“L(ev) S(emyonovich) Vygotsky: (1896-1934) Soviet psychologist. He studied linguistics and philosophy at the University of Moscow before becoming involved in psychological research. While working at Moscow’s Institute of Psychology 1924-34, he became a major figure in post-revolutionary Soviet psychology. He studied the role of social and cultural factors in the making of human consciousness; his theory of signs and their relationship to the development of speech influences such psychologists as A.R. Luria and Jean Piaget. His best-known work, Thought and Language (1934) was briefly suppressed as a threat to Stalinism. He died of tuberculosis at 38.”
Excerpted from: Stevens, Mark A., Ed. Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Encyclopedia. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, 2000.
Mark's Text Terminal 