Nadezhda Prokofyevna Suslova (russian: Надежда Прокофьевна Суслова; 1 September 1843 – 20 April 1918) was Russia's first woman medical doctor and the sister of Polina Suslova. She worked as a

gynecologist Gynaecology or gynecology (see spelling differences) is the area of medicine that involves the treatment of women's diseases, especially those of the reproductive organs. It is often paired with the field of obstetrics, forming the combined ...

Nizhny Novgorod Nizhny Novgorod ( ; rus, links=no, Нижний Новгород, a=Ru-Nizhny Novgorod.ogg, p=ˈnʲiʐnʲɪj ˈnovɡərət ), colloquially shortened to Nizhny, from the 13th to the 17th century Novgorod of the Lower Land, formerly known as Gork ...

, and was involved in many

charity Charity may refer to: Giving * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sharing * C ...

efforts.

Early life

Nadezhda was born in Panino village,

guberniya, the second of three children.(Russian) Her father, Prokofii, and her mother, Anna, were serfs for the

Sheremetev The House of Sheremetev (russian: Шереме́тевы) was one of the wealthiest and most influential noble families in Russia descending from Feodor Koshka who was of Old Prussian origin. History The family held many high commanding ran ...

family, but Prokofii was able to succeed as a merchant and

manufacturer Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to ...

. He decided to give a proper education to his daughters, Polina (a

diminutive form A diminutive is a root word that has been modified to convey a slighter degree of its root meaning, either to convey the smallness of the object or quality named, or to convey a sense of intimacy or endearment. A (abbreviated ) is a word-formati ...

of the

given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a ...

Apollinaria) and Nadezhda. At home they had a governess and a dancing teacher. Later she entered Penichkau boarding school in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

, where she learned several foreign languages. Like other young people at that time, Nadezhda was fond of reading, enjoyed the works of

Nikolay Chernyshevsky Nikolay Gavrilovich Chernyshevsky ( – ) was a Russian literary and social critic, journalist, novelist, democrat, and socialist philosopher, often identified as a utopian socialist and leading theoretician of Russian nihilism. He was ...

and Dobrolyubov and befriended revolutionary democrats. In 1859 the Suslov sisters moved to

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

. In 1861 her short stories ''Rasskaz v pismah'' (russian: Рассказ в письмах) and ''Fantazyorka'' (russian: Фантазёрка) were published in ''

Sovremennik ''Sovremennik'' ( rus, «Современник», p=səvrʲɪˈmʲenʲːɪk, a=Ru-современник.ogg, "The Contemporary") was a Russian literary, social and political magazine, published in Saint Petersburg in 1836–1866. It came out f ...

''. These stories espoused a feminist,

nihilist Nihilism (; ) is a philosophy, or family of views within philosophy, that rejects generally accepted or fundamental aspects of human existence, such as objective truth, knowledge, morality, values, or meaning. The term was popularized by Ivan ...

philosophy that would later cause her political trouble. In the 1860s Nadezhda Suslova joined the revolutionary organization Land and Liberty.

Education

She was allowed by

Ivan Sechenov Doctor Ivan Mikhaylovich Sechenov (russian: Ива́н Миха́йлович Се́ченов; , Tyoply Stan (now Sechenovo) near Simbirsk, Russia – , Moscow), was a Russian psychologist, physiologist, and medical scientist. The very fa ...

and

Sergey Botkin Sergey Petrovich Botkin (russian: Серге́й Петро́вич Бо́ткин; 5 September 1832 – 12 December 1889) was a famous Russian clinician, therapist, and activist, one of the founders of modern Russian medical science and educati ...

to attend classes at the Imperial Military Medical Academy with Mariia Obrucheva (Bokov), another young woman with revolutionary sympathies who had met Suslova in school. Suslova's first article, ''Changes in skin sensations under the influence of electrical stimulation,'' was published in ''Meditsinskiy Vestnik'' in 1862. In 1865, after women were officially banned from universities, she moved to Switzerland, partially influenced by the arrest of her siblings and Bokov and her husband for political activities. In Switzerland, she audited medical classes at the

University of Zurich The University of Zürich (UZH, german: Universität Zürich) is a public research university located in the city of Zürich, Switzerland. It is the largest university in Switzerland, with its 28,000 enrolled students. It was founded in 1833 f ...

for two years, then became an official student when the university was opened to women. She had intended to study obstetrics in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

for her doctoral research, but instead moved to

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

. For her dissertation, she researched the muscular reflexes of frogs and their relationship to the function of lymph hearts at

Graz Medical University The Medical University of Graz is a public medical university located in Graz, Austria. History The faculty of medicine at the Karl-Franzens-University of Graz was established in 1863 by Franz Joseph I. In 2004, the former faculty became an ...

in Sechenov's lab. She graduated in 1867. Suslova was the first Russian woman to be awarded a

Doctor of Medicine Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a professional degree. T ...

degree, which was conferred after having to defend her research and education in front of a large audience and the medical school faculty.

Career and research

Suslova's first publication after earning her doctorate was a summary of her dissertation research, published in 1868 in Germany. In order to be allowed to practice medicine in Russia, Suslova (at the time, Erismann) had to pass a special examination, which she did in 1868. She then began practicing gynecology and pediatrics in St. Petersburg with patients from all socioeconomic classes. The next year, Friedrich Erismann moved to St. Petersburg and the couple collaborated in medical practice and researching public health issues affecting the city's slums. After her divorce and another period of police surveillance, she moved to Nizhny Novgorod to continue her practice. After a period there, she moved to Alushta with her second husband and gave free medical care to the local poor Tatar people. She was known for her philanthropy during this period of her life, and for building a library and school on her property to serve the local population.

Personal life

On April 16, 1868, Suslova married her first husband, Friedrich Erismann, in

Vienna, Austria en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. They met while both students at the University of Zurich. The couple divorced on August 18, 1883. In 1885, Suslova married Aleksandr Golubev, a histology professor and physician.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Suslova, Nadezhda Gynaecologists from the Russian Empire Obstetricians from the Russian Empire Women physicians from the Russian Empire University of Zurich alumni 1843 births 1918 deaths Expatriates from the Russian Empire in Switzerland