L.S. Vygotsky and His Name

Two mysteries of the L.S. Vygotsky's patronymic and family names are discussed in the article. His former patronymic name «Simkhovich» was substituted for «Semionovich», and his family name «Vygodsky» was substituted for «Vygotsky». The motives of the replacement are analyzed. Both substitutions were made between 1917 and 1924. The attention was paid to some coincidences in biographies of Martin Luther and Lev Vygotsky that could draw the latter's attention. The author hypothesized and proved that the letter's substitution in the family name could be explained by an attempt of Vygotsky to overcome his internal crisis connected to the tragic family events. The author heeds the life of an outstanding scientist. He got the conclusion that the more potentiality a creative personality possesses, there are less chances to interpret his activity by an insufficient context limited by family, confession, coevals, etc.

1. Vygodskaya G.L., Lifanova T.M. Lev Semenovich Vygotskii. M., 1996.
2. Vygotskii L.S. // L.S. Vygotskii: Nachalo puti. Rannie stat'i L.S. Vygotskogo. Ierusalim, 1996.
3. Gil' P. «Evreiskaya geografiya» i ee otrazhenie v familiyah ashkenazskih evreev //Vestnik Evreiskogo un-ta v Moskve. 1993. № 2.
4. Dobkin S.F. // Vygotskii L.S.: nachalo puti. (Vospominaniya S.F. Dobkina o L've Vygotskom. Rannie stat'i L.S. Vygotskogo.) Ierusalim, 1996.
5. Leont'ev A.A. L.S. Vygotskii. M., 1990.
6. Leont'ev A.N. Pis'mo L.S. Vygotskomu // Psihologicheskii zhurnal. 2003. Т. 24, № 1.
7. Nikonov V.A. Geografiya familii. M., 1988.
8. Nikonov V.A. Slovar' russkih familii. M., 1993.
9. Roginskii Ya.Ya. // Yakov Yakovlevich Roginskii: che-lovek i uchenyi. M., 1997.
10. Erikson E.G. Molodoi Lyuter. Psihoanaliticheskoe i istoricheskoe issledovanie. M., 1996.
11. Toulmin S. The Mozart of Psychology //The New York Review. 1978. September. № 28, p. 51—57.
12. Veer R. Van der, Valsiner J. Understanding Vygotsky: A Quest for synthesis. Oxford, Cambridge: Blackwell, 1991.