alekseevich in 1969 to organize a psycholinguistic research group on the basis of the Institute of Linguistics.
The area of interest of this outstanding scientist is quite large, but the problem of communication has become a unifying problem for him. A. A. Leontiev saw in it a general theoretical aspect, which manifests itself in many humanities. The result of his numerous works and studies was the promotion of a multi-level interdisciplinary theory of human communication and a book on the psychology of communication, published in 1974.
Transition from linguistics to pedagogy
Over time, for Aleksey Alekseevich, linguistics began to fade into the background, and he turned his attention to education. Confirmation was a doctorate in the psychology of verbal communication (1975). After that, he went to work at the then established Institute of the Russian Language. A. S. Pushkin, and in 1976 became a professor.
Also, at certain periods of his life, he worked at the methodological center of the Russian language of Moscow State University, headed various councils. In 1986, he was a professor at the Moscow State Pedagogical Institute. In 1988-1991 - Head of the Laboratory of Language Education, in 1990 - Secretary General of the International Association for the Collective Promotion of Language Learning. In 1992, Leontiev was elected a full member of the Russian Academy of Education.
In 1994, he headed the Institute of Languages and Cultures. L. N. Tolstoy, who himself created. Since 1995 he became a member of the Russian Language Council. Since 1997, he has been in charge of School 2000. In parallel with other work in 1998, he became a professor at Moscow State University. In 2000, he began cooperation with the Center at the Russian Academy of Education.
A worthy replacement
Aleksey Alekseevich has a son Dmitry (born in 1960), who also became the successor of the family business. Now he is a fairly well-known psychologist, doctor of science, professor at Moscow State University, director of the Institute of Existential Psychology and Life Creation.
Also, A. A. Leontiev has a daughter, but, unfortunately, nothing is known about her, except that she also studied at Moscow State University.
