Tatiana Antonovna Dettlaff (Russian: Татьяна Антоновна Детлаф; 1912–2006) was a Russian developmental biologist known for her pioneering research on oocyte growth and maturation in sturgeons, a group of ancient fish species facing significant conservation challenges. A key aspect of her work involved developing methods for the artificial propagation of sturgeons through hormonal induction of spawning, controlled fertilisation, and embryo rearing. Dettlaff was Professor Emeritus of the Kol'tsov Institute Developmental Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences, where she headed the Filatov Laboratory of Experimental Embryology for more than 20 years. She was an honorary member of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, and a member of the International Society of Developmental Biologists. Dettlaff was the recipient of A.O. Kowalevsky Prize, the most important scientific award in Russia in the field of developmental biology.
Early life and education Dettlaff was born in Malakhovka, Moscow to Sofia Aronovna and Anton Losifovich. Her mother was a physician, and her father was a teacher who headed the pedagogical and agricultural training colleges in Volokolamsk from 1918 to 1929. After graduating from a seven-year school and completing two courses of training college, Dettlaff appeared and passed the entrance exams for the biology department of the second Moscow Pedagogical Institute in 1925. However, she failed to secure admission as a few slots were reserved for the children of employees. She enrolled in the Simferopol Pedagogical Institute instead, and a few months later, transferred to the first Moscow State University after the biological faculty announced additional admission spots. She joined the Department of Developmental Dynamics under Mikhail Zavadovsky, a Russian and Soviet biologist specialising in the reproductive biology of livestock. During her third year, while at the Zvengorod Biological Station, Dettlaff attended a practical course on microsurgery in developmental mechanics, conducted by scientist and embryologist Dmitriy Filatov. Although she was interested in the field of developmental mechanics, Dettlaff did not follow Filatov for her diploma work because she wanted to work in phenogenetics. In response, Filatov invited her to the Institute of Experimental Biology and introduced her to the director Nikolai Koltsov, who proposed that she work on a project entitles Morphology of embryonic lethaIs in Drosophila. Koltsov hired Dettlaff as a technician, where she looked after axolotls who regularly became ill and died. Over the next two months, she struggled to obtain, fix, embed and cut eggs, but Filatov continued to be an encouraging presence. During this time, Dettlaff became interested in the specific structural features of the ectoderm in anura, which had been sidelined by embryologists. After her graduation in 1933, Filatov proposed she join postgraduate school under his guidance; Dettlaff agreed much to the dismay of Koltsov who did not forgive this decision until he died. In 1937, Dettlaff defended her candidate (PhD) thesis on Development of the Nervous System in Anura with Special Reference to Organizer Action after which she went on a two-tear hiatus to take care of her ailing mother.
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