Marvin Makinen
Encyclopedia
Marvin William Makinen has been a member of the faculty at The University of Chicago
since 1974 and is a founding member of the Human Rights Board at The University of Chicago. Born in Chassell, Michigan
, Makinen earned a B.A. at the University of Pennsylvania
in 1961, an M.D. at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
in 1968, and a D. Phil. at the University of Oxford
in 1976. He is presently Professor in the Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and has served as chairman of the department from 1988 to 1993. His primary research interests in molecular biophysics
and biochemistry
are in mechanisms of enzyme
s and the structural basis of enzyme action.
Makinen completed the fourth year of his undergraduate education at the Free University of Berlin
as an exchange student from the University of Pennsylvania
. Traveling in the Soviet Union
, Makinen was arrested for espionage and was sentenced to eight years of imprisonment by a closed military tribunal
. Of the slightly more than two years that he spent in the Vladimir Prison
, a total of approximately 12 months was spent in solitary confinement.
He was afterwards transferred to a labor camp
in the Mordovian ASSR and was later exchanged (together with Rev. Walter Ciszek
, S. J.) for two Soviet spies. In the Vladimir Prison one of Makinen's cellmates was Zygurds Kruminsh, who had been previously the only cellmate of the U-2 pilot Gary Powers
. While Kruminsh had admitted to only having met a Swedish prisoner, later in labor camp Makinen learned through another former inmate of the Vladimir Prison that Kruminsh had also been a cellmate of "the Swedish prisoner van den Berg."
Since 1990 Professor Makinen has worked on three international committees as a consultant to the Swedish Foreign Ministry regarding the fate of Raoul Wallenberg
, who, sent to Budapest
as a diplomat in July, 1944, is credited with having saved tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews from annihilation. He was arrested on January 17, 1945, by SMERSH
through an order from the Deputy Minister of Defense Bulganin and brought to Moscow. The Soviet Ministry of Foreign Affairs acknowledged for the first time in 1957 that Raoul Wallenberg had been in captivity in the Soviet Union but claimed that he had died in 1947. Nonetheless, there has been a constant stream of reports from former prisoners-of-war and inmates of the Soviet prison system attesting to his presence in Soviet prisons, labor camps, or psychiatric hospitals up to the 1980s. A large portion of these reports emanated from the Vladimir Prison located approximately 200 kilometers east of Moscow.
In the course of his work in 1993, Makinen uncovered two retired employees of the prison who identified Raoul Wallenberg from unpublished photographs as having been in the Vladimir Prison. Varvara Ivanova Larina, one of the two retired employees had worked in Korpus 2 of the Vladimir Prison (Korpus is the Russian word for building) for several decades and remembered the prisoner because, as she explained, he incessantly complained about everything, including the soup ration that was always cold by the time she was able to deliver it to him. Finally the head guard ordered Larina to deliver food rations to this prisoner first. (Such an order indicated to Makinen that this was a prisoner under special treatment. Ordinary prisoners would have been sent to the punishment cell for such actions.) The order by the head guard required Larina to climb the stairs to the third floor first for every meal, get his soup bowl and plate, go back to the first floor, dole out the food rations, and then deliver the rations to him by climbing the stairs again. This changed her work schedule in a substantial manner and provided the reason that she could still recall this prisoner after many years had passed. She remembered that this prisoner was in solitary confinement in a cell opposite to that in which a prisoner by the name of Osmak died. Inspection of the prison records later showed that Osmak, Kirill Ivanovich, died on May 16, 1960. With Ari Kaplan, a leading database computer expert, Makinen carried out a cell occupancy analysis of Korpus 2. The results of the analysis showed that records identifying the occupant of the cell opposite Osmak's cell had been removed from the prison archives. Makinen concluded that the absence of the documents meant that Soviet authorities had wanted to conceal the identity of the prisoner in solitary confinement.
Makinen is currently married, has two children, and became a grandfather in 2008.
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
since 1974 and is a founding member of the Human Rights Board at The University of Chicago. Born in Chassell, Michigan
Chassell, Michigan
Chassell is an unincorporated community in Chassell Township of Houghton County in the Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is located on Pike Bay at the south end of Portage Lake and is the largest community in the township....
, Makinen earned a B.A. at the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
in 1961, an M.D. at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
The Perelman School of Medicine , formerly the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, was founded in 1765, making it the oldest American medical school. As part of the University of Pennsylvania, it is located in the University City section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is widely...
in 1968, and a D. Phil. at the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
in 1976. He is presently Professor in the Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and has served as chairman of the department from 1988 to 1993. His primary research interests in molecular biophysics
Biophysics
Biophysics is an interdisciplinary science that uses the methods of physical science to study biological systems. Studies included under the branches of biophysics span all levels of biological organization, from the molecular scale to whole organisms and ecosystems...
and biochemistry
Biochemistry
Biochemistry, sometimes called biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes in living organisms, including, but not limited to, living matter. Biochemistry governs all living organisms and living processes...
are in mechanisms of enzyme
Enzyme
Enzymes are proteins that catalyze chemical reactions. In enzymatic reactions, the molecules at the beginning of the process, called substrates, are converted into different molecules, called products. Almost all chemical reactions in a biological cell need enzymes in order to occur at rates...
s and the structural basis of enzyme action.
