There were some serious theoretical discrepancies between the two scientists, but it was not until 1947 that these discrepancies were joined by personal enmity. As to the nature of this enmity, the opinion is repeatedly expressed in memoirs (Leontiev, et al, 2005) that the scientists were purposefully set against each other by ill-wishers so that this hostility could be used in the campaign against Rubinstein.

The late 1940s was the time of aggravation of the "cold war". In Soviet society a campaign of "struggle against cosmopolitism" was started. Rubinstein was doomed to become a victim as were many other outstanding scientists. As was usually done, a series of public "discussions" was organized, in which Communist party leaders of the faculty and students of the faculty participated. Leontiev and Rubinstein were the main opponents. As a result, in April 1950 Rubinstein was blamed a "cosmopolitan", anti-patriot, a follower of the "bourgeois" psychological theories. He was displaced from all his positions and the formal reason was the decision of the Academic Council.

The department of psychology was then headed by B. M. Teplov, and soon in 1951 Leontiev took this position and held it through his lifetime. In 1966, the Faculty of Psychology of MStU was opened on the basis of the department and was also headed by Leontiev, and this position was also held through his lifetime, until 1979.

S. L. Rubinstein had not been subjected to further repressions, and after a year he was authorized to return to work, but he never returned to Moscow State University.

Development of AT in Russia after World War II

In the 1950s after Stalin's death, new possibilities for the development of Psychology in Russia opened and for integration with international science. There were only three universities in Soviet Russia where psychological education was provided: Moscow, Leningrad and Yaroslavl, a smaller city not far from Moscow (eight Universities altogether in the USSR, among which were such prominent universities as Tartu, Tbilisi, etc.). The universities were the main foundations of psychological science because at that time there was hardly any practical psychology in Russia and very few centers where psychological research was carried out, mainly at psycho-neurological hospitals. The University faculties were more research centers than educational institutions; LStU recruited about 50 full-time students each year, YarStU was smaller, and MStU recruited over hundred students. All education was free, and entrance was on a competitive basis. There were fully equipped laboratories, where all the students obtained training in depth. These faculties were doing research for the government, which was very well financed. The faculties and the departments were headed by well-known researchers who maintained the investigations for which the faculties got their money from the state.