The future surgeon and scientist Petrovsky Boris Vasilyevich was born on June 27, 1908 in Essentuki. His father was a doctor - a medical career was a family tradition. Shortly before the revolution, the Petrovskys moved to Kislovodsk. Boris graduated from high school there, after which he began working as a disinfectant at a local disinfection station. In addition, he completed courses in shorthand, accounting, and sanitation.
Education
Finally, after a long preparation, Petrovsky B. V. entered the Moscow State University, choosing the Faculty of Medicine. He received his diploma from Moscow State University in 1930. During his studies at the university, the student chose surgery as his specialization, which is why he regularly attended the anatomical theater, improved his technique, and also studied physiology. Moscow State University offered a variety of ways to express themselves. Many of them were used by Petrovsky Boris Vasilievich in his youth. Advances, in short, were not limited to advances in medicine. The student was an active participant in public life, being the chairman of the trade union committee of the institute. In addition, he spent a lot of time at the chessboard. Petrovsky played with the futureworld champion and grandmaster Mikhail Botvinnik. Tours and various Komsomol events were regular.
With the start of senior courses, the future surgeon was transferred to Pirogovka. The best Soviet medical intelligentsia studied there. Petrovsky began a new life stage. It was accompanied by a transition from theory to practice. Long-winded theories are in the past - it is time to gain experience on real patients. Now the student was required not only to study regularly, but also to develop the skill of communicating with the people he was to treat.
Then the famous Nikolai Burdenko became one of the main teachers of the future academician. Lectures to Petrovsky were read by the People's Commissar of He alth and Professor Nikolai Semashko. He gave students the most important and necessary knowledge, and the students themselves loved him for his virtuoso mastery of the material and kind-hearted disposition. Semashko, using examples from his own life, spoke about the fight against terrible epidemics and their prevention. He also shared stories about his Bolshevik life in exile and Lenin, who once saved him from arrest. At the final stage of his stay at the university, Petrovsky Boris Vasilyevich performed his first independent operation.
The beginning of a scientific career
After graduation, the novice doctor worked as a surgeon for a year and a half in the Podolsk regional hospital. The young specialist was at a crossroads. He could take up the organization of he alth care, industrial sanitation, but he finally tied his futurewith surgery.
In 1932, Petrovsky Boris Vasilyevich began his scientific career, having received a position as a researcher at the Moscow Cancer Institute. Its leader was Professor Peter Herzen. Petrovsky B. V. showed outstanding research abilities. He studied oncological phenomena and theories of treatment of breast cancer. The surgeon also devoted a lot of time to issues of transfusiology. He published his first scientific article in 1937. She appeared in the magazine "Surgeon" and was devoted to the prospects of surgical methods for the treatment of oncological diseases.
Then Petrovsky Boris Vasilyevich defended his dissertation on the topic of blood transfusion and became a candidate of medical sciences. In 1948, this work was published in a revised form as a monograph. But even after that, the physician retained an interest in the topic of blood transfusion. He studied the methods of transfusion, as well as its effect on the human body.
Family
Even at the Institute of Oncology there was a meeting, after which Petrovsky Boris Vasilievich determined his family future. The personal life of the scientist turned out to be connected with Ekaterina Timofeeva, an employee of one of the experimental laboratories. In 1933, the couple got married, and in 1936 their daughter Marina was born. At that time, the mother was finishing her postgraduate studies, so the family lived for some time with a hired nanny. Petrovsky and his wife had so little free time that they could only see each other late in the evening when they came home to sleep.
Marina was funand a living child. For summer vacations, the family went south to Kislovodsk, where Boris Vasilyevich's small homeland was. His daughter and wife also went on vacation to Vyazma, where Catherine's parents lived. In 1937, Petrovsky's mother Lidia Petrovna died at the age of 49.
At the front
Petrovsky Boris Vasilievich, whose biography was full of dramatic moments, soon after receiving the title of associate professor, began working in the field hospitals of the Red Army during the Winter War with Finland. Remaining on the Karelian Isthmus, he operated on many wounded and maimed. This experience was extremely important in the context of the approaching conflict with Nazi Germany.
The onset of the Great Patriotic War forced Petrovsky to work literally around the clock for several years. An outstanding doctor became the leading surgeon of evacuation hospitals in the army. The medic performed hundreds of operations and supervised the work of a huge number of subordinates. In 1944, he was appointed senior lecturer at the Department of Faculty Surgery at the Leningrad Military Medical Academy. During the war, the technique of blood transfusion was improved, which was proposed by B. V. Petrovsky. The contribution to medicine of this person is great at least for this reason. Thanks to him, the method of introducing blood into the thoracic aorta, as well as the carotid artery, was tested.
