“Maybe I am the only person in the world
whom the cancer virus saved and gave the life force.”
L. Zilber

Lev Aleksandrovich Zilber. Immunologist, oncologist, molecular biologist, epidemiologist.

Who survived two wars and three arrests.

Who defeated the epidemics of plague, smallpox, and encephalitis.

Who created the virogenetic theory of carcinogenesis, based on which a vaccine against cervical cancer, the second most common type of oncology, was developed.

Who was subjected to tremendous suffering for his refusal to participate in the development of biological weapons.

This is a pencil portrait of Lev Alexandrovich.
His look—as if ‘through time’—is fixed and intent. Grim.

The neckband is tightly fastened.

But … Wait … It’s not a neckband!

This is a dog collar.

The Right Choice

A lad stood before an open window. He held a violin in his hands.

He remembered it being wet with tears when he, a little boy, played scales for hours as his dad wanted.

The wind was warm. It smelled of a river.

He reflected on the conversations with his friends about exploring Nature, in which everything was arranged so wisely. About human beings as part of the Universe that influences them, too. Lev felt joy and confidence, understanding clearly: he wants to know what is there—”beyond the horizon,” outside the limits of his knowledge.

The decision is taken: he will be a doctor.

He put the violin on the table and left the house to tell his friends about the choice made.

The Right Conditions

What shapes a person’s personality—genes or environment? It would be good if it were genes. But even a gifted child needs conditions for development.

L. Zilber as a child. End of the 19th century

Lev’s parents did an excellent job.

The Zilbers-Dessons were talented. The father was a military musician. The mother—a piano player who graduated from a conservatory.

Abel Abramovich Zilber

Anna Grigorievna Zilber

The turn of the 20th century had been for the Russian Empire the time of enlightenment and rapid development of science. The country was then considered a great place to study at a University.

Books are also a formative environment. The eldest son of the Zilbers, Lyova, was immersed in the works by Darwin, Haeckel, and Mechnikov.

Anna Grigorievna with her sons

The Right Goal

The young man was eager to tell his friends about his choice. The three schoolmates—Lev Zilber, Yuri Tynyanov, and Avgust Letavet—were the most significant figures in each other’s lives.

Later on, they will understand what gift from fate they received—the ‘damned question’ that tormented them and was the subject of constant reflection, debate, and search: what is the meaning of life? Without finding an answer to this question, it is impossible to pass the tests of life.

The three friends (their friendship lasted for all their lives) defined the destiny of man as follows: Understanding all the abilities intended by Nature and utilizing them to the full. “Happiness is in life, and life—in work.” And they remained faithful to this principle forever.

Yuri Tynyanov, Lev Zilber, and Avgust Letavet as gymnasium students

A time of change began in Russia. It was a period between two revolutions when previous ideals and the usual way of life collapsed.

The Mission

“Over there, beyond the horizon, human paths are.”
The motto of L. A. Zilber’s scientific activity
(Inscription on an unknown seafarer’s gravestone)

Lev Aleksandrovich already felt inside himself something called the ‘internal compass’. The one that tells you what is right and how it should be. This is what helps you reach the goal. Through history, for the sake of the whole world.

Giving of yourself to others brings you the life force in return.

Zilber was appointed to the post of director of the Institute of Microbiology and, at the same time, head of the Department of Microbiology of the Medical Faculty of Baku University.

Azerbaijan received the scientist hospitably. A large four-room apartment, a cook, a housekeeper, an official car, like-minded people around, and excellent conditions for scientific work. Lev Alexandrovich was excited about new prospects.

One night, the telephone rang.

A plague epidemic broke out in Nagorny Karabakh. Zilber urgently departed there—together with his colleagues, he defeated the plague and eliminated the causes of its occurrence. Baku greeted him as a hero.

L. Zilber with a colleague in Nagorny Karabakh. 1930

And then, he was arrested. On a charge of sabotage.

During interrogations, Lev Aleksandrovich did his best to defend himself. He shouted himself hoarse, arguing that the accusation was absurd. Nonsense! He flatly denied everything.

They put him in jail in Baku. Heat, stuffiness, and a dying cellmate beside. But he did not allow himself to be swayed by fear. He reflected on why fate had sent him to this trial and made plans for the future. He tried to rise above the situation, to understand what he could learn from it.

He reminded himself of who he was. Not only a bacteriologist and immunologist but also an epidemiologist. Having already the experience in managing a team.

