Pyotr Fokich Borovsky (russian: Пётр Фоки́ч Боро́вский, 8 June 1863 – 15 December 1932) was Russian and Soviet surgeon and

public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the det ...

administrator of who worked in

Tashkent Tashkent (, uz, Toshkent, Тошкент/, ) (from russian: Ташкент), or Toshkent (; ), also historically known as Chach is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of ...

, professor of surgery in Tashkent Medical Institute. Borovsky is credited for the first correct description of the

causative agent In biology, a pathogen ( el, πάθος, "suffering", "passion" and , "producer of") in the oldest and broadest sense, is any organism or agent that can produce disease. A pathogen may also be referred to as an infectious agent, or simply a germ ...

Oriental sore The Orient is a term for the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of ''Occident'', the Western World. In English, it is largely a metonym for, and coterminous with, the c ...

Biography

Pyotr Borovsky was born on in Pogar,

Starodub Starodub ( rus, links=no, Староду́б, p=stərɐˈdup, ''old oak'') is a town in Bryansk Oblast, Russia, on the Babinets River (the Dnieper basin), southwest of Bryansk. Population: 16,000 (1975). History Starodub has been known ...

Uyezd An uezd (also spelled uyezd; rus, уе́зд, p=ʊˈjest), or povit in a Ukrainian context ( uk, повіт), or Kreis in Baltic-German context, was a type of administrative subdivision of the Grand Duchy of Moscow, the Russian Empire, and the ea ...

Chernigov Governorate The Chernigov Governorate (russian: Черниговская губерния; translit.: ''Chernigovskaya guberniya''; ), also known as the Government of Chernigov, was a guberniya in the historical Left-bank Ukraine region of the Russian ...

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

. After studying medicine and specializing in surgery at

Kyiv University Kyiv University or Shevchenko University or officially the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv ( uk, Київський національний університет імені Тараса Шевченка), colloquially known as KNU ...

and the Military Medical Academy in

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 1892 he was sent to serve in Tashkent Military Hospital as head of surgical department and bacteriological laboratory. Borovsky was one of the founders of Tashkent University Faculty of Medicine, that later became the Tashkent Medical Institute. He had been the head of Department of Hospital Surgery since 1920 and until his death in 1932. In 1927 he was awarded the

Order of the Red Banner of Labour The Order of the Red Banner of Labour (russian: Орден Трудового Красного Знамени, translit=Orden Trudovogo Krasnogo Znameni) was an order of the Soviet Union established to honour great deeds and services to th ...

for his contributions to

Uzbek SSR Uzbekistan (, ) is the common English name for the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic (Uzbek SSR; uz, Ўзбекистон Совет Социалистик Республикаси, Oʻzbekiston Sovet Sotsialistik Respublikasi, in Russian: Уз� ...

Oriental sore description

Borovsky became interested in exploring the aetiology of Sart sore, one of the local names for

. He microscopically examined sections of sores excised in their early stages, before they ulcerated, and was able to detect oval bodies with a

nucleus Nucleus ( : nuclei) is a Latin word for the seed inside a fruit. It most often refers to: *Atomic nucleus, the very dense central region of an atom *Cell nucleus, a central organelle of a eukaryotic cell, containing most of the cell's DNA Nucle ...

and a small process, which were usually located inside host cells, and made the correct conclusion that the observed organisms are the causative agents of this disease, and correctly ascribed it to

Protozoa Protozoa (singular: protozoan or protozoon; alternative plural: protozoans) are a group of single-celled eukaryotes, either free-living or parasitic, that feed on organic matter such as other microorganisms or organic tissues and debris. Histo ...

. Borovsky published his observations in Russian ''Voenno-meditsinsky zhurnal'' (''Medical-Military Journal'') in 1898. Due to low circulation of that publication, his priority was internationally recognised much later.Early discoveries regarding the parasite of oriental sore. C.A. Hoare. Transactions of The Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, Volume 32, Issue 1, 25 June 1938, Pages 66–92. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0035-9203(38)90097-5

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Borovsky, Peter 1863 births 1932 deaths 19th-century surgeons 20th-century surgeons S.M. Kirov Military Medical Academy alumni Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Military doctors of the Russian Empire Russian military doctors Russian surgeons Soviet military doctors Soviet surgeons Surgeons from the Russian Empire