Doctor from God. biography of the surgeon Pirogov in pictures

Portrait of Nikolai Pirogov by Ilya Repin, 1881.

There was no nose - and suddenly appeared

Nikolai Ivanovich Pirogov was born in 1810 in Moscow, in a poor, paradoxical as it may sound, family of a military treasurer. Major Ivan Ivanovich Pirogov was afraid to steal, but he had children without measure. The future father of Russian surgery was the thirteenth child.

So the boarding school, in which the boy had entered at the age of eleven, soon had to be left - there was nothing to pay for him.

However, he entered the university as a student of his own. Here the mother of the family, Elizaveta Ivanovna, nee Novikova, a lady of merchant blood, had already insisted. To be state-owned, that is, not to pay for education, seemed humiliating to her.

Nicholas was only fourteen at the time, but he said he was sixteen. The serious young man looked convincing, no one even doubted. The young man received his higher medical education at the age of seventeen. Then he went to probation in Dorpat.

At Dorpat University, the character of Nikolai Ivanovich was especially pronounced - in contrast to another future medical luminary, Fedor Inozemtsev. Ironically, they were placed in the same room. Comrades constantly came to the cheerful and merry Inozemtsev, played the guitar, cooked zhzhenka, dabbled in cigars. And poor Pirogov, who never let go of his textbook for a minute, had to endure all this.

It didn’t even occur to him to leave his studies for at least an hour and enjoy the romance of student life, ennobled by an early bald head and decorated with boring sideburns-brushes.

Then - the University of Berlin. There is not much study. And in 1836, Nikolai Ivanovich finally accepted the appointment of a professor of theoretical and practical surgery at the Imperial Derpt University, which he knew well. There, he first builds a nose for the barber Otto, and then for another Estonian girl. Literally builds like a surgeon. There was no nose - and suddenly it appeared. Pirogov took the skin for this wonderful decoration from the forehead of the patient.

Both were, of course, in seventh heaven with happiness. Oddly enough, the barber was especially jubilant, either having lost his nose in a fight, or accidentally cutting it off while serving another client: “During my suffering, they still took part in me; with the loss of the nose, it passed. Everything ran away from me, even my faithful wife. All my family has moved away from me; friends have left me. After a long retreat, I went one evening to a tavern. The owner asked me to leave at once.”

Meanwhile, Pirogov was already reporting on his plastic experiments to the scientific medical community, using a simple rag doll as a visual aid.

Life among the dead

The building of Dorpat University. Image from wikipedia.org

In Derpt, and then in the capital, the surgical talent of Nikolai Ivanovich is finally fully revealed. He cuts people almost non-stop. But his head is constantly working in favor of the patient. How can amputation be avoided? How to reduce pain? How will the unfortunate person live after the operation?

He invents a new surgical technique, which went down in the history of medicine as Pirogov's operation. In order not to go into juicy medical details, the leg is not cut where it was cut before, but in a slightly different place, and as a result, one can hobble on what remains of it.

Today, this method is recognized as obsolete - there were too many problems in the postoperative period, Nikolai Ivanovich violated the laws of nature too radically. But then, in 1852, it was considered a great breakthrough.

Saint Petersburg. Military-medical Academy. Image: retro-piter.livejournal.com

Another problem is how to reduce unnecessary movements with a scalpel, how to quickly determine exactly where surgery is required. Before Pirogov, no one was seriously engaged in this at all - they were poking around in a living person like a baby in a sandbox. He, studying frozen corpses (at the same time gave rise to a new direction - “ice anatomy”), compiled the first detailed anatomical atlas in history. A much-needed manual for fellow surgeons was published under the title "Topographic Anatomy Illustrated by Cuts Through the Frozen Human Body in Three Directions".

In fact, 3D.

True, this 3D cost him a month and a half of bed rest - he did not get out of the dead room for days, inhaled harmful fumes there and almost went to the forefathers himself.

Left much to be desired and surgical instruments of that time. What to do with it? Our hero is used to solving problems radically. He becomes, among other things, the director of the Tool Plant, where he actively improves the product range. Of course, due to products of their own invention.

Nikolai Ivanovich is worried about another serious problem - anesthesia. And not so much the first part of it - how to put a person to sleep before the operation, but the second - how to make sure that later he still wakes up. Our hero becomes the absolute champion in carrying out operations under the ether.

"Traumatic Epidemic"

In 1847, Pirogov, who had just received the title of Corresponding Member of the Imperial St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, went to the Caucasian War. It was there that he received unlimited opportunities for his ethereal experiments - the theater of war constantly supplied him with people in need of help.

He performed several thousand such operations, most of them successful. If a soldier can boast of how many people he took their lives, then Nikolai Ivanovich had a reverse count. He, in fact, pulled several thousand people out of the hands of death. He brought one of them back to life, and immediately they put another on the table.

You need to have some kind of completely superman psyche to withstand this. And Nikolai Pirogov was such a superman.

Then - another war, the Crimean. Experiments with ether continue. At the same time, plaster fixing bandages are being improved. Pirogov first began to use them during the Crimean campaign. But even in the Caucasus, starch dressings, also put into practice by Dr. Pirogov, were considered an unprecedented innovation. He overtook himself.

Plus a new approach to evacuating the wounded from the battlefield. Previously, everyone who was able to be pulled out was indiscriminately sent to the rear. Pirogov introduced just this analysis. The wounded were examined already at the field dressing station. Those who could be helped on the spot were released, and servicemen with serious injuries were sent to the rear hospital. Thus, such scarce places in military transport were given to those who really needed them.

The word "logistics" did not yet exist at that time, and Pirogov was already actively using it, but there, God forbid, modern supervisors never appear.

And being the chief surgeon of the besieged Sevastopol is an enviable position, isn't it? - Nikolai Ivanovich debugged the work of the sisters of mercy to unprecedented perfection.

What kind of cellos, chess and jokes are there. He gutted living people from morning to night!

N.I. Pirogov. Photo by P.S. Zhukov, 1870. Image from wikipedia.org

Pirogov didn't even have friends. That's what he said to himself - "I have no friends." Calmly and without regret. About the war, he argued that it was a “traumatic epidemic”. It was vital for him to put everything in its place.

At the end of the war (which Russia, by the way, lost), Emperor Alexander Nikolayevich, the future tsar-liberator, summoned Pirogov for a report. Better not to call.

The doctor, without any respect and rank, dumped out to the emperor everything that he had learned about the unforgivable backwardness of the country both in military affairs and in medicine. The autocrat did not like this, and he, in fact, exiled the obstinate doctor out of sight - to Odessa, to the post of trustee of the Odessa educational district.

Herzen subsequently kicked the tsar in The Bell: "It was one of the most vile deeds of Alexander, dismissing a man Russia is proud of."

Alexander II, photo portrait, 1880. Image from runivers.ru

And suddenly, quite unexpectedly, a new stage in the activity of this great man began - pedagogical. Pirogov turned out to be a born teacher. In 1856, he published an article entitled "Questions of Life", in which, in fact, he considers questions of education.

The main idea of this is the need for a humane attitude of the teacher to the students. In everyone, one should first of all see a free personality, which should be respected unquestioningly.

He also complained about the fact that the existing educational system is aimed at training narrow-profile specialists: “I know very well that the gigantic successes of the sciences and arts of our century have made specialism a necessary need of society; but at the same time, true specialists have never needed so much a preliminary general human education as in our age.

A one-sided specialist is either a crude empiricist or a street charlatan.

This was especially true for the upbringing and education of young ladies. According to Nikolai Ivanovich, women's education should not be limited to homework skills. The doctor was not shy in his arguments: “What if a wife, calm, carefree in the family circle, looks at your cherished struggle with a senseless smile of an idiot? Or… squandering all the possible cares of domestic life, will be imbued with only one thought: to please and improve your material, earthly existence?

