MAKSIMOV

MAKSIMOV Alexander Alexandrovich (1874-1928), outstanding histologist. After graduating from the Military Medical Academy, he remained at the department of pathological anatomy; in 1900-02 he worked with Professor Ziegler in Freiburg; from 1903 to 1922 he was professor of histology at the Military Medical Academy; in 1922 M. emigrated abroad and took up a position as professor of anatomy in Chicago, where he remained until his death. M.'s early works belong to the field of pathology: 'Histogenesis of experimentally induced amyloid degeneration of the liver' (Russian Archive of Pathology, Vol. I, 1896); 'On the question of pathological regeneration of the seminal gland' (dissertation, St. Petersburg, 1898) and a series of works on the cellular elements of connective tissue during inflammation, which brought M. wide recognition. In these works, M. establishes a special type of connective tissue cells—'wandering cells at rest' (ruhende Wanderzellen), otherwise polyblasts, which can transform into various cellular forms, and thus resolves the old dispute about the new formation of cells during inflammation. Another series of works, closely related to the previous ones, concerns blood formation in mammals, amphibians, and selachians. M. vigorously supports the unitary viewpoint, considering the large lymphocyte as the common ancestor of blood elements, which originates from the primary mesenchymal cell; the large lymphocyte, through the small lymphocyte, is also the source of polyblasts. The latest works of the same cycle are devoted to the transformations of cellular elements of blood and connective tissue in in vitro cultures. M. summarizes all his works on connective tissue and blood in a large article 'Bindegewebe und blutbildende Gewebe' in 'Handbuch der mikroskopischen Anatomie des Menschen', ed. by W. Mollendorff (Vol. II, Part 1, Berlin, 1927). Other works by M. relate to the structure of the placenta, salivary glands, amitosis, chondriosomes, and the development of the tubercle in vitro. M. also wrote a textbook: 'Fundamentals of Histology' (Vol. I-II, Petrograd, 1917; 3rd abridged ed., Parts 1-2, 1925).