The future surgeon and scientist Boris Petrovsky was born on June 27, 1908 in Essentuki. His father was a doctor - a medical career was a family tradition. Shortly before the revolution, Petrovsky moved to Kislovodsk. There Boris graduated from high school, after which he began to work as a disinfector at a local disinfection station. In addition, he graduated from courses in shorthand, accounting and sanitary.
Education
Finally, after a long preparation, Petrovsky B.V. entered Moscow State University, choosing a medical faculty. He received a Moscow State University diploma in 1930. While studying at the university, the student chose surgery as a specialization, because of which he regularly visited the anatomical theater, improved his technique, and also studied physiology. Moscow State University offered a variety of ways to prove themselves. Many of them in his youth took advantage of Petrovsky Boris Vasilievich. Achievements, in short, were not limited to successes 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 future world champion and grandmaster Mikhail Botvinnik. Hiking and various Komsomol events were regular.
With the beginning of senior courses, the future surgeon was transferred to Pirogovka. The best Soviet medical intelligentsia studied there. Petrovsky began a new phase of life. It was accompanied by a transition from theory to practice. Wordy theories have remained in the past - it is time to gain experience on real patients. Now the student was required not only regular cramming, but also the development of communication skills with people whom he was to treat.
Then one of the main teachers of the future academician was the famous Nikolai Burdenko. Lectures to Petrovsky were given by the People's Commissar of Health and Professor Nikolai Semashko. He gave students the most important and necessary knowledge, and the students themselves loved him for his masterly possession 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 Vasilievich performed his first independent operation.
The beginning of a scientific career
After graduation, the beginning doctor worked as a surgeon in the Podolsk district hospital for a year and a half. The young specialist was at a crossroads. He could deal with the organization of health care, industrial sanitation, but he finally connected his future with surgery.
In 1932, Petrovsky Boris Vasilievich began his scientific career, having received the post of 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 breast cancer treatment. The surgeon also devoted much time to transfusiology issues. He published his first scientific article in 1937. She appeared in the journal "Surgeon" and was devoted to the prospects of surgical treatment of cancer.
Then Petrovsky Boris Vasilievich defended his thesis on blood transfusion and became a candidate of medical sciences. In 1948, this work in a revised form was published as a monograph. But even after this, the doctor retained interest in the topic of blood transfusion. He studied the methods of transfusion, as well as its effect on the human body.
A family
Even at the Institute of Oncology, a meeting took place, after which Boris Vasilievich Petrovsky 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 played a wedding, and in 1936 they had a daughter, Marina. Mother at this time was finishing graduate school, 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 a cheerful and lively child. On summer holidays, 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, at the age of 49, the mother of Petrovsky, Lidia Petrovna, died.
At the front
Petrovsky Boris Vasilievich, whose biography was full of dramatic moments, soon after receiving the rank of assistant 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 mutilated. This experience was extremely important in the context of the impending conflict with Nazi Germany.
The approaching World War II forced Petrovsky to work literally around the clock for several years. An outstanding doctor became a leading surgeon in evacuation hospitals in the army. The physician conducted 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, which was proposed by B.V. Petrovsky, was improved. The contribution to the medicine of this person is great, if only 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 made Boris Petrovsky one of the best specialists in his field in the whole country. In October 1945, he became the 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, the scientific activity conducted by Petrovsky Boris Vasilievich resumed. The achievements of the scientist formed the basis of the 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 Experience in 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 Vasilievich could not 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.
Work on the compilation of 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 looked through and analyzed about a million unique case histories. They were kept in the Leningrad Military Medical Museum. While working in the Northern capital on the 19th volume, Petrovsky was forced to be separated from his own family, who had recently returned from evacuation to Moscow. Creating a book came down to comparing a huge array of data in punch cards and tables. Also, for the first time, methods for carrying out complex operations were formulated and systematized, the author of which was Boris Vasilievich Petrovsky. The surgeon knew what he was writing about - at the front, he spent about 800 of them, and all of them were associated with gunshot wounds.
In Hungary
After the war, the scientist taught a lot in higher education institutions of Moscow, Leningrad, Budapest. He went to the Hungarian People's Republic according to the decision of the Soviet government. At the University of Budapest Petrovsky in 1949 - 1951 led the surgical clinic at the medical faculty. 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 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 proposal of the government, since he understood the full responsibility of the commission and its importance in strengthening relations between Hungary and the Soviet Union. The famous surgeon himself in his memoirs compared the trip to Budapest with another trip to the "front". Thanks to Petrovsky, his own thoracic surgery appeared in Hungary, as well as the service of traumatology, blood transfusion and oncology. 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 his honorary doctor.