However, men also got it: “And what is it like for a woman in whom the need to love, participate and sacrifice is developed incomparably more and who still lacks enough experience to calmly endure the deceit of hope - tell me what it should be like for her in the field of life, walking hand in hand with the one in which she was so pathetically deceived, who, correcting her consoling convictions, laughs at her shrine, jokes with her inspirations?

And, of course, no corporal punishment. Nikolai Ivanovich even devoted a separate note to this topical topic - “Is it necessary to flog children, and flog in the presence of other children?”

Pirogov, remembering his conversation with the tsar, was immediately suspected of excessive freethinking.

And he was transferred to Kyiv, where he took up the duties of a trustee of the Kyiv educational district. There, thanks again to his principles, straightforwardness and disregard for ranks, Nikolai Ivanovich finally fell out of favor and was demoted to a simple member of the Main Board of Schools.

In particular, he categorically refused, at the request of the ministry, to establish secret supervision over the students of the Kyiv educational district. Herzen wrote: "Pirogov was too tall for the role of a spy and could not justify meanness with state considerations."

Nikolai Ivanovich Pirogov, posthumous portrait. Engraving by I.I. Matyushina, 1881. Image from dlib.rsl.ru

Pirogov died at the age of 71. Died in six months from cancer of the upper jaw, which was diagnosed by Nikolai Sklifosovsky. He was buried in a mausoleum on his own estate.

The body was embalmed according to his own technology and placed in a transparent sarcophagus, "so that the students and successors of the noble and charitable deeds of N.I. Pirogov could see his bright appearance." The Church, "taking into account the merits of N.I. Pirogov as an exemplary Christian and a world-famous scientist," did not object.

Nikolai Ivanovich Pirogov would have made a very bad therapist. A doctor of this profile needs a smile and participation, a kind of conspiratorial wink, so that he gently feels his stomach with a plump hand of a sybarite and says: “Well, what happened to us, my friend? Nothing, sir, before the wedding will heal.

And so that the ailment would recede from this alone, life would light up in the eyes and the patient himself would ask for a cup of broth, although an hour ago he could not even drink a sip.

Pirogov would not have succeeded in this way. And he had a completely different life.

S. Cherry (now within the boundaries of Vinnitsa), Podolsk province, Russian Empire) - Russian surgeon and anatomist, naturalist and teacher, founder of the atlas of topographic anatomy, founder of military field surgery, founder of anesthesia. Corresponding member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences.

Biography

In search of an effective teaching method, Pirogov decided to apply anatomical studies on frozen corpses. Pirogov himself called this "ice anatomy". Thus was born a new medical discipline, topographic anatomy. After several years of such study of anatomy, Pirogov published the first anatomical atlas entitled "Topographic anatomy, illustrated by cuts made through the frozen human body in three directions", which became an indispensable guide for surgeons. From that moment on, surgeons were able to operate with minimal trauma to the patient. This atlas and the technique proposed by Pirogov became the basis for the entire subsequent development of operative surgery.

Crimean War

Later years

N. I. Pirogov

Despite the heroic defense, Sevastopol was taken by the besiegers, and the Crimean War was lost by Russia. Returning to St. Petersburg, Pirogov, at a reception at Alexander II, told the emperor about problems in the troops, as well as about the general backwardness of the Russian army and its weapons. The emperor did not want to listen to Pirogov. From that moment on, Nikolai Ivanovich fell out of favor, he was sent to Odessa to the post of trustee of the Odessa and Kyiv educational districts. Pirogov tried to reform the existing system of school education, his actions led to a conflict with the authorities, and the scientist had to leave his post. Not only was he not appointed minister of public education, but they even refused to make him a comrade (deputy) minister, instead he was "exiled" to supervise Russian candidates for professorships studying abroad. He chose Heidelberg as his residence, where he arrived in May 1862. The candidates were very grateful to him, for example, Nobel laureate I. I. Mechnikov warmly recalled this. There he not only fulfilled his duties, often traveling to other cities where the candidates studied, but also provided them and their family members and friends with any, including medical assistance, and one of the candidates, the head of the Russian community of Heidelberg, held a fundraiser for the treatment of Garibaldi and persuaded Pirogov to examine the wounded Garibaldi. Pirogov refused money, but went to Garibaldi and found a bullet not noticed by other world-famous doctors, insisted that Garibaldi leave the climate harmful to his wound, as a result of which the Italian government released Garibaldi from captivity. According to the general opinion, it was N.I. Pirogov who then saved the leg, and, most likely, the life of Garibaldi, who was convicted by other doctors. In his Memoirs, Garibaldi recalls: “The outstanding professors Petridge, Nelaton and Pirogov, who showed generous attention to me when I was in a dangerous state, proved that there are no boundaries for good deeds, for true science in the family of mankind ... "After that Petersburg, there was an attempt on the life of Alexander II by nihilists who admired Garibaldi, and, most importantly, Garibaldi's participation in the war of Prussia and Italy against Austria, which displeased the Austrian government, and the "red" Pirogov was generally dismissed from public service even without pension rights.

In the prime of his creative powers, Pirogov retired to his small estate "Cherry" not far from Vinnitsa, where he organized a free hospital. He briefly traveled from there only abroad, and also at the invitation of St. Petersburg University to give lectures. By this time, Pirogov was already a member of several foreign academies. For a relatively long time, Pirogov only left the estate twice: the first time in 1870 during the Franco-Prussian war, being invited to the front on behalf of the International Red Cross, and the second time, in -1878 - already at a very old age - he worked at the front for several months during the Russo-Turkish War.

Activities in the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878

Last confession

N. I. Pirogov on the day of death

Pirogov's body was embalmed by his attending physician D. I. Vyvodtsev using the method he had developed, and buried in a mausoleum in the village of Vyshnya near Vinnitsa. In the late 1920s, robbers visited the crypt, damaged the lid of the sarcophagus, stole Pirogov's sword (a gift from Franz Joseph) and a pectoral cross. During the Second World War, during the retreat of the Soviet troops, the sarcophagus with the body of Pirogov was hidden in the ground, while being damaged, which led to damage to the body, which was subsequently restored and re-embalmed.

Officially, the tomb of Pirogov is called the "church-necropolis", the body is located below ground level in the crypt - the basement of the Orthodox church, in a glazed sarcophagus, which can be accessed by those wishing to pay tribute to the memory of the great scientist.

Meaning

The main significance of all Pirogov's activities lies in the fact that with his selfless and often disinterested work he turned surgery into a science, arming doctors with a scientifically based method of surgical intervention.

A rich collection of documents related to the life and work of Nikolai Ivanovich Pirogov, his personal belongings, medical instruments, lifetime editions of his works are stored in the funds of the Military Medical Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia. Of particular interest are the 2-volume manuscript of the scientist “Questions of life. Diary of an old doctor” and a suicide note left by him indicating the diagnosis of his illness.

Contribution to the development of national pedagogy

In the classic article "Questions of Life" he considered the fundamental problems of Russian education. He showed the absurdity of class education, the discord between school and life. He put forward as the main goal of education the formation of a highly moral personality, ready to renounce selfish aspirations for the benefit of society. He believed that for this it was necessary to rebuild the entire education system based on the principles of humanism and democracy. The education system that ensures the development of the individual must be based on a scientific basis, from primary to higher education, and ensure the continuity of all education systems.

Pedagogical views: he considered the main idea of universal education, the education of a citizen useful to the country; noted the need for social preparation for life of a highly moral person with a broad moral outlook: “ Being human is what education should lead to»; upbringing and education should be in their native language. " Contempt for the native language dishonors the national feeling". Pointed out that the basis of subsequent professional education should be a broad general education; proposed to attract prominent scientists to teaching in higher education, recommended to strengthen the conversations of professors with students; fought for general secular education; urged to respect the personality of the child; fought for the autonomy of higher education.

