Boris Petrovsky (27 June 1908 – 4 May 2004) was a Russian general surgeon who was the

health minister A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental health. Coun ...

of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

in the period 1965–1980.

Early life and education

Petrovsky was born in

Yessentuki Yessentuki ( rus, Ессентуки́, p=jɪsɪntʊˈkʲiˑ) is a city in Stavropol Krai, Russia, located in the shadow of Mount Elbrus at the base of the Caucasus Mountains. The city serves as a railway station in the Mineralnye Vody— Kislo ...

on 27 June 1908. His parents were Vasiliy and Lydia Petrovsky. His father was a physician. Petrovsky applied for the Medicine Faculty of Moscow University, but he was not accepted due to the restricted quota and was transferred to the Engineering Faculty of the same university. However, through the help of Nadezhda Krupskaya,

Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 1 ...

's widow, who was serving as the deputy education minister Petrovsky managed to enroll to the Medicine Faculty and received a degree in medicine. In 1933 he became a research investigator at the Moscow Institute for Oncology where he received a PhD completing his thesis on the transfusion of blood and

blood substitute A blood substitute (also called artificial blood or blood surrogate) is a substance used to mimic and fulfill some functions of biological blood. It aims to provide an alternative to blood transfusion, which is transferring blood or blood-based ...

s in

oncology Oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with the study, treatment, diagnosis and prevention of cancer. A medical professional who practices oncology is an ''oncologist''. The name's etymological origin is the Greek word ὄγκος (''� ...

. His second thesis which was required to pursue an academic career was about his experience as a military surgeon during the wars with Finland and Germany.

Career

Petrovsky served in the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army ( Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, afte ...

as a military surgeon during the wars with Finland in 1939-40 and during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

with Germany. In 1945 he was appointed deputy director of the Research Institute for Experimental and Clinical Surgery where he extensively studied

oesophageal The esophagus (American English) or oesophagus (British English; both ), non-technically known also as the food pipe or gullet, is an organ in vertebrates through which food passes, aided by peristaltic contractions, from the pharynx to the ...

surgery. In 1948 Petrovsky was promoted to the title of professor of general surgery at the Moscow State Medical Institute. In the period between 1949 and 1951 he worked at Budapest University as the chairman of hospital surgery and director of a surgery clinic. Then he was named chief surgeon at the Kremlin Hospital in Moscow. Next he was appointed chairman of surgery at the Moscow Medical Institute and in 1956 he was named the chairman of surgery at the Moscow State Medical Institute. In 1965 Petrovsky carried out the first

kidney transplant Kidney transplant or renal transplant is the organ transplant of a kidney into a patient with end-stage kidney disease (ESRD). Kidney transplant is typically classified as deceased-donor (formerly known as cadaveric) or living-donor transplantati ...

in the Soviet Union. In September of the same year he was appointed minister of health. When he was in office, he continued such operations and implemented more than thirty kidney transplants until 1968. During his term the Oath of a Soviet Physician began to be used in 1971 when it was accepted by the Supreme Soviet of which he was a member. On 23 May 1972 Petrovsky and

US Secretary of State The United States secretary of state is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The office holder is one of the highest ranking members of the president's Ca ...

William P. Rogers William Pierce Rogers (June 23, 1913 – January 2, 2001) was an American diplomat and attorney. He served as United States Attorney General under President Dwight D. Eisenhower and United States Secretary of State under President Richard Nixo ...

signed a five-year agreement for a cooperative health program. Petrovsky was also a member of the

USSR Academy of Medical Sciences The USSR Academy of Medical Sciences (russian: Акаде́мия медици́нских нау́к СССР) was the highest scientific and medical organization founded in the Soviet Union founded in 1944. Its successor is the Russian Academy of ...

Later years, personal life and death

Stamp of Russia 2011 No 1510 Boris Petrovsky

Petrovsky married Ekaterina Timofeeva, a biologist-researcher at a university. They had a daughter, Marina, who was a physician. He died on 4 May 2004.

Awards

Petrovsky was awarded the

Order of Lenin The Order of Lenin (russian: Орден Ленина, Orden Lenina, ), named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was established by the Central Executive Committee on April 6, 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration ...

in 1960 and the Hero of Socialist Labour in 1968. He was elected as the Honorary Fellowship by the

Royal College of Surgeons of England The Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS England) is an independent professional body and registered charity that promotes and advances standards of surgical care for patients, and regulates surgery and dentistry in England and Wales. T ...

and was the sixth Russian scientist who was given this title after Victor Pachoutine, Nikolai Velyaminov, Vladimir Oppel, Nicolas Burdenko and Sergei Yudin. He was also a recipient of honorary fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, of the

Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSEd) is a professional organisation of surgeons. The College has seven active faculties, covering a broad spectrum of surgical, dental, and other medical practices. Its main campus is located o ...

, of the surgical societies of Poland, Hungary, Italy and Cuba, of the Czechoslovakian Medical Society and of the French Surgical Academy.

Work

One of the books written by Petrovsky was published in 1949 entitled ''Surgical Treatment of Vascular Injuries''. In 1995 he published his

memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based in the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobiog ...

s, ''Man. Medicine. Life''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Petrovsky, Boris 20th-century Russian scientists 1908 births 2004 deaths Soviet Ministers of Health Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Recipients of the Order of Lenin People from Yessentuki Moscow State University alumni Academicians of the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences Soviet surgeons Heroes of Socialist Labour Soviet military doctors Academic staff of Eötvös Loránd University Fellows of the Royal College of Surgeons Fellows of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland Fellows of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh Léon Bernard Foundation Prize laureates