It was the first time he resisted the repressive regime.

Meanwhile, his friends appealed to the highest authorities—and Zilber was soon free.

In 1937, he headed and fully prepared an expedition to the Far East. Working for 3.5 months in the taiga, its participants managed to find the causative agent of Far-Eastern encephalitis and prove that this virus was borne by ticks.

The second arrest was the reward for the breakthrough discovery. On a charge of espionage.

In the late 1930s, prisoners were treated differently. They could be tortured, and it was encouraged.

Lev Alexandrovich lay awake in a cell of the Sukhanov prison, barely breathing because of pain. Day after day, he felt his powerlessness, inability to change anything. Plenty of time to think was the only positive thing about it. And no one could forbid him this.

Zilber recalled his friends Yura, Avgust, and the day they came to understand the purpose of life. Man has to realize what is given to him by Nature.

It was like a breath of fresh air … As if life itself revived him.

All this time, his closest circle of family and colleagues, with great difficulty, sought his release. A year later, Zilber was free again.

Immediately after his release, Lev Alexandrovich leaves for Moscow, where he creates a virological laboratory. Becomes the head of the Department of Immunology of Malignant Tumors at the Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology.

“Zilber returned to us, not in the least broken, not depressed, and almost did not talk about what had happened,” one of his employees shared his impressions. “He had so many new ideas that everything else faded into the background.”

GULAG. Pechora

We do not choose our historical epoch.

And the circumstances in which we find ourselves are always the only right ones for the fulfillment of our mission. And, if we pursue it, Nature itself supports us.

1940. The third arrest. The longest and hardest-to-survive imprisonment.

Zilber was sent to PechorLag. There, he delivered a baby to the camp administrator’s wife and was appointed the head of the infirmary, which gave him the opportunity to alleviate the condition of the sick. It was his duty to taste food—and he gave it to those in dire need. Using the infirmary as a laboratory, he researched severe hypovitaminosis and produced a remedy for its treatment from reindeer moss. He organized a congress for camp doctors of polar regions on the use of the new drug. And saved hundreds of lives.

Lev Aleksandrovich was outdoors under the starry sky of Pechora. The strongest frost. The air is thick and sterile. Silence. He saw the perfection of the Universe—and held on to it with all his might. Inside him, there were the lines of his favorite poet:

“… Like tears of joy shed by a Jew

Because of Promised Land in view …”

A report on the imprisoned inventor’s achievements was sent to higher authorities, and he was transferred to the Zagorsk Scientific-Research Sanitary Institute, where they offered him to participate in the development of bacteriological weapons. He categorically refused to create anything intended for use against people. To make him more cooperative, they placed him for two weeks in one cell with criminals. It did not help, and he was sent to a chemical ‘sharashka’ to extract cheap alcohol—and there, he began to study the viral origins of human cancer.

In March 1944, he was finally released—and again, thanks to his friends’ efforts.

In the summer of the following year, Lev Aleksandrovich finds out that his family forcibly taken to Germany has miraculously survived, seeks Stalin’s permission, and flies on a military aircraft to bring them back.

The happiness of reuniting with his loved ones who survived labor camps, bombing, and shelling.

And one more salvation from death: the aircraft on which Zilber and his family were supposed to but could not go back got into a thunderstorm and crashed. They took the next flight.

And now, the whole family is at home. In Moscow. All together, hungry for love, conversations with each other, good time with friends, a warm atmosphere, family dinners, and joyful holidays.

And Lev Alexandrovich had another 20 years of scientific work ahead of him. For the benefit of humanity.

Scientist at work. 1950s

The Last Chapter

“I’d like to die here, on my feet,” Zilber once said in the laboratory.

These words were heard.

On November 10, 1966, the academician entered his office and handed over to his assistant the last pages of the book—”The Virogenetic Theory of Carcinogenesis”—he had been writing for two years.

“Congratulate me,” he said, smiling. “I’ve finally finished it.”

A few minutes later, the legendary Lev Zilber was gone. His disciples who ran to the noise saw their teacher lying next to the table, with empty ampules, a syringe, and an already unnecessary vial of Valocordin being scattered around.

We need to remember such personalities as Lev Aleksandrovich Zilber. He endured all trials of life and remained a human. For the sake of all of us, for the sake of everyone’s happiness, the people like him rose each time above evil and turned it into good. We, too, can do it.

© English translation Evgenia Kononova 2022