Criticism of class vocational education: opposed the class school and early utilitarian-professional training, against the early premature specialization of children; believed that it hinders the moral education of children, narrows their horizons; condemned arbitrariness, the barracks regime in schools, thoughtless attitude towards children.

Didactic ideas: teachers should discard old dogmatic ways of teaching and apply new methods; it is necessary to awaken the thought of students, to instill the skills of independent work; the teacher must draw the attention and interest of the student to the reported material; transfer from class to class should be based on the results of annual performance; in transfer exams there is an element of chance and formalism.

The system of public education according to N. I. Pirogov:

Family

Memory

In Russia

In Ukraine

In Belarus

Pirogova street in the city of Minsk.

In Bulgaria

The grateful Bulgarian people erected 26 obelisks, 3 rotundas and a monument to N. I. Pirogov in Skobelevsky Park in Plevna. In the village of Bohot, on the site where the Russian 69th military temporary hospital stood, a park-museum “N. I. Pirogov.

In Estonia

Monument in Tartu - located on the square. Pirogov (est. Pirogovi plats).

In Moldavia

In honor of N. I. Pirogov, a street was named in the city of Rezina, and in Chisinau

In literature and art

Pirogov - the main character in Kuprin's story "The Wonderful Doctor"
Pirogov is the main character in the story "The Beginning" and in the story "Bucephalus" by Yuri German.
Pirogov is a computer program in the science fiction books Ancient: Catastrophe and Ancient: Corporation by Sergei Tarmashev.
"Pirogov" - a 1947 film, in the role of Nikolai Pirogov - People's Artist of the USSR Konstantin Skorobogatov.

In philately

Notes

Sevastopol letters of N. I. Pirogov 1854-1855. - St. Petersburg: 1907
Nikolay Marangozov. Nikolai Pirogov c. Duma (Bulgaria), November 13, 2003
Gorelova L. E. Mystery of N. I. Pirogov // Russian Medical Journal. - 2000. - T. 8. - No. 8. - S. 349.
Pirogov's last shelter
Rossiyskaya Gazeta - Monument to the Living for Saving the Dead
Location of the Tomb of N. I. Pirogov on the map of Vinnitsa
History of Pedagogy and Education. From the origin of education in primitive society to the end of the 20th century: Textbook for pedagogical educational institutions / Ed. A. I. Piskunova.- M., 2001.
History of Pedagogy and Education. From the origin of education in primitive society to the end of the 20th century: A textbook for pedagogical educational institutions Ed. A. I. Piskunova.- M., 2001.
Kodzhaspirova G. M. History of education and pedagogical thought: tables, diagrams, reference notes. - M., 2003. - S. 125
Kaluga crossroads. Surgeon Pirogov married a Kaluga woman
According to the rector of the Russian State Medical University, Nikolai Volodin (Rossiyskaya Gazeta, August 18, 2010), this was “a technical mistake of the former leadership. Two years ago, at a meeting of the labor collective, it was unanimously decided to return the name of Pirogov to the university. But so far nothing has changed: the charter, which was amended, is still being approved ... It should be adopted in the near future.” As of November 4, 2010, the university is described on the RSMU website as “im. N. I. Pirogov”, however, among the normative documents cited there, there is still the charter of 2003 without mentioning the name of Pirogov.
The only one mausoleum in the world, officially recognized (canonized) by the Orthodox Church
In tsarist times, there was a Makovsky hospital on Malo-Vladimirskaya Street, where in 1911 the mortally wounded Stolypin was brought and spent his last days (the pavement in front of the hospital was covered with straw). Alexander Solzhenitsyn. Chapter 67 // Red Wheel. - Node I: August the Fourteenth. - M .: Time, . - Vol. 2 (Vol. 8th collection of works). - S. 248, 249. - ISBN 5-9691-0187-7
MBALSM "N. I. Pirogov»
1977 (14 October). 100 years from the birth of Academician Nikolai Pirogov in Bulgaria. Hood. N. Kovachev. P. dlbok. Naz. D 13. Sheet (5x5). N. I. Pirogov (Russian surgeon). 2703.13 st. Circulation: 150,000.
Chronicle of the life and work of D. I. Mendeleev. - L.: Science. 1984.
Vetrova M. D. The myth about the article by N. I. Pirogov “The Ideal of a Woman” [including the text of the article]. // Space and time. - 2012. - No. 1. - S. 215-225.

Bibliography

Pirogov N.I. Complete course of applied anatomy of the human body. - St. Petersburg, 1843-1845.
Pirogov N.I. Report on a journey through the Caucasus 1847-1849 - St. Petersburg, 1849. (Pirogov, N.I. Report on a journey through the Caucasus / Compiled, introductory article and note by S. S. Mikhailov. - M .: State Publishing house of medical literature, 1952. - 358 p.)
Pirogov N.I. Pathological anatomy of Asiatic cholera. - St. Petersburg, 1849.
Pirogov N.I. Anatomical images of the external appearance and position of the organs contained in the three main cavities of the human body. - St. Petersburg, 1850.
Pirogov N.I. Topographic anatomy according to cuts through frozen corpses. Tt. 1-4. - St. Petersburg, 1851-1854.
Pirogov N.I. The beginnings of general military field surgery, taken from observations of military hospital practice and memories of the Crimean War and the Caucasian expedition. hh. 1-2. - Dresden, 1865-1866. (M., 1941.)
Pirogov N.I. university question. - St. Petersburg, 1863.
Pirogov N.I. Surgical anatomy of arterial trunks and fascia. Issue. 1-2. - St. Petersburg, 1881-1882.
Pirogov N.I. Works. Tt. 1-2. - SPb., 1887. [T. 1: Questions of life. Diary of an old doctor. T. 2: Questions of life. Articles and notes]. (3rd ed., Kyiv, 1910).
Pirogov N.I. Sevastopol letters of N. I. Pirogov 1854-1855. - St. Petersburg, 1899.
Pirogov N.I. Unpublished pages from the memoirs of N. I. Pirogov. (Political confession of N. I. Pirogov) // About the past: a historical collection. - St. Petersburg: Typo-lithography B. M. Wolf, 1909.
Pirogov N. I. Questions of life. Diary of an old doctor. Edition of the Pirogov t-va. 1910
Pirogov N. I. Works on experimental, operational and military field surgery (1847-1859) T 3. M.; 1964
Pirogov N.I. Sevastopol letters and memoirs. - M.: Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 1950. - 652 p. [Contents: Sevastopol Letters; memories of the Crimean War; From the diary of the "Old Doctor"; Letters and documents].
Pirogov N.I. Selected pedagogical works / Entry. Art. V. Z. Smirnova. - M .: Publishing House of Acad. ped. Sciences of the RSFSR, 1952. - 702 p.
Pirogov N.I. Selected pedagogical works. - M.: Pedagogy, 1985. - 496 p.

Literature

Shtreikh S. Ya. N. I. Pirogov. - M .: Journal and newspaper association, 1933. - 160 p. - (Life of remarkable people). - 40,000 copies.
Porudominsky V.I. Pirogov. - M .: Young Guard, 1965. - 304 p. - (Life of Remarkable People; issue 398). - 65,000 copies.(in trans.)

Links

Sevastopol letters of N. I. Pirogov 1854-1855. on the website "Runivers"
Nikolai Ivanovich Pirogov “Questions of life. Diary of an old doctor”, Ivanovo, 2008, pdf
Nikolai Ivanovich Pirogov. Questions of life. Diary of an old doctor facsimile reproduction of the second volume of Pirogov's works published in 1910, PDF
Zakharov I. Surgeon Nikolai Pirogov: a difficult path to faith // St. Petersburg University. - No. 29 (3688), December 10, 2004
Trotsky L. Political silhouettes: Pirogov
L. V. Shaposhnikova.

