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Primary sourcePhotograph

Pavlov and Colleagues Operating on a Dog

Unknown

A photograph of Pavlov and three colleagues performing surgery on a dog at the Institute of Experimental Medicine in St Petersburg.

This photograph documents Pavlov personally performing surgery on a dog as part of his chronic experiments.

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Black-and-white photograph of an operating room with four men in white coats around a white table where a dog lies draped. Left, a bald man with a mustache; a boy stands behind him; an older bearded man in the center works over the dog; a man with glasses at right holds an instrument. Tiled floor and wall, hanging lamp and fixtures.
I. P. Pavlov with colleagues A. P. Sokolov, I. V. Shuvalov, and J. A. Buchschtab operating on a dog, Institute of Experimental Medicine, St Petersburg.

About this source

What it is

This photograph shows Ivan Pavlov with three colleagues - A. P. Sokolov, I. V. Shuvalov, and J. A. Buchschtab - performing surgery on a dog in the Physiology Department of the Imperial Institute of Experimental Medicine in St Petersburg. Four men in white coats are gathered around an operating table where the dog lies draped.

Why it matters

This image documents the surgical procedures, such as creating chronic fistulas, that underpinned Pavlov's famous digestive and conditioned reflex research. It shows the real, often invasive animal experimentation behind his scientific discoveries, and the team of collaborators who worked alongside him.

Look closer

  • What does this photograph reveal about the methods behind Pavlov's famous experiments that are not obvious from his published results?
  • Why might this kind of image be left out of simplified accounts of Pavlov's discoveries?
  • How does seeing the actual surgical setting change your understanding of the experiments?

This photograph is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Ivan Pavlov on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Plain dark green cloth book cover with a subtle woven texture and a darker vertical spine edge along the left side. No title or text is visible.Book

Primary source

The Work of the Digestive Glands

Ivan Pavlov · 1897 (published 1902)

Line drawing of Pavlov's experimental apparatus for conditioned reflex research. A dog is harnessed in a frame on the right, with a tube running to a food dish and a measuring device. On the left is a box with a screen-like panel and a rubber bulb apparatus on a stand. Labeled Fig. 3 at the bottom.Artifact

Secondary source

Diagram of Pavlov's Conditioned Reflex Apparatus

Yerkes, R. M., & Morgulis, S.

Black and white portrait photograph of an older man with white hair, a large white mustache and beard, wearing a dark jacket, white collar and dark tie, looking toward the camera.Photograph

Primary source

Nobel Prize Portrait of Ivan Pavlov

Unknown · 1904

Scanned page of a Soviet government resolution in Russian, headed Postanovlenie Soveta Narodnykh Komissarov, dated 24 January 1921 in Moscow, Kremlin, with a signature at lower right. It recognizes academician I. P. Pavlov's scientific merits, sets up a commission, and grants supplies, a rations package, and housing.Document

Primary source

Sovnarkom Decree on Academician Pavlov

Vladimir Lenin · 24 January 1921

Painting of an elderly bearded man with white hair and glasses seated at a table by a window, hands clasped on a sheet of paper. Green-roofed houses and a red-roofed building are visible outside. A vase of white flowers sits on the table.Painting

Primary source

Portrait of Ivan Pavlov by Mikhail Nesterov

Mikhail Nesterov · 1935

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