Memento mori: are animals aware of their own mortality, and if so, to what end?

The Latin translation of memento mori is ’remembrance of death’. Aside from being a gentle reminder, it is also an invitation to reflect on the meaning of our existence. Which brings us to the question of our lecture — are animals aware that nothing in this world lasts forever? 

Many observations show that chimpanzees care for seriously ill group members and mourn the dead, while elephants cover the bodies of their relatives with branches and earth in a kind of funeral ritual. What do animals know about death and what can they teach us? 

Lecturer 

Daria Podvigina graduated from the Faculty of Psychology at St Petersburg University in 2002 and started working at Pavlov Institute of Physiology of the Russian Academy of Sciences in the same year. Since 2015, she has been Senior Research Associate at the Laboratory for Cognitive Studies at St Petersburg University (since 2020 — the Institute for Cognitive Studies at the University). Her main research interests are neurophysiological and psychophysiological mechanisms of visual perception and recognition of complex images. She is the author of more than 40 papers. In addition to research, she teaches a number of courses at the Institute of Cognitive Studies and at the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences at St Petersburg University: Introduction to Life Sciences, Human: Evolution, Culture, Behaviour, and others. 

The lecture is part of the 300th anniversary celebrations of St Petersburg University — Russia’s first university. The meeting will be held online in Russian with simultaneous interpreting into Spanish.

Registration