History of Medicine

History

An Open Access Journal

To the biography of N.A. Semashko

DOI: 10.17720/2409-5834.v4.4.2017.09i

Evgeny V. Arsentyev,
Vladimir A. Reshetnikov
FSAEI HE I.M. Sechenov First MSMU MOH Russia (Sechenov University)
8 Trubetskaya St., building 2, Moscow 119991, Russia

The authors of this article consider separate stages of the biography of N.A. Semashko. There is an attempt to reconstruct on the basis of available publications and archival materials (personal fund of N.A. Semashko of the Museum of History of Medicine of I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, documents from the State Archive of the Russian Federation, the National Archive of the Republic of Tatarstan and the family archive of E.G. Farobina, granddaughter of N.A. Semashko) individual moments of life and activity of the first People’s Commissar of Health. During his studies at the medical faculty of Imperial Moscow University (IMU) N.A. Semashko became a staunch Marxist. The arrest and subsequent deportation did not allow him to graduate from the University, so he was able to complete medical education at Imperial Kazan University. N.A. Semashko continued his revolutionary activity later, when he was working as a doctor. In 1905, he participated in organizing an armed rebellion in Nizhny Novgorod and was arrested. He crossed the border of the Russian Empire when he got out of prison on bail, and until 1917 was in exile. After the October Revolution N.A. Semashko headed the People’s Commissariat of Health and for 11 years dealt with issues related to the creation and development of a Soviet health care system. N.A. Semashko is considered to be the creator of Soviet theoretical and practical health care. Some principles of the model of healthcare created by him were used in international practice. Special attention N.A. Semashko paid to preventive medicine. He also made a significant contribution to the organization of international cooperation. Despite the availability of scientific papers by N.A. Semashko, stereotypes remain in the works dedicated to him. In this regard, there is an attempt in this article to identify certain features of views of this controversial personality. According to the authors, the creation of his scientific biography remains a task for researchers despite the popularity of the name of N.A. Semashko.

Keywords: history of health care, biography, N.A. Semashko, the first People’s Commissar of Health, the Soviet model of health care

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