Soviet Union's Most Disturbing Experiment

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Only 500 pieces made. Honor Lt. John R. Fox’s sacrifice and support veterans with Project Dogtag. Get 35% OFF with code LTFOX35 at projectdogtag.com Did the Soviet Union attempt to create a super-soldier by crossbreeding humans with apes? This is the disturbing true story of Ilya Ivanov and his quest to engineer a human-ape hybrid. In the early 20th century, the boundary between science fiction and science fact blurred in Russia, where the question of what separates man from ape was put to the ultimate test. Ilya Ivanovich Ivanov, a biologist born in 1870 and a graduate of Kharkiv, became obsessed with the possibilities of artificial insemination. While his early work successfully revolutionized the breeding of horses and sheep—garnering support from Tsar Nicholas II and Nobel Prize winner Ivan Pavlov—Ivanov harbored a darker ambition: the creation of a hybrid species. Following the Russian Revolution in 1917, the political landscape shifted, but Ivanov’s radical ideas found a new, unlikely patron in the Bolshevik government. While the Tsarist regime and the Church had condemned his ideas as immoral, the Soviets saw an opportunity. High-ranking officials believed that proving a biological link between humans and apes would strike a decisive blow against religious teachings and serve as powerful communist propaganda. With a grant of $15,000, Ivanov was sent to West Africa to begin his experiments. The mission took Ivanov to French Guinea, where he attempted to impregnate chimpanzees with human sperm. Despite facing setbacks, including immature test subjects and aggressive animals that required handlers to carry pistols, Ivanov persisted. When these experiments failed to produce a pregnancy, he proposed a terrifying alternative: implanting ape sperm into human women. Although originally blocked by colonial governors in Africa, Ivanov eventually returned to the USSR to continue his work at a new primate research facility in Sukhum. Back in the Soviet Union, Ivanov actually secured volunteers, including a woman known as 'G' from Leningrad, who agreed to carry a hybrid embryo. However, just as the experiment was set to proceed with a new shipment of orangutans and chimps, the political tides turned. In 1930, during a wave of academic purges, Ivanov was accused of counterrevolutionary activity and arrested. He died in exile in 1932, leaving his controversial legacy unfinished. While no human-ape hybrids are known to exist today, the documents regarding Project "Hybrid No 47 B" remain a chilling testament to the lengths a mad scientist would go to defy nature. #soviet #stalin #apeman Sources: Kiril Rossiianov, ‘Beyond Species: Il’ya Ivanov and His Experiments on Cross Breeding Humans with Anthropoid Apes,’ Science in Context 15.2, (2002), pp277-316 Copyright © 2025 A Day In History. All rights reserved. DISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to [email protected]