Nikolai Pirogov is a famous Russian surgeon who made an invaluable contribution to the development of Russian and world medicine. He was born in Moscow in 1810. His father was an officer in the Russian army, served as a treasurer in a depot, earned good money, and was able to give his son a good education. Nikolai began his studies in a private boarding school. As a child, the boy showed not a hefty craving for the natural sciences. At the age of 14, Pirogov entered the Moscow State University, the Faculty of Medicine. It was possible to enter a prestigious educational institution with the help of deception. In the application form for admission, Nikolai attributed two years to himself. Being the 18th young man, he can already work as a doctor, but such work did not attract him. Pirogv decides to continue his studies - he wants to be a surgeon.

Nikolai Ivanovich moved to Tartu, where he entered the Yuriev University. After graduation, he defended his doctoral dissertation. The topic of the dissertation is ligation of the abdominal aorta. It was thanks to his research that in medicine for the first time information appeared about the exact location of the abdominal aorta, about the features of blood circulation in it.

By the age of 26, Nikolai Pirogov becomes a professor at Derpt University, is engaged in scientific activities and practice (heads a clinic at the university). Soon he finishes his work - "Surgical anatomy of arterial trunks and fascia." Pirogov became the first doctor in the world who tried to study the shells of the surrounding muscle groups. The world and Russian scientific community highly appreciated the work of Pirogov. The Academy of Sciences awarded him the Demidov Prize.

Nikolay Pirogov was the first doctor who insisted on the widespread use of antiseptics. He believed that these drugs are indispensable, especially in surgery. He did a lot for the development of medicine in the Russian Empire. The physician devoted himself completely to science and society. The wars in which Russia participated during his lifetime did not pass him by either. So Pirogov visited the Crimean War, Caucasian and Russian-Turkish. Over the years of military field medical practice, he came up with various effective ways to evacuate the wounded from the battlefield, as well as their subsequent treatment.

Nikolai Ivanovich was the largest researcher of the properties of ether anesthesia. Thanks to him, anesthesia has found wide application in hospitals and in military field conditions.

He developed methods for caring for the wounded, opened a number of measures to prevent the development of body decay. Nikolai Ivanovich improved plaster casts. Many of Pirogov's discoveries and innovations are still relevant today.

Nikolai Ivanovich Pirogov died in 1881.

Nikolai Vasilyevich Sklifosovsky (1836-1904) - Honored Professor, Director of the Imperial Clinical Institute of Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna in St. Petersburg

After examining Pirogov, N.V. Sklifosovsky said to S. Shklyarevsky: “There can be no doubt that the ulcers are malignant, that there is a neoplasm of an epithelial nature. It is necessary to operate as soon as possible, otherwise a week or two - and it will be too late ... ”This message struck Shklyarevsky like a thunder, he did not dare to tell the truth even to Pirogov’s wife, Alexandra Antonovna. Of course, one can hardly assume that N.I. Pirogov, a brilliant surgeon, a highly qualified diagnostician, through whose hands dozens of oncological patients passed, could not make a diagnosis himself.
On May 25, 1881, a council was held in Moscow, consisting of the professor of surgery at the University of Dorpat E.K. Val, professor of surgery at Kharkov University V.F. Grube and two St. Petersburg professors E.E. Eichwald and E.I. Bogdanovsky, who came to the conclusion that Nikolai Ivanovich had cancer, the situation was serious, and he needed to be operated on as soon as possible. Presiding over the council N.V. Sklifosovsky said: "Now I will remove everything clean in 20 minutes, and in two weeks it will hardly be possible." Everyone agreed with him.
But who will find the courage to tell Nikolai Ivanovich about this? asked Eichwald, given that Pirogov was in close friendship with his father and transferred his attitude to his son. He categorically protested: "I? .. No way!". I had to do it myself.
This is how he describes the scene Nikolai Sklifosovsky: “... I was afraid that my voice would tremble and tears would betray everything that was in my soul ...
- Nikolay Ivanovich! I began, looking intently into his face. - We decided to offer you to cut out the ulcer.
Calmly, with complete self-control, he listened to me. Not a single muscle in his face twitched. It seemed to me that before me rose the image of the sage of antiquity. Yes, only Socrates could listen with the same equanimity to the harsh verdict of approaching death!
There was a deep silence. Oh, this terrible moment!.. I still feel it with pain.
- I ask you, Nikolai Vasilyevich, and you, Val, - Nikolai Ivanovich told us, - to perform an operation on me, but not here. We have just finished the celebration, and suddenly then a feast! Can you come to my village?
Of course, we agreed. The operation, however, was not destined to come true ... "
Like all women, Alexandra Antonovna still hoped that salvation was possible: what if the diagnosis was wrong? Together with his son N.N. Pirogov, she convinced her husband to go to the famous Theodor Billroth to Vienna for a consultation and accompanies him on a trip together with his personal doctor S. Shklyarevsky.

