The celebration in the year 2016 of the 125th birth anniversary of Academician S.I. Vavilov, the outstanding physicist of the last century, provides an opportunity to compare what is going on today in the Russian Academy of Sciences (reforms, new member election, etc.) to the long-past days that preceded the foundation of the P.N. Lebedev Physical Institute (FIAN). The role of S.I. Vavilov and his academician colleagues in fighting bureaucracy and bureaucrats to create real academic science in our country is examined in this short paper.

Keywords: history of physics, S.I. Vavilov, FIAN PACS: 01.10.−m, 01.10.Fv, 01.65.+g (all) DOI: 10.3367/UFNe.2016.06.037860 URL: https://ufn.ru/en/articles/2016/12/g/ 000396007200006 2-s2.0-85014942217 2016PhyU...59.1250V Citation: Vitukhnovsky A G "Vavilov and FIAN: a perspective from 2016" Phys. Usp. 59 1250–1257 (2016) BibTexBibNote ® (generic)BibNote ® (RIS)MedlineRefWorks Received: 1st, June 2016, accepted: 16th, June 2016 Оригинал: Витухновский А Г «Вавилов и ФИАН — взгляд из 2016 года» УФН 186 1360–1367 (2016); DOI: 10.3367/UFNr.2016.06.037860 S.I. Vavilov is author of Physics-Uspekhi