Makinen completed the fourth year of his undergraduate education at the Free University of Berlin
Free University of Berlin
Freie Universität Berlin is one of the leading and most prestigious research universities in Germany and continental Europe. It distinguishes itself through its modern and international character. It is the largest of the four universities in Berlin. Research at the university is focused on the...
as an exchange student from the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
. Traveling in the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, Makinen was arrested for espionage and was sentenced to eight years of imprisonment by a closed military tribunal
Military tribunal
A military tribunal is a kind of military court designed to try members of enemy forces during wartime, operating outside the scope of conventional criminal and civil proceedings. The judges are military officers and fulfill the role of jurors...
. Of the slightly more than two years that he spent in the Vladimir Prison
Vladimir Prison
The Vladimir Prison, colloquially known as "Vladimirsky Central" , is a prison for dangerous criminals, about 100 miles northeast of Moscow in Vladimir, Russia. It was established in 1783. Most are serving a minimum of 10 years, and some are imprisoned for life...
, a total of approximately 12 months was spent in solitary confinement.
He was afterwards transferred to a labor camp
Labor camp
A labor camp is a simplified detention facility where inmates are forced to engage in penal labor. Labor camps have many common aspects with slavery and with prisons...
in the Mordovian ASSR and was later exchanged (together with Rev. Walter Ciszek
Walter Ciszek
Rev. Walter Ciszek, S.J. was a Polish-American Jesuit priest known for his clandestine missionary work in the Soviet Union between 1939 and 1963....
, S. J.) for two Soviet spies. In the Vladimir Prison one of Makinen's cellmates was Zygurds Kruminsh, who had been previously the only cellmate of the U-2 pilot Gary Powers
Gary Powers
Francis Gary Powers was an American pilot whose Central Intelligence Agency U-2 spy plane was shot down while flying a reconnaissance mission over Soviet Union airspace, causing the 1960 U-2 incident.- Early life :...
. While Kruminsh had admitted to only having met a Swedish prisoner, later in labor camp Makinen learned through another former inmate of the Vladimir Prison that Kruminsh had also been a cellmate of "the Swedish prisoner van den Berg."
Since 1990 Professor Makinen has worked on three international committees as a consultant to the Swedish Foreign Ministry regarding the fate of Raoul Wallenberg
Raoul Wallenberg
Raoul Wallenberg was a Swedish businessman, diplomat and humanitarian. He is widely celebrated for his successful efforts to rescue thousands of Jews in Nazi-occupied Hungary from the Holocaust, during the later stages of World War II...
, who, sent to Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
as a diplomat in July, 1944, is credited with having saved tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews from annihilation. He was arrested on January 17, 1945, by SMERSH
SMERSH
SMERSH was the counter-intelligence agency in the Red Army formed in late 1942 or even earlier, but officially founded on April 14, 1943. The name SMERSH was coined by Joseph Stalin...
through an order from the Deputy Minister of Defense Bulganin and brought to Moscow. The Soviet Ministry of Foreign Affairs acknowledged for the first time in 1957 that Raoul Wallenberg had been in captivity in the Soviet Union but claimed that he had died in 1947. Nonetheless, there has been a constant stream of reports from former prisoners-of-war and inmates of the Soviet prison system attesting to his presence in Soviet prisons, labor camps, or psychiatric hospitals up to the 1980s. A large portion of these reports emanated from the Vladimir Prison located approximately 200 kilometers east of Moscow.
In the course of his work in 1993, Makinen uncovered two retired employees of the prison who identified Raoul Wallenberg from unpublished photographs as having been in the Vladimir Prison. Varvara Ivanova Larina, one of the two retired employees had worked in Korpus 2 of the Vladimir Prison (Korpus is the Russian word for building) for several decades and remembered the prisoner because, as she explained, he incessantly complained about everything, including the soup ration that was always cold by the time she was able to deliver it to him. Finally the head guard ordered Larina to deliver food rations to this prisoner first. (Such an order indicated to Makinen that this was a prisoner under special treatment. Ordinary prisoners would have been sent to the punishment cell for such actions.) The order by the head guard required Larina to climb the stairs to the third floor first for every meal, get his soup bowl and plate, go back to the first floor, dole out the food rations, and then deliver the rations to him by climbing the stairs again. This changed her work schedule in a substantial manner and provided the reason that she could still recall this prisoner after many years had passed. She remembered that this prisoner was in solitary confinement in a cell opposite to that in which a prisoner by the name of Osmak died. Inspection of the prison records later showed that Osmak, Kirill Ivanovich, died on May 16, 1960. With Ari Kaplan, a leading database computer expert, Makinen carried out a cell occupancy analysis of Korpus 2. The results of the analysis showed that records identifying the occupant of the cell opposite Osmak's cell had been removed from the prison archives. Makinen concluded that the absence of the documents meant that Soviet authorities had wanted to conceal the identity of the prisoner in solitary confinement.
Makinen is currently married, has two children, and became a grandfather in 2008.