Theodor Billroth (1829-1894) - the largest German surgeon

On June 14, 1881, a new consultation took place. After a thorough examination, T. Billroth recognized the diagnosis as correct, but, given the clinical manifestations of the disease and the age of the patient, he reassured that the granulations are small and sluggish, and neither the bottom nor the edges of the ulcers have the appearance of a malignant formation.
Parting with an eminent patient, T. Billroth said: “Truth and clarity in thinking and feeling, both in words and in deeds, are steps on the ladder that lead humanity to the bosom of the gods. To follow you, both a brave and confident leader, on this not always safe path, has always been my deep desire. Consequently, T. Billroth, who examined the patient, was convinced of a difficult diagnosis, but realized that the operation was impossible due to the difficult moral and physical condition of the patient, so he "rejected the diagnosis" made by Russian doctors. Of course, many people had a question, how could the experienced Theodor Billroth overlook the tumor and not perform the operation? Realizing that he must discover the cause of his own holy lie, Billroth sent a letter to D. Vyvodtsev, in which he explained: “My thirty years of surgical experience taught me that sarcomatous and cancerous tumors starting behind the upper jaw can never be radically removed ... I did not receive would have a favorable result. I wanted, having dissuaded, to cheer up the patient who had fallen in spirit a little and persuade him to patience ... ".
Christian Albert Theodor Billroth was in love with Pirogov, called him a teacher, a brave and confident leader. At parting, the German scientist presented N.I. Pirogov his portrait, on the reverse side of which memorable words were written: “Dear Maestro Nikolai Pirogov! Truthfulness and clarity in thoughts and feelings, in words and deeds - these are the steps of the ladder that leads people to the abode of the gods. To be like you, a brave and confident mentor on this not always safe path, to follow you steadily is my most zealous aspiration. Your sincere admirer and friend Theodor Billroth. Date 14 June 1881 Vienna. N.I. Pirogov expressed compliments, also recorded on Billroth's gift. “He,” wrote N.I., “is our great scientist and outstanding mind. His work is recognized and appreciated. May it be allowed for me to turn out to be just as worthy and highly useful as his like-minded and reformer. The wife of Nikolai Ivanovich, Alexandra Anatolyevna, added to these words: “What is written on this portrait of Mr. Billroth belongs to my husband. The portrait hung in his study." Biographers of Pirogov do not always pay attention to the fact that Billroth also had his portrait.
Cheered up, Pirogov went to his place in Cherry, staying all summer in a cheerful state of mind. Despite the progression of the disease, the conviction that it was not cancer helped him to live, even to consult patients, to participate in the anniversary celebrations dedicated to the 70th anniversary of his birth. He worked on a diary, worked in the garden, walked, received patients, but did not risk operating. Methodically rinsed his mouth with a solution of alum and changed the protector. It didn't last long. In July 1881, while relaxing at the dacha of I. Bertenson on the estuary in Odessa, Pirogov again met with S. Shklyarevsky.
It was already difficult to recognize Nikolai Ivanovich. “Gloomy and focused on himself, he willingly let me look at his mouth and, keeping calm, with a gesture, said several times significant: “It doesn’t heal! .. It doesn’t heal! .. Yes, of course, I fully understand the nature of the ulcer, but, agree yourself, it’s not worth it: a quick relapse, spread to neighboring glands, and besides, all this at my age cannot promise not only success, but can hardly promise relief ... ”He knew what awaited him. And being convinced of the imminent sad outcome, he refused the recommendation of S. Shklyarevsky to try electrolysis treatment.
He looked quite old. The cataract stole from him the bright joy of the world. Through the muddy veil, it seemed gray and dull. In order to see better, he threw back his head, screwed up his eyes piercingly, thrusting forward his overgrown gray chin - swiftness and will still lived in his face.
The more severe his sufferings, the more insistently he went on with The Old Doctor's Diary, filling the pages with an impatient, sweeping handwriting that grew larger and more illegible. For a whole year I was thinking on paper about human existence and consciousness, about materialism, about religion and science. But when he looked into the eyes of death, he almost abandoned philosophizing and began to hastily describe his life.
Creativity distracted him. Without wasting a single day, he was in a hurry. On September 15, he suddenly caught a cold and went to bed. The catarrhal condition and enlarged lymphatic glands of the neck aggravated the condition. But he continued to write lying down. “From the 1st sheet to the 79th, that is, university life in Moscow and Dorpat, was written by me from September 12 to October 1 (1881) in the days of suffering.” Judging by the diary, from October 1 to October 9, Nikolai Ivanovich did not leave a single line on paper. On October 10, he picked up a pencil and began like this: “Will I still make it until my birthday ... (until November 13th). I must hurry with my diary ... ”As a doctor, he clearly imagined the hopelessness of the situation and foresaw a quick denouement.
Prostration. He spoke little, ate reluctantly. He was no longer the same, a non-puppet person who did not know boredom, constantly smoking a pipe, smelling through and through of alcohol and disinfection. Sharp, noisy Russian doctor.
He relieved pain in the facial and cervical nerves with palliative means. As S. Shklyarevsky wrote, “an ointment with chloroform and subcutaneous injections of morphine with atropine are Nikolai Ivanovich’s favorite remedy for the sick and seriously wounded in the first time after injury and when driving on dirt roads. Finally, in recent days, Nikolai Ivanovich almost exclusively drank kvass, mulled wine and champagne, sometimes in significant quantities.
Reading the last pages of the diary, one involuntarily marvels at the enormous will of Pirogov. When the pains became unbearable, he began the next chapter with the words: “Oh, hurry, hurry! .. Bad, bad ... So, perhaps, I won’t have time to describe even half of St. Petersburg life ...” - and continued on. Phrases are already completely illegible, words are abbreviated strangely. “For the first time, I wished for immortality - the afterlife. Love did it. I wanted love to be eternal; it was so sweet. To die at a time when you love, and to die forever, irrevocably, it seemed to me then, for the first time in my life, something unusually terrible ... Over time, I learned from experience that not only love is the reason for the desire to live forever ... ". The manuscript of the diary breaks off in the middle of a sentence. On October 22, the pencil fell out of the surgeon's hand. Many mysteries from the life of N.I. Pirogov keeps this manuscript.
Completely exhausted, Nikolai Ivanovich asked to be taken out onto the veranda, looked at his favorite linden alley to the veranda, and for some reason began to read Pushkin aloud: “A gift in vain, a random gift. Life, why are you given to me? ". He suddenly drew himself up, smiled stubbornly, and then clearly and firmly said: “No! Life, you are given to me with a purpose! ". These were the last words of the great son of Russia, the genius Nikolai Ivanovich Pirogov.
A note was found on the desk among the papers. Skipping letters, Pirogov wrote (spelling preserved): “Neither Sklefasovsky, Val and Grube; neither Billroth recognized my ulcus oris men. mus. cancrosum serpeginosum (lat. - creeping membranous mucous cancerous mouth ulcer), otherwise the first three would not advise surgery, and the second would not recognize the disease as benign. Note marked October 27, 1881.
Less than a month before his death, Nikolai Ivanovich made his own diagnosis. A person who has medical knowledge treats his illness in a completely different way than a patient who is far from medicine. Doctors often underestimate the appearance of the initial signs of the disease, do not pay attention to them, are treated reluctantly and irregularly, hoping that "it will pass by itself." The ingenious doctor Pirogov was absolutely sure: all attempts are futile and unsuccessful. Distinguished by great self-control, he worked courageously to the end.
The last days and minutes of N.I. Pirogov was described in detail in a letter to Alexandra Antonovna by Olga Antonova, a sister of mercy from Tulchin, who was constantly at the bedside of a dying man: “1881, December 9, m. Tulchin. Dear Alexandra Antonovna! ... The last days of the professor - on the 22nd and 23rd I am writing to you. On the 22nd Sunday, at half past two in the morning, the professor woke up, they transferred him to another bed, he spoke with difficulty, phlegm stopped in his throat, and he could not cough up. I drank sherry with water. Then he fell asleep until 8 am. Woke up with increased rales from stopping the sputum; the lymph nodes were very swollen, they were lubricated with a mixture of iodoform and collodion, camphor oil was poured onto cotton wool, although with difficulty, he rinsed his mouth and drank tea. At 12 pm he drank champagne with water, after which he was transferred to another bed and all clean linen was changed; pulse was 135, respiration 28. At 4 days the patient became very delirious, they gave camphor with champagne, one gram as prescribed by Dr. Shavinsky, and then every three quarters of an hour they gave camphor with champagne. At 12 o'clock at night, the pulse was 120. On the 23rd, Monday, at one in the morning, Nikolai Ivanovich completely weakened, the delirium became more incomprehensible. They continued to give camphor and champagne, after three quarters of an hour, and so on until 6 in the morning. The delirium intensified and became more indistinct with each passing hour. When I served the last time at 6 o'clock in the morning wine with camphor, the professor waved his hand and did not accept it. After that, he did not take anything, he was unconscious, strong convulsive twitching of his arms and legs appeared. The agony began at 4 o'clock in the morning and this state lasted until 7 o'clock in the evening. Then he became calmer and slept in an even deep sleep until 8 in the evening, then the contractions of the heart began and therefore breathing was interrupted several times, which lasted for a minute. These sobs were repeated 6 times, the 6th was the professor's last breath. Everything that I wrote down in my notebook I pass on to you. Then I testify my deep respect and deep respect for you and your family, ready to serve you. Sister of Mercy Olga Antonova.
On November 23, 1881, at 8:25 pm, the father of Russian surgery passed away. His son, Vladimir Nikolaevich, recalled that immediately before the agony of Nikolai Ivanovich, "a lunar eclipse began, which ended immediately after the denouement".
He was dying, and nature mourned him: an eclipse of the sun suddenly came - the whole village of Cherry was plunged into darkness.
Shortly before his death, Pirogov received a book by his student, a well-known surgeon from the St. Petersburg Medical and Surgical Academy, embalmer and anatomist, a native of Vinnitsa D. Vyvodtsev, “Embalming and methods of preserving anatomical preparations ...”, in which the author described the method of embalming he found. Pirogov praised the book.
Long before his death, Nikolai Ivanovich wished to be buried in his estate, and just before the end he reminded him of this again. Immediately after the death of the scientist, the family filed a corresponding request to St. Petersburg. Soon an answer was received, in which it was reported that the desire of N.I. Pirogov can be satisfied only if the heirs give a signature on the transfer of the body of Nikolai Ivanovich from the estate to another place in the event of the transfer of the estate to new owners. Family members N.I. Pirogov did not agree with this.
A month before the death of Nikolai Ivanovich, his wife Alexandra Antonovna, most likely at his request, turned to D.I. Vyvodtsev with a request to embalm the body of the deceased. He agreed, but at the same time drew attention to the fact that the permission of the authorities was required for the long-term preservation of the body. Then, through the local priest, a petition is written "To His Eminence Bishop of Podolsky and Brailovsky ...". He, in turn, applies for the highest permission to the Holy Synod in St. Petersburg. The case in the history of Christianity is unique - the church, taking into account the merits of N. Pirogov as an exemplary Christian and a world-famous scientist, allowed not to betray the body to the earth, but to leave it incorrupt, “so that the disciples and continuers of the noble and charitable deeds of the servant of God N.I. Pirogov could see his bright appearance.
What made Pirogov refuse to be buried and leave his body on the ground? This riddle N.I. Pitrogov will remain unsolved for a long time.
DI. Vyvodtsev embalmed the body of N.I. Pirogov and excised tissue affected by a malignant process for histological examination. Part of the drug was sent to Vienna, the other was handed over to the laboratories of Toms in Kyiv and Ivanovsky in St. Petersburg, where they confirmed that it was squamous epithelial cancer.
In an effort to implement the idea of preserving her husband's body, Alexandra Antonovna ordered a special coffin during his lifetime in Vienna. The question arose, where to keep the body permanently? The widow found a way out. At this time, a new cemetery was being laid near the house. For 200 silver rubles, she buys a piece of land for a family crypt from a rural community, encloses it with a brick fence, and the builders begin the construction of the crypt. The construction of the crypt and the delivery of a special coffin from Vienna took almost two months.
