Nikolai Koltsov

Nikolai Konstantinovich Koltsov (Russian: Николай Константинович Кольцов; 14 July 1872 – 2 December 1940) was a Russian biologist and a pioneer of modern genetics. Among his students were Nikolay Timofeeff-Ressovsky, Vladimir Pavlovich Efroimson, A.S. Serebrovsky, and Nikolay Dubinin. Along with his students, he demonstrated the fine structure of genes, and examined the structure of the cell and pioneered the idea of a cytoskeleton. His career was cut short in Stalinist Russia after being falsely accused of supporting scientific racism. He died unexpectedly following government persecution and there are allegations that he was executed.