Evald Ilyenkov

Evald Vasilievich Ilyenkov (Russian: Эвальд Васильевич Ильенков; 18 February 1924 – 21 March 1979) was a Soviet philosopher. He was born in Smolensk, Soviet Union, to the family of Soviet writer and teacher Vasily Ilyenkov. In his youth, Evald became interested in the music of Wagner and the philosophy of Spinoza. His studies at the Institute of Philosophy, Literature and History were interrupted by World War II, during which he fought in the Red Army as an artillery commander. After the war, he served with Soviet troops in Germany and then continued his studies at Moscow State University, joining the Communist Party in 1950. In 1954, Ilyenkov and Valentin Ivanovich Korovikov published theses that argued philosophy is the science of scientific thinking, leading to their accusation of Hegelianism and loss of teaching rights at Moscow State University. He then worked at the Institute of Philosophy of the USSR Academy of Sciences, eventually becoming a senior researcher and editor. From 1975, he led a seminar at Moscow State University's Faculty of Psychology. Ilyenkov died by suicide in 1979, suffering from depression and alcoholism. His philosophical work focused on the materialist development of Hegel's dialectics, notably his concept of concrete universals, and his theory of the ideal. His major works include 'Dialectical Logic' and 'The Dialectics of the Abstract and Concrete in Marx's Capital'.