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In 1875, Pavlov completed his course with an outstanding record and received the degree of Candidate of Natural Sciences. In his fourth year, his first research project on the physiology of the nerves of the pancreas won him a prestigious university award. There he enrolled in the physics and math department and took natural science courses. In 1870, however, he left the seminary without graduating to attend the university at St. Pavlov attended the Ryazan church school before entering the local theological seminary. In 1870, he enrolled in the physics and mathematics department at the University of Saint Petersburg to study natural science. Inspired by the progressive ideas which Dmitry Pisarev, a Russian literary critic of the 1860s, and Ivan Sechenov, the father of Russian physiology, were spreading, Pavlov abandoned his religious career and devoted his life to science. įrom his childhood days, Pavlov demonstrated intellectual curiosity along with an unusual energy which he referred to as "the instinct for research". As a result of the injuries he sustained he did not begin formal schooling until he was 11 years old. Although able to read by the age of seven, Pavlov was seriously injured when he fell from a high wall onto a stone pavement. He loved to garden, ride his bicycle, row, swim, and play gorodki he devoted his summer vacations to these activities. As a child, Pavlov willingly participated in house duties such as doing the dishes and taking care of his siblings. His mother, Varvara Ivanovna Uspenskaya (1826–1890), was a devoted homemaker. His father, Peter Dmitrievich Pavlov (1823–1899), was a village Russian orthodox priest. Ivan Pavlov, the first of eleven children, was born in Ryazan, Russian Empire. The Pavlov Memorial Museum, Ryazan: Pavlov's former home, built in the early 19th century
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