A Soviet historian at the centre of the hunt for Russia's wild men. January 1958. At his initiative, the Presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences created a commission to study the snowman question, chaired by the geologist Sergei Obruchev. Reports such as Topilsky's Pamir wild man of 1925 and Dr. Vazgen Karapetyan's captive in Dagestan drew its interest. Porshnev treated the Dagestan captive as key evidence of surviving degenerated Neanderthals. He also told the standard version of Badzar Baradiin's 1906 almas sighting in the Alashan desert. After the failed 1958 Pamir expedition, his opponents disbanded the commission.
Stories6
Pro earlySoviet relict hominoid researcher who led the grave searches
Pro earlySoviet historian who published the standard version in 1963 and 1968
Pro earlyHistorian who led the USSR Academy of Sciences snowman commission that gathered the testimony
Pro earlyFounder of the 1958 Academy of Sciences snowman commission; treated the account as key evidence
Pro earlyInitiator of the USSR Academy of Sciences snowman commission
