From Kyiv to Vienna: Soviet gerontology’s international influence

This article tracks the influence of the Soviet school of gerontology and geriatric medicine on international science and medical practice during the second half of the 20 th century. Beginning with the initial development of this school of gerontology in the 1930s, this article shows how the Soviet influence on international ideas of ageing, geriatric medicine, and biological gerontology was significant, especially through the institutional scientific-medical networks established by the United Nations and the World Health Organization. This influence, moreover, was based on work conducted over the decades by the Kyiv-based Institute of Gerontology, which established itself as the centre of Soviet research on ageing and its application to medical and social care for older persons. By considering how the doctors and scientists in Kyiv were able to access international scientific networks and influence global gerontological discourses in the 1960s–1980s, this paper shows the enduring influence of Soviet concepts of biological ageing and related medical practice.