Only on January 24, 1882 at 12 noon did the official funeral take place. The weather was cloudy, the frost was accompanied by a piercing wind, but despite this, the medical and pedagogical community of Vinnytsia gathered at the rural cemetery to see off the great doctor and teacher. An open black coffin is placed on a pedestal. Pirogov in the dark uniform of the Privy Councilor of the Ministry of Public Education of the Russian Empire. This rank was equivalent to the rank of general. Four years later, according to the plan of the academician of architecture V. Sychugov, the construction of the funeral-red brick ritual church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker with a beautiful iconostasis was completed above the tomb.
And today the body of the great surgeon, constantly reembalmed, can be seen in the crypt. Vishnu operates Museum of N.I. Pirogov. During the Second World War, during the retreat of the Soviet troops, the sarcophagus with the body of Pirogov was hidden in the ground, while being damaged, which led to damage to the body, which was subsequently restored and re-embalmed. Officially, the tomb of Pirogov is called the "church-necropolis", consecrated in honor of St. Nicholas of Myra. The body is below ground level in the mourning hall - the basement of the Orthodox church, in a glazed sarcophagus, which can be accessed by those wishing to pay tribute to the memory of the great scientist.
It is now obvious that N.I. Pirogov gave a powerful impetus to the development of scientific medical thought. “With the clear eyes of a man of genius, at the very first time, at the first touch of his specialty - surgery, he discovered the natural scientific foundations of this science - normal and pathological anatomy and physiological experience - and in a short time he established himself on this basis so much that he became a creator in his field. ”, - wrote the great Russian physiologist I.P. Pavlov.
Take, for example, "Illustrated Topographical Anatomy of Cuts Made in Three Dimensions Through a Frozen Human Body." To create the atlas, Nikolai Ivanovich used the original method - sculptural (ice) anatomy. He designed a special saw and sawed frozen corpses in three mutually perpendicular planes. Thus, he studied the shape and position of normal and pathologically altered organs. It turned out that their location was not at all what it seemed at autopsy due to a violation of the tightness of the closed cavities. With the exception of the pharynx, nose, tympanic cavity, respiratory and digestive canals, no empty space was found in any part of the body in the normal state. The walls of the cavities adhered tightly to the organs enclosed in them. Today, this remarkable work by N.I. Pirogov is experiencing a rebirth: the drawings of his cuts are surprisingly similar to the images obtained with CT and MRI.
Pirogov's name bears many of the morphological formations he described. Most are valuable reference points for interventions. A man of exceptional conscientiousness, Pirogov was always critical of conclusions, avoided a priori judgments, supported every thought with anatomical research, and if that was not enough, he experimented.
In his research, Nikolai Ivanovich was consistent - at first he analyzed clinical observations, then conducted experiments, and only then suggested an operation. His work “On the Achilles tendon transection as an operative-orthopedic treatment” is very indicative. Before him, no one dared to do this. “When I was in Berlin,” Pirogov wrote, “I had not yet heard a word about operative orthopedics ... I carried out a somewhat risky undertaking when, in 1836, I first decided to cut the Achilles tendon in my private practice.” Initially, the method was tested on 80 animals. The first operation was performed on a 14-year-old girl who suffered from clubfoot. He saved 40 children aged 1-6 years from this shortcoming, eliminated contractures of the ankle, knee and hip joints. He used an extension apparatus of his own design, gradually stretching (dorsal flexion) of the foot with the help of steel springs.
Nikolai Ivanovich operated on a cleft lip, cleft palate, tubercular "boneworm", "saccular" tumors of the extremities, "white tumors" (tuberculosis) of the joints, removed the thyroid gland, corrected convergent strabismus, etc. The scientist took into account the anatomical features of childhood, under his scalpel were newborns and teenagers. He can also be considered the founder of pediatric surgery and orthopedics in Russia. In 1854, the work “Osteoplastic elongation of the bones of the lower leg during exfoliation of the foot” was published, which marked the beginning of osteoplastic surgery. Anticipating the great possibilities of organ and tissue transplantation, Pirogov with his students K.K. Strauch and Yu.K. Shimanovsky was one of the first to perform a skin and cornea transplant.
The introduction of ether and chloroform anesthesia into practice allowed Nikolai Ivanovich to significantly expand the range of surgical interventions even before the beginning of the era of antiseptics. He did not limit himself to the use of well-known surgical techniques, he offered his own. These are operations for rupture of the perineum during childbirth, for prolapse of the rectum, nose plastic surgery, osteoplastic elongation of the bones of the lower leg, the cone-shaped method of amputation of the limbs, isolation of the IV and V metacarpal bones, access to the iliac and hyoid arteries, the method of ligation of the innominate artery and much more .
To evaluate the contribution of N.I. Pirogov to military field surgery, you need to know her condition before him. Helping the wounded was chaotic. Mortality reached 80% and above. The officer of the Napoleonic army F. de Forer wrote: “After the end of the battle, the field of the Battle of Borodino presented a terrible impression with almost no sanitary service ... All the villages and living quarters were crammed with the wounded of both sides in the most helpless position. Villages perished from incessant chronic fires ... Those of the wounded who managed to escape from the fire crawled by the thousands along the main road, looking for means to continue their miserable existence. An almost similar picture was in Sevastopol during the Crimean War. Amputations for gunshot fractures of the extremities were considered as an imperative requirement and were performed on the first day after the injury. The rule was: "By missing time for the primary amputation, we lose more wounded than we save arms and legs."
His observations of the military surgeon N.I. Pirogov outlined in the "Report on a trip to the Caucasus" (1849), reporting on the use of ether for pain relief and the effectiveness of an immobilizing starch bandage. He proposed to expand the inlet and outlet of the bullet wound, excision of its edges, which was experimentally proven later. The rich experience in the defense of Sevastopol is described by Pirogov in the "Principles of General Military Field Surgery" (1865).
Nikolai Ivanovich emphasized the fundamental difference between general and military field surgery. “A beginner,” he wrote, “can still heal the wounded, not knowing well either head, or chest, or abdominal wounds; but in practice his activity will be more than hopeless if he does not comprehend the significance of traumatic concussions, tension, pressure, general stiffness, local asphyxia and violation of organic integrity.
According to Pirogov, the war is a traumatic epidemic, and the activity of administrative doctors is important here. “I am convinced from experience that what is needed to achieve good results in a military field hospital is not so much scientific surgery and medical art, but a efficient and well-established administration.” It is not in vain that he is considered the creator of the medical evacuation system that was perfect for that time. Sorting of the wounded in European armies began to be carried out only after a few decades.
Acquaintance in the fortification of Salta with the methods of treatment by gakims (local doctors) of the highlanders convinced Nikolai Ivanovich that some gunshot wounds heal without medical intervention. He studied the properties of bullets used in the wars of 1847-1878. and concluded that “the wound should be left as quiet as possible and the damaged parts should not be exposed. I consider it a duty of conscience to warn young doctors against examining bullet wounds with their fingers, from extracting fragments, and in general from any new traumatic violence.
To avoid the danger of severe infectious complications after traumatic operations, Pirogov recommended dissecting the fascia to relieve the “tension” of the tissues, believing that it was harmful to tightly suture the wound after amputation, as advised by European surgeons. Long before, he spoke of the importance of wide drainage in suppurations in order to release "miasmatic wanderers." Nikolai Ivanovich developed the doctrine of immobilizing dressings - starch, "stuck on alabaster" (gypsum). In the latter, he saw an effective means of facilitating the transportation of the wounded, the bandage saved many soldiers and officers from the mutilation operation.
Already at that time, Pirogov was talking about "capillaroscopicity", and not about the hygroscopicity of the dressing material, believing that the better it cleans and protects the wound, the more perfect it is. He recommended English lint, cotton wool, cotton, peeled tow, rubber plates, but required a mandatory microscopic examination - a check for purity.
Not a single detail escapes Pirogov the clinician. His thoughts about the "infection" of wounds essentially anticipated the method of D. Lister, who came up with an antiseptic bandage. But Lister sought to close the wound hermetically, and Pirogov proposed "through drainage, carried out to the bottom and through the base of the wound and connected to constant irrigation." In his definition of miasms, Nikolai Ivanovich came very close to the concept of pathogenic microbes. He recognized the organic origin of the miasma, the ability to multiply and accumulate in overcrowded medical institutions. "Purulent infection spreads ... through the surrounding wounded, objects, linen, mattresses, dressings, walls, floors, and even sanitary personnel." He proposed a number of practical measures: patients with erysipelas, gangrene, and pyemia should be transferred to special buildings. This was the beginning of the departments of purulent surgery.
Having studied the results of primary amputations in Sevastopol, Nikolai Ivanovich concluded: “Amputations of the hip do not give the best hope for success. Therefore, all attempts at saving the treatment of gunshot wounds, hip fractures and injuries of the knee joint should be considered a true progress in field surgery. The reaction of the body to injury is of no less interest to the surgeon than treatment. He writes: “In general, trauma affects the whole organism much more deeply than is usually imagined. Both the body and the spirit of the wounded become much more susceptible to suffering ... All military doctors know how strongly the state of mind affects the course of wounds, how different the mortality rate is between the wounded among the defeated and the winners ... "Pirogov gives a classic description of shock, which is still quoted in textbooks.
The great merit of the scientist is the development of three principles for the treatment of the wounded:
1) protection from traumatic effects;
2) immobilization;
3) anesthesia during surgical interventions in the field. Today it is impossible to imagine what and how can be done without anesthesia.
In the scientific heritage of N. I. Pirogov, works on surgery stand out very clearly. Historians of medicine say so: "before Pirogov" and "after Pirogov." This talented person solved many problems in traumatology, orthopedics, angiology, transplantology, neurosurgery, dentistry, otorhinolaryngology, urology, ophthalmology, gynecology, pediatric surgery, and prosthetics. All his life he convinced that it is not necessary to lock oneself within the framework of a narrow specialty, but to endlessly comprehend it in an inextricable connection with anatomy, physiology and general pathology.
He managed to selflessly work 16 hours a day. It took almost 10 years to make preparations for the 4-volume atlas of topographic anatomy alone. At night he worked in the anatomical theater, in the morning he lectured to students, during the day he operated in the clinic. His patients were both members of the royal family and the poor. Healing the most seriously ill patients with a knife, he achieved success where others gave up. He popularized his ideas and methods, found like-minded people and followers. True, Pirogov was reproached for not leaving a scientific school. The well-known surgeon Professor V.A. interceded for him. Oppel: "His school is all Russian surgery" (1923). It was considered honorary to be the pupils of the greatest surgeon, especially when this did not lead to disastrous consequences. At the same time, the sense of self-preservation, quite natural for homo sapiens, obligated many to give up this honorable privilege in case of personal danger. Then came the time of apostasy, eternal as the human world. So did many Soviet surgeons, when in 1950 the publishing house of the USSR Academy of Sciences published an abridged version of N.I. Pirogov, devoid of the former core, which consisted in the spiritual heritage of the "first surgeon of Russia". None of the apostates spoke in defense of the mentor, caring more about themselves and retreating from the legacy of the founder of the Russian surgical school.
There was only one Soviet surgeon who saw it as his duty to protect Pirogovo's spiritual heritage. A worthy student and follower of N.I. Pirogov showed himself Archbishop Luka (Voyno-Yasenetsky) in the Crimean period of hierarchical and professorial activity. At the turn of the 50s of the last century in Simferopol, he wrote a scientific and theological work entitled "Science and Religion", where he paid considerable attention to the spiritual heritage of N.I. Pirogov. For many years, this work remained little known, like many of the achievements of Professor V.F. Voyno-Yasenetsky in his medical and scientific activities. Only in recent decades, "Science and Religion" by Archbishop Luke becomes public property.