Generalization of military experience
Military experience has made Boris Petrovsky one of the best specialists in his field in the whole country. In October 1945 hebecame scientific deputy director at the Institute of Clinical and Experimental Surgery, which was part of the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union. With the advent of peace, scientific activity was resumed, which was led by Petrovsky Boris Vasilyevich. The achievements of the scientist formed the basis of his doctoral dissertation, defended in 1947. It was dedicated to the surgical treatment of gunshot wounds of the vascular system.
Since Petrovsky was one of the key domestic experts on this topic, he was appointed executive editor of the 19th volume of "The Experience of Soviet Medicine in the Great Patriotic War." This colossal work was published at the initiative of the government. Each volume had its own editor - a major epidemiologist or clinician. Of course, Petrovsky Boris Vasilyevich could not but get into this list. The doctor carefully selected a team of authors who eventually wrote the book. The key chapters of the publication went to the surgeon himself.
The work on compiling the volume lasted four years. Part of the material was based on Petrovsky's personal experience - he included in the publication many photographs taken in hospitals during the war. Together with his team of authors, the researcher reviewed and analyzed about a million unique case histories. They were kept in the Leningrad Military Medical Museum. While working on the 19th volume in the northern capital, Petrovsky was forced to be separated from his own family, who had recently returned from evacuation to Moscow. The creation of the book was reduced to comparing a huge array of data in punched cards and tables. Also, for the first time, thethe methods of carrying out complex operations, the author of which was Boris Vasilievich Petrovsky, were systematized. The surgeon knew what he was writing about - he spent about 800 of them at the front, and all of them were associated with gunshot wounds.
In Hungary
After the war, the scientist taught a lot in higher educational institutions in Moscow, Leningrad, and Budapest. He went to the Hungarian People's Republic in accordance with the decision of the Soviet government. At the Budapest University Petrovsky in 1949 - 1951. was in charge of the surgical clinic at the Faculty of Medicine. The Hungarian authorities asked Moscow for help. The best Soviet surgeons were sent to the new socialist state, who were supposed to train the first generation of professionals in this medical field from scratch in a friendly country.
Then Petrovsky, for the first time after the war, had to leave his homeland for a long time. Of course, he could not refuse the government's proposal, as he understood the full responsibility of the assignment and its importance in strengthening relations between Hungary and the Soviet Union. The famous surgeon himself in his memoirs compared the voyage to Budapest with another trip to the “front”. Thanks to Petrovsky, Hungary has its own thoracic surgery, traumatology, blood transfusion and oncology services. The country deservedly appreciated the work of a specialist. The surgeon was awarded the State Order of Merit and was also elected one of the honorary members of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. In 1967, the University of Budapest made Petrovsky their honorary doctorate.
Once Upon a TimeMember of the Politburo Kliment Voroshilov arrived in Hungary. He was to make a presentation in Parliament. However, the Soviet functionary fell seriously ill. He did not agree with the doctors' diagnoses and persuaded them to have Boris Petrovsky conduct the examination. Photos of the former People's Commissar were regularly published in Pravda - he was one of the most members of the Communist Party. However, Petrovsky knew him not from the newspapers, but personally. Back in the 20s. during his studies at Moscow State University, Voroshilov often met with students. In 1950, in Hungary, Petrovsky diagnosed Kliment Efremovich with intestinal paresis.
Academician
After returning to his homeland in 1951, Boris Vasilievich began working at the Pirogov Moscow Medical Institute, where he headed the department of faculty surgery. The teacher remained there for five years. In the same 1951, Boris Petrovsky participated in two international congresses - surgeons and anesthesiologists.
From 1953 to 1965 He served as Chief Surgeon in the Fourth Main Directorate of the Ministry of He alth of the USSR. In 1957 he became an academician. Petrovsky Boris Vasilievich, whose biography is an example of a doctor who devoted all his time to the cause of his whole life, deservedly became a director at the All-Union Research Institute of Clinical and Experimental Surgery.
The scientist received numerous prizes and awards. So, in 1953, the Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR awarded him the Burdenko Prize for a monograph on surgical methods for treating cancer of the cardia and esophagus. In addition, the scientist persistently spoke aboutthe need for investment in new areas - anesthesiology and resuscitation. Time has shown that he is right - these speci alties have become an important part of the entire medical practice. In 1967, Petrovsky published the monograph "Therapeutic anesthesia", in which he summarized his experience in using nitrous oxide.
