102 LIFE OF ELIE METCHNIKOFF 



for the Ministry thwarted every desire for indepen- 

 dence ; the nomination of professors elected by the 

 University Council was only ratified by the Ministry 

 if they were reactionaries, without any regard for 

 their scientific value. Soon the Chairs were occupied 

 by ignorant men of doubtful morality. 



The life and honour of the University became 

 endangered, and Metchnikofi found himself obliged 

 to take part in the struggle ; he did so with vehem- 

 ence and energy ; the independence of the University 

 was involved, and, as long as he could hope to save it, 

 he struggled. At the meetings of the Council and 

 of the Faculty he never failed to give vent to his 

 critical opinions with a vehement frankness which 

 earned him in the University the reputation of an 

 " enfant terrible" In the meanwhile every resolution 

 passed by the Council, if not reactionary in character, 

 was systematically quashed by the Ministry, which 

 thus paralysed every means of action, and Metchni- 

 koff found himself faced with the alternative of sub- 

 mitting or handing in his resignation. He decided for 

 the latter: his convictions were involved, and more- 

 over his health could not withstand the continual 

 agitation and strain on his nerves. 



As we could not afford to live in independence, he 

 applied for a vacant post of entomologist in the 

 zemstvo 1 of Poltava, and at the same time wrote out 

 his resignation, holding it in readiness for an oppor- 

 tunity which was not long in coming. 



The Conservative party in the Faculty arose against 

 a Liberal professor who had accepted a very clever 

 thesis in which the Reactionaries perceived Socialist 

 tendencies. The Dean of the Faculty proposed that 



1 Rural administration. 



