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. 2025 Jan 25;59(1):21.
doi: 10.1007/s12124-024-09872-6.

Multiple Lurias. Reconstructing Alexander Romanovich's Life-Writing

Carlos Kölbl  1 , Alexandre Métraux  2
Affiliations

Multiple Lurias. Reconstructing Alexander Romanovich's Life-Writing

Carlos Kölbl et al. Integr Psychol Behav Sci. .

Erratum in

Abstract

While widely considered Alexander Luria's (1902-1977) autobiography, The Making of Mind. A Personal Account of Soviet Psychology, published posthumously in 1979, is not a true autobiography but rather an autobiography with heterobiographic elements. However, the largely overlooked Spanish book, Mirando hacia atrás. La vida de un psicólogo soviético en retrospección, published in the same year, may be regarded as an authentic autobiography written by Luria. Based on the close reading of previously unknown archival sources, including Luria's autobiographic typescripts, the central argument of the article shows that it is likely that the history of this key figure in modern Soviet neuropsychology is embodied in various instances of his life-writing. Our reconstruction of Luria's life-writing is transnational in scope and multi-language based. It aims at drawing an overall account, which may later be followed by a series of contributions dealing with details of the history of Luria's life-writing.

Keywords: Cultural-historical psychology; History of science; Life-writing; Luria studies; Soviet psychology.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing interests. Letters: Correspondence M. Casini (Giunti) – M. Cole and VAAP, 20.4.1978. Private Archive Michael Cole (San Diego). Correspondence A. R. Luria – P. Blake, 10.12.1975. Private Archive Michael Cole (San Diego). Correspondence A. R. Luria – J. Bruner, 1976–1977. Harvard University Archives, Jerome Bruner Papers, General Correspondence 1975–1977, HUG 4242.5, Box 88 (Cambridge, MA). Correspondence A. R. Luria – M. Cole (and S. Cole), 1975–1977. Private Archive Michael Cole (San Diego). Correspondence A. R. Luria – L. Mecacci, 27.5.1976. Private Archive Luciano Mecacci (Florence). Correspondence VAAP – M. Cole, 29.4.1977. Private Archive Michael Cole (San Diego). Correspondence V. Zinchenko – Cole, 1979. Private Archive Michael Cole (San Diego). Personal Communication: Personal communication took place via email, virtual meetings and/or telephone with the following persons in 2023 and 2024: Tatiana Akhutina (Moscow). Michael Cole (San Diego). Giuseppe Cossu (Padua). Luciano Mecacci (Florence). Jordi Peña Casanova (Barcelona). Maria Serena Veggetti (Rome). James Wertsch (St. Louis).

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Fragment from page 69 of the typescript Looking Back (1976b) with handwritten corrections by Linda Wertsch (courtesy Giuseppe Cossu)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Akhutina, T. V., & Pylaeva, N. M. (2020/2021). Luria in Kisegach. Parts 1–3. Lurian Journal, 1(1/2)/2(1), 171–194; 101–146; 109–153.
    1. Allamand, C. (2018). The autobiographical pact, forty years later. In T. G. Ashplant, C. Brant, & I. Luca (Eds.), Cher Philippe: A festschrift for Philippe Lejeune on the occasion of his 80th birthday (pp. 51–56). Amsterdam: Panchaud.
    1. Barraquer-Bordas, L. (1979). Prólogo. In A. R. Luria, Mirando Hacia atrás: La vida de un psicólogo soviético en retrospección (pp. 1–5). Madrid: Ediciones Norma.
    1. Bloor, D. (1980). Review of the making of mind. Isis, 71(4), 688–689.
    1. Borges, J. L. (2007). Funes the memorious. In J. L. Borges, Labyrinths. Selected stories & other writings (pp. 59–66; Eds.: D. A. Yates, & J. E. Irby). (Original work published in 1942).

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