Russian neurologist (1857–1927) Vladimir Mikhailovich Bekhterev [ 1 ] (Russian: Влади́мир Миха́йлович Бе́хтерев , IPA: [ˈbʲextʲɪrʲɪf] ; 20 January 1857 – 24 December 1927) was a Russian neurologist and the father of objective psychology . He is best known for noting the role of the hippocampus in memory, his study of reflexes, and Bekhterev’s disease . Moreover, he is known for his competition with Ivan Pavlov regarding the study of conditioned reflexes . The sudden circumstances of his death has led to rumours that he died on the orders of Joseph Stalin . This is because Bekhterev performed a medical diagnosis of Stalin shortly before his death which was considered to be politically damaging to the position of the Soviet dictator. [ 2 ] This remains disputed among scholars due to the lack of direct evidence. [ 3 ] Vladimir Bekhterev was born in Sorali , a village in the Vyatka Governorate of the Russian Empire between the Volga River and the Ural Mountains . [ 4 ] V. M. Bekhterev's father – Mikhail Pavlovich – was a district police officer; his mother, Maria Mikhailovna – was a daughter of a titular councilor, was educated at a boarding school which also provided lessons of music and the French language. Beside Vladimir they had two more sons in the family: Nikolai and Aleksandr, older than he by 6 and 3 years respectively. In 1864 the family moved to Vyatka, and within a year the head of the family died of tuberculosis when Bekhterev was still very young. While his childhood was not simple, Bekhterev did have the opportunity to attend Vyatka gymnasium in 1867, one of the oldest schools in Russia, as well as the Military Medical Academy in St. Petersburg in 1873. [ 5 ] Then he studied in St. Petersburg Medicosurgical Academy where he worked under professor Jan Lucjan Mierzejewski ( pl ). [ 6 ] It was here where Bekhterev's interest in the disciplines of neuropathology and psychiatry were first sparked. [ 6 ] Bekhterev in 1873, aged 16 Russia went to war with the Ottoman Empire in 1877. Bekhterev took time off from his studies in order to help the war effort by volunteering with an ambulance detachment. After the war, he returned to school. While attending school, Bekhterev worked as a junior doctor in the clinic of mental and nervous diseases at the Institutes of Medic’s Improvement. Here he began performing his experimental work. In 1878, Bekhterev graduated from the Medical and Surgery Academy of St. Petersburg with a degree similar to a Bachelor of Medicine. [ 5 ] After graduating, Bekhterev worked at the Psychiatric Clinic in St. Petersburg, where he was inspired to begin studying the anatomy and physiology of the brain, the area in which he would later make some of his most notable contributions. [ 6 ] It was also during this time that Bekhterev married Natalya Bazilevskaya. [ 5 ] In 1880, Bekhterev began publishing his research. One of his earlier works described Russian social issues. In this paper, he wrote essays describing the individu