Science that saved lives: scientific research in the Komi ASSR during the Great Patriotic War

The article examines the impact of science on economic transformation of the Komi Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (Komi ASSR) during the Great Patriotic War. The prehistory of the emergence of scientific and educational institutions in the region is briefly outlined. The article describes the scientific support for the republic’s economic development, which resulted in the Komi Republic undergoing transformation from an agricultural economy to an industrial one during the war. A new oil industry emerged thanks to the contribution of geologists. Agrobiologists, biochemists and plant physiologists introduced advanced agricultural technologies for growing high-yielding potato varieties and new fruit and berry cultures. The article also reveals the contribution of scholars from the Karelian-Finnish University (that was evacuated to Syktyvkar) to the advancement of the history and studies of languages of the Komi and other Permian peoples. With its economic growth, the Komi Republic was soon able to provide energy resources to the Northern Fleet and the country’s entire North West, including Moscow and besieged Leningrad. The article is based on the documents from the scientific archive of the Komi Scientific Center of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.