Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky  was a Russian psychologist and the founder of the theory of human cultural and bio-social development, commonly referred to as cultural-historical psychology, and leader of the Vygotsky Circle.

Vygotsky’s main work was in developmental psychology, and he proposed a theory of the development of higher cognitive functions in children that saw reasoning as emerging through practical activity in a social environment. During the earlier period of his career he argued that the development of reasoning was mediated by signs and symbols, and therefore contingent on cultural practices and language as well as on universal cognitive processes.

His work was suppressed shortly after his death but was finally translated and published in the west in the late 1950s and early 1960s. His work has become the foundation of research and theory in cognitive development over the past several decades, particularly of what has become known as Social Development Theory.

Please click the following link which will take you to the interactive timeline of Vygotsky’s short but influential life:

http://timeglider.com/t/6a8ed83a227000c1?min_zoom=29&max_zoom=52