Julius Schaxel

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Julius Christoph Ehregott Schaxel (March 24, 1887 - July 15, 1943) was a German biologist who was a native of Augsburg.

Schaxel initially studied biology, philosophy and psychology at Jena with Ernst Haeckel (1834-1919), and later studied in Munich with Richard Hertwig 1850-1937). In 1909 he obtained his PhD. at the University of Jena under Ludwig Plate (1862-1937). From 1918 until 1933 he was associate professor of zoology at Jena. During the rise of National Socialism, he was dismissed from his position in 1933 and emigrated via Switzerland to St. Petersburg, where he received a position at the Severtsov Evolution and Morphology Institute of the Soviet Academy of Sciences. In 1934 he moved with the institute to Moscow.

Schaxel specialized in the fields of developmental biology and theoretical biology. He is remembered for his research involving limb regeneration and parabiosis of the Mexican axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum). He was interested in biology from a Marxist philosophic standpoint, and was co-founder and editor of the journal Urania from 1924 to 1933. This popular magazine was known for its scientific articles within the framework of Marxist philosophy.