Valentin Feliksovich Voyno-Yasenetsky, Archbishop Luke (1877 - 1961) - a great Russian surgeon and clergyman

What new can you learn about N.I. Pirogov, reading “Science and Religion” nowadays, a work of half a century ago, when many Soviet surgeons, for many reasons, including out of a sense of self-preservation, refused to recognize the spiritual heritage of the “first surgeon of Russia”?
“The works of the brilliant humanist doctor Professor N.I. Pirogov, - Archbishop Luke wrote here, - both in the field of medicine and in the field of pedagogy are still considered classic. Until now, in the form of a weighty argument, references are made to his writings. But Pirogov's attitude to religion is diligently hidden by modern writers and scientists. Further, the author cites "silenced quotations from Pirogov's writings." These include the following.
“I needed an abstract, unattainable high ideal of faith. And taking up the Gospel, which I myself had never read before, and I was already 38 years old, I
I found this ideal for myself.
“I consider faith to be the psychic ability of man, which, more than any other, distinguishes him from animals.”
“Believing that the basic ideal of Christ’s teaching, due to its inaccessibility, will remain eternal and will forever influence souls seeking peace through an inner connection with the Divine, we cannot doubt for a minute that this judgment is destined to be an inextinguishable beacon on a winding the path of our progress."
“The unattainable height and purity of the ideal of the Christian faith makes it truly blessed. This is revealed by an extraordinary calmness, peace and hope, penetrating the whole being of the believer, and short prayers, and conversations with oneself, with God, ”as well as some others.
It was possible to establish that all the “hushed up quotes” belong to the same fundamental work by N.I. Pirogov, namely “Questions of life. Diary of an old doctor, written by him in 1879-1881.
It is known that the most complete and accurate (in relation to the original Pirogov manuscript) was the Kiev edition of “Questions of Life. Diary of an old doctor”, which was released on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the birth of N.I. Pirogov (1910), and therefore, in pre-Soviet times.
The first Soviet edition of the same Pirogov work entitled “From the Old Doctor’s Diary” was published in the collection of works by N.I. Pirogov “Sevastopol Letters and Memoirs” (1950) The contents of the first Soviet edition testifies that, compared with the publications of the pre-Soviet era (1885, 1887, 1900, 1910, 1916), it became the only one from which, for censorship reasons, several large sections. These included not only the philosophical section, which was part of the first part of Pirogov's memoirs, which he called "Questions of Life", but the theological and political sections given in the "Diary of an Old Doctor", representing the second part of this work. In particular, those “hushed up quotations” that were mentioned by Archbishop Luke in his scientific and theological work entitled “Science and Religion” belonged to the theological section. All these censorship exceptions were partially restored only in the second Soviet edition of Vopros Zhizn. Diary of an old doctor "N.I. Pirogov (1962), which saw the light after the earthly days of Archbishop Luke ended.
Thus, Nikolai Ivanovich Pirogov is not only the priceless past of our medicine, but its present and future. At the same time, it is important to emphasize that the activities of N.I. Pirogov does not fit only within the framework of surgery, his thoughts and beliefs go far beyond its limits. If in the 19th century there was a Nobel Prize, then N.I. Pirogov would certainly become its repeated laureate. On the horizon of the world history of medicine, N.I. Pirogov is a rare personification of the ideal image of a doctor - an equally great thinker, practitioner and citizen. So he remained in history, so he lives in our understanding of him today, being a great example for all new and new generations of doctors.

