15. Alexander Bogdanov hoped his pioneering blood transfusion method would help him live longer but instead it killed him
The Russian Alexander Bogdanov was a busy man indeed. Not only was he a widely-published philosopher, he was also a pioneering science fiction writer and a physician. What’s more, he was also politically active, playing a key role in the emergence of the early Communist Party of the Soviet Union at the turn of the 20th century. So, by the 1920s, Bogdanov was exhausted. He wanted to feel younger and live longer. And so he started experimenting with blood transfusions. Lenin’s own sister agreed to take part in his early experiments. But above all, Bogdanov started experimenting on himself.
At first, it seemed to be going well. After 11 transfusions, swapping his own blood for that of a younger man, Bogdanov told his friends and colleagues he was feeling more energetic and even reported that he was no longer losing his hair. However, when the transfusion pioneer took the blood of a young student who was not only a different blood type but was suffering from malaria, he fell ill and died. These days, he’s remembered more for his writing than for his early attempts at blood transfusions and finding a cure to aging.