Once, a member of the Politburo Kliment Voroshilov arrived in Hungary . He was supposed to make a report in Parliament. However, the Soviet functionary became seriously ill. He did not agree with the diagnoses of the doctors and persuaded them to be examined by Petrovsky Boris Vasilievich. Photos of the former 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 Clement Efremovich - intestinal paresis.
Academician
After returning to his homeland in 1951, Boris Vasilievich began to work at the Pirogov Moscow Medical Institute, where he headed the department of faculty surgery. At her teacher remained for five years. In the same 1951, Boris Petrovsky participated in two international congresses - surgeons and anesthetists.
From 1953 to 1965 he served as chief surgeon in the Fourth General Directorate of the USSR Ministry of Health. In 1957 he became an academician. Petrovsky Boris Vasilievich, whose biography is an example of a doctor who devoted all his time to the work of a lifetime, deservedly became the director at the All-Union Scientific Research Institute of Clinical and Experimental Surgery.
The scientist has 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 of treating cancer of cardia and esophagus. In addition, the scientist persistently spoke about the need for investment in new areas - anesthesiology and resuscitation. Time has shown that he is right - these specialties have become an important part of all medical practice. In 1967, Petrovsky published the monograph “Curative Anesthesia,” in which he summarized his experience with nitrous oxide.
USSR Minister of Health
In 1965, the first successful transplant of a human kidney was performed in the Soviet Union. This operation was carried out by B. Petrovsky. The biography of the surgeon was full of achievements, to which the word "for the first time" can be added - so, he was the first to replace the mitral heart valve with a seamless mechanical fixation. In the same 1965, he became the head of the USSR Ministry of Health, having been in this position for 15 years - until 1980.
Before joining a new post, Petrovsky met with Leonid Brezhnev and explained the key problems of Russian medicine to him in theses. Soviet health care suffered from the low material base of polyclinics and hospitals. A serious drawback was the lack of medicines and equipment, because of which it was sometimes impossible to operate and prevent complications associated with infection. It was with all these and many other flaws that the new minister had to fight.
For 15 years in office, Petrovsky B.V. (surgeon, scientist and just a good organizer) took part in the creation and implementation of all major projects of this most important industry. The minister paid particular attention to cooperation with foreign countries. The expansion of professional contacts made it possible to introduce new technologies, give an opportunity to a large number of specialists to get acquainted with foreign experience, give an 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. The coordination of agreements, cooperation programs and other important documents went directly through the Ministry of Health and its head.
Thanks to the efforts of Boris Petrovsky, dozens of new multidisciplinary, specialized and research medical institutions were built. The Minister initiated the creation of institutes for the study of gastroenterology, influenza, pulmonology, eye diseases, transplantation of tissues and organs. New clinics and hospitals opened throughout the country. Modern building design plans for these public health facilities have appeared. A special commission was created under the ministry, which considered options for layouts. New all-union projects of the regional, district, children's, psychiatric hospital, ambulance stations, maternity hospitals, clinics, and sanitary-epidemiological stations were approved. At the same time, a reform of education took place. In medical schools, new specialties have appeared. Everything was done so that a huge country had a sufficient number of highly qualified personnel.
In 1966, the Day of the Medical Worker was first celebrated in the USSR. The main ceremonial meeting on this occasion was held in the Hall of Columns. Boris Petrovsky read a keynote speech at this event, in which he briefly summarized the results of the development of Soviet health care, as well as prospects and goals. Interestingly, Medical Worker's Day has become an example for other specialties. By analogy with it, a professional holiday for teachers appeared, etc.
Scientific School of Petrovsky
In the postwar years, several new theoretical medical schools appeared in the Soviet Union. These were groups of specialists developing a specific area of medical practice. The patriarch of one of these schools was Boris Petrovsky himself. The USSR Minister of Health, while still a young surgeon who worked at the Oncological Institute, realized how important it was to get 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 excise as few organs and tissues as possible. Keeping 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 transplanted. Petrovsky, becoming a recognized specialist, defended and defended this idea.
The scientist managed to grow a galaxy of professionals and adherents of his theoretical school. The main platform for the dissemination of his ideas, Boris Petrovsky made the Department of Hospital Surgery at Sechenov Moscow Medical Institute, which he headed for more than thirty years - since 1956. This place has become one of the most famous and reputable educational institutions of its own direction 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 Minister of Health of the USSR, Boris Vasilievich proved by his own example that physicians could discover and apply new methods of treating patients whose illnesses had previously seemed fatal. Once in the government, the scientist faced a new challenge. Now he was in charge of 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 CPSU Central Committee appeared in the party. It was Petrovsky B.V. The academician retained this status until 1981. In addition, in 1966 - 1981. He was a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. The famous surgeon lived most of his life in Moscow, where he died in 2004 at the age of 96. He was buried in the Novodevichy cemetery.