Monument to N.I. Pirogov. I. Krestovsky (1947)

Name: Nikolay Pirogov

Age: 71 years old

Place of Birth: Moscow

A place of death: Vinnitsa, Podolsk province

Activity: surgeon, anatomist, naturalist, teacher, professor

Family status: was married

Pirogov Nikolay Ivanovich - biography

Among the people, Nikolai Ivanovich Pirogov was called the “wonderful doctor”, there were legends about his skill and cases of incredible healing. For him there was no difference between the rich and the poor, the noble and the homeless. Pirogov operated on everyone who turned to him, and devoted his life to his vocation.

Pirogov's childhood and youth

Efrem Mukhin, who cured Kolya's brother of pneumonia, was the idol of his childhood. The boy tried to imitate Mukhin in everything: he walked with his hands behind his back, adjusting his imaginary pince-nez and coughing meaningfully before starting a sentence. He asked his mother for a toy stethoscope and selflessly "listened" to the family, after which he wrote out prescriptions for them with children's scribbles.

Parents were sure that over time the children's passion would pass and the son would choose a nobler profession. To heal is the lot of Germans and bastards. But life turned out in such a way that medical activity became the only way for the young man and his impoverished family to survive.

The biography of Kolya Pirogov began on November 25, 1810 in Moscow. The boy grew up in a prosperous family, his father served as treasurer, and the house was a full bowl. Children were thoroughly educated: they had the best home teachers and the opportunity to study in the most advanced boarding schools. It all ended at the moment when a colleague of his father ran away, stealing a large sum.

Ivan Pirogov, as treasurer, was obliged to compensate for the shortage. I had to sell most of the property, move from a big house to a small apartment, limit myself in everything. Unable to withstand the ordeal, the father died.

Education

The mother set a goal for herself: by all means give her youngest son, Nikolai, a good education. The family lived hand to mouth, all the money went to Kolya's studies. And he tried his best to live up to their expectations. He was able to pass all the university exams when he was only 14 years old, and Dr. Mukhin helped convince the teachers that a gifted teenager could handle the program.

By the time he graduated from the university, the future doctor Nikolai Pirogov was completely disappointed with the situation that prevailed in medicine at that time. “I completed the course without having done a single operation,” he wrote to his friend. “I was a good doctor!” In those days, this was considered normal: students studied theory, and practice began along with work, that is, they trained already on patients.

He, a young man without means and connections, was waiting for a job as a non-staff doctor somewhere in the province. And he passionately dreamed of doing science, studying surgery and looking for ways to get rid of diseases. Chance intervened. The government decided to send the best graduates to Germany, and the excellent student Nikolai Pirogov was among them.

Medicine

Finally, he could pick up a scalpel and do the real thing! Nikolai disappeared for days in the laboratory, where he experimented on animals. He forgot to eat, slept no more than six hours a day, and spent all five years in the same frock coat. He was not interested in a cheerful student life: he was looking for new ways to conduct operations.

"Vivisection - experiments on animals - that's the only way!" - considered Pirogov. As a result - a gold medal for the first scientific work and thesis defense at the age of 22. But at the same time, rumors spread about a flayer surgeon. Pirogov himself did not refute them: "I was then ruthless to suffering."

Recently, the young surgeon increasingly dreamed of his old nanny. “Every animal is created by God,” she said in her gentle voice. “They also need to be pitied and loved.” And he woke up in a cold sweat. And the next morning he went back to the laboratory and continued to work. He justified himself: “One cannot do without victims in medicine. To save people, you must first test everything on animals.”

Pirogov never hid his mistakes. “The doctor is obliged to publish failures to warn colleagues,” the surgeon always said.

Nikolai Pirogov: Man-made miracles

A strange procession was approaching the military infirmary: several fighters carried the body of their comrade. The body was missing a head.

Yes, what are you doing? shouted the paramedic, who came out of the tent, at the soldier. - Do you really think that it can be cured?

The head is carried behind us. Dr. Pirogov will somehow sew ... He works wonders! - followed the answer.

This case is the most vivid illustration of how the soldiers believed in Pirogov. Indeed, what he did seemed miraculous. Once at the front during the Crimean War, the surgeon performed thousands of operations: he sewed up wounds, spliced limbs, raised those who were considered hopeless to their feet.

I had to work in monstrous conditions, in tents and huts. At that time, surgical anesthesia had just been invented, and Pirogov began to use it everywhere. It is terrible to imagine what happened before: patients often died from pain shock during operations.

At first, he was very cautious and tested the effect of the innovation on himself. I realized that with the ether, which relaxes all reflexes, the death of the patient is one step away. And only having calculated everything to the smallest detail, he first applied anesthesia during the Caucasian War, and massively during the Crimean campaign. During the defense of Sevastopol, of which he was a participant, not a single operation was carried out by him without anesthesia. He even arranged the operating table so that the wounded soldiers waiting for the operation could see how their comrade did not feel anything under the surgeon's knife.

Nikolai Ivanovich Pirogov - biography of personal life

The bride of the legendary doctor, Baroness Alexandra Bistrom, was not at all surprised when she received a letter from her betrothed on the eve of the wedding. In it, he asked in advance to find as many patients as possible in the villages near her estate. "Work will brighten up our honeymoon," he added. Alexandra didn't expect anything else.

She knew perfectly well whom she was marrying, and was no less passionate about science than her husband. Soon after the magnificent celebration, they were already carrying out operations together, the young wife assisted her husband.

Nikolai Ivanovich at that time was 40 years old, it was his second marriage. The first wife died of complications after childbirth, leaving him two sons. For him, her death was a heavy blow, he blamed himself for not being able to save her.

The sons needed a mother, and Nikolai Ivanovich decided to marry a second time. He did not think about feelings: he was looking for a woman close in spirit, and spoke about it openly. He even made a written portrait of his ideal wife and honestly spoke about his strengths and weaknesses. “Strengthen me in my studies of science, try to settle this direction in our children,” he concluded his treatise on family life.

Most young ladies of marriageable age were repulsed by this. But Alexandra considered herself a woman of progressive views, moreover, she sincerely admired the brilliant scientist. She agreed to become his wife. Love came later. What started as a scientific experiment turned into a happy family where the spouses treated each other with tenderness and care. Nikolai Ivanovich even took up a completely unusual thing for himself: he composed several touching poems in honor of his Sashenka.

Nikolai Ivanovich Pirogov worked until his last breath, having made a real revolution in domestic medicine. He died in the arms of his beloved wife, regretting only that he had not had time to do so much.