This paper presents the work in cell biology of the Soviet biologist Olga Lepeshinskaya (1871-1963) and analyzes the circumstances of its diffusion outside the USSR, after World War II. Lepeshinskaya’s work was produced in the context of Lyssenkoist science and was in strong opposition with the principle of the impossibility of spontaneous generation. The aim of this study is to analyze the manner in which such ideas were able or not to circulate and what background of their critics were.

The first part will present Lepeshinskaya's conceptions of the cell and of life in the general context of the Soviet science, with particular regard to the topic of the origins of life. The second part will inform on the reception of these ideas outside the USSR. Finally, it will analyze the rhetorical and editorial strategies of such contestable ideas.