Minister of He alth of the USSR
In 1965, the first successful human kidney transplant was performed in the Soviet Union. This operation was performed by B. V. Petrovsky. The surgeon’s biography was full of achievements, to which the word “for the first time” can be added - for example, he was the first to prosthetic mitral heart valve with seamless mechanical fixation. In the same 1965, he became head of the USSR Ministry of He alth, having stayed in this position for 15 years - until 1980.
Before taking up his new post, Petrovsky met with Leonid Brezhnev and, according to the theses, explained to him the key problems of domestic medicine. Soviet he alth care suffered from the low material base of polyclinics and hospitals. A serious shortcoming was the lack of medicines and equipment, which sometimes made it impossible to operate and prevent complications associated with infection. It was with all these and many other shortcomings that the new minister had to fight.
During the 15 years of his tenure, Petrovsky B. V. (surgeon, scientist and just a good organizer) took part in the creation and implementation of all major projects in this important industry. The minister paid special attention to cooperation with foreign countries. The expansion of professional contacts made it possible to introduce new technologies, give a large number of specialists the opportunity to get acquainted with foreign experience, give impetus to the development of new medical sciences, etc. Under Boris Petrovsky, scientific knowledge was exchanged with Finland, France, the USA, Sweden, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Canada and other countries. Coordination of agreements, cooperation programs and other important documents went directly through the Ministry of He alth and its head.
Thanks to the efforts of Boris Petrovsky, dozens of new diversified, specialized and research medical institutions were built. The Minister initiated the creation of institutes for the study of gastroenterology, influenza, pulmonology, eye diseases, tissue and organ transplantation. New clinics and hospitals were opened across the country. Modern plans for the design of the buildings of these public he alth institutions have emerged. A special commission was created at the ministry, which considered the layout options. New all-Union projects were approved for regional, district, children's, psychiatric hospitals, ambulance stations, maternity hospitals, polyclinics, and sanitary and epidemiological stations. At the same time, the education reform took place. New speci alties have appeared in medical universities. Everything was done to ensure that the huge country had a sufficient number of highly qualified personnel.
In 1966, the USSR celebrated the Day of Medical Worker for the first time. The main ceremonial meeting on this occasion was held in KolonnyHall of the House of Unions. Boris Petrovsky read the main report at this event, in which he briefly summarized the results of the development of Soviet he alth care, as well as prospects and goals. Interestingly, the Day of the Medical Worker has become an example for other speci alties. By analogy with it, a professional holiday of teachers appeared, etc.
Scientific School of Petrovsky
In the post-war years, several new theoretical medical schools appeared in the Soviet Union. These were groups of specialists developing a certain area of medical practice. The patriarch of one of these schools was Boris Petrovsky himself. The Minister of He alth of the USSR, while still a young surgeon working at the Oncological Institute, realized how important it is to acquire your own team of like-minded people.
He needed his own school in order to implement a large-scale plan: to create a new medical direction. It was reconstructive surgery. She had a key principle - to amputate and cut out as few organs and tissues as possible. Preserving them, the surgeons of this school resorted to the use of artificial implants made of metal and plastic. With their help, tissues were replaced, and organs were also transplanted. Petrovsky, having become a recognized specialist, defended and defended this idea.
The scientist managed to grow a whole galaxy of professionals and adherents of his theoretical school. Boris Petrovsky made the Department of Hospital Surgery at the Moscow Medical Institute the main platform for the dissemination of his ideas. Institute named after Sechenov, which he headed for more than thirty years - since 1956. This place has become one of the most famous and respected educational institutions of its kind in the country.
Theorist and practitioner
In 1960, Boris Petrovsky and three of his colleagues were awarded the Lenin Prize. Surgeons were awarded for the development and practical application of new operations on large vessels and the heart. Before becoming the Minister of He alth of the USSR, Boris Vasilyevich proved by his own example that doctors can discover and apply new methods of treating patients whose ailments had previously seemed fatal. Once in the government, the scientist faced a new challenge. Now he was responsible for medicine nationwide. The fact that the surgeon was invariably elected as a deputy of the Supreme Council of the VI-X convocations clearly demonstrated the effectiveness of his work.
Back in 1942, the scientist joined the CPSU (b). In 1966, a new candidate for membership in the Central Committee of the CPSU appeared in the party. It was Petrovsky B. V. Academician retained this status until 1981. In addition, in 1966 - 1981. He was a member of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. For most of his life, the famous surgeon lived in Moscow, where he died in 2004 at the age of 96. He was buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery.
