Nikolay Burdenko

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In this name that follows Eastern Slavic naming customs, the patronymic is Nilovich and the family name is Burdenko.
Nikolay Burdenko
Born(1876-06-03)3 June 1876[1]
Kamenka village, Penza Governorate, Russian Empire[1]
Died11 November 1946(1946-11-11) (aged 70)[1]
Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union[1]
NationalityRussian
Alma materImperial University of Yuryev
Known forNeurosurgery, field surgery
Scientific career
FieldsMedicine, surgery, neurosurgery
InstitutionsRed Cross
Imperial University of Yuryev
Moscow University
Central Neurosurgical Institute
USSR Academy of Medical Sciences

Nikolay Nilovich Burdenko (

Stalin Prize winner (1941). He was a veteran of the Russo-Japanese War, First World War, Winter War and the German-Soviet War.[1]

Early years

Nikolay Burdenko was born on 3 June 1876 in the village of Kamenka in the Nizhnelomovsky Uyezd of the Penza Governorate (modern-day

Nicholas II and was close to the Emperor's family. Nikolay's mother was a housewife who came from peasants of the Tambov Governorate.[2][3]

In 1885, Burdenko finished Kamenka

Orthodox priest. In 1891, he entered Penza theological seminary and was soon sent to the Saint Petersburg Theological Academy as the best student. In 1897, he left it to study medicine at the recently opened Faculty of Medicine of the Tomsk Imperial University. There, he became fascinated with anatomy and operative surgery, and by the third course he was appointed as a prosector's assistant. He was then excluded from the university for participating in the 1899 Russian student strike, but was pardoned and restored just to be excluded for the second time in 1901 on the same account. After that, he was forced to leave Tomsk.[2][4][5]

Medical career

On 11 October 1901, he entered the fourth course of the Imperial University of Yuryev (modern-day University of Tartu), Faculty of Medicine. Once again, he became involved with the student protest movement and had to spend a year in the Kherson Governorate treating children with typhus, tuberculosis and other epidemic diseases. He was then restored in the university. During that time he worked a lot as a surgeon and took part in medical expeditions around the country to fight epidemics of typhus, smallpox and scarlet fever.

In January 1904, Burdenko volunteered for the

Cross of St. George for his service. On December he demobilized and returned to his studies. In 1905, he was invited to the surgery department of the Riga town hospital for practice.[4][6]

In 1906, Burdenko graduated from the university and moved back to Penza where he became a surgeon at the local

Doctor of Medicine degree and the next year he became a privatdozent and an associate professor at the University of Yuryev.[3]

World War I

With the start of the World War I in 1914, Burdenko once again volunteered for the frontline and joined the Red Cross detachment of the Northwestern Front, taking part in the East Prussian Operation and the Battle of the Vistula River. In addition to the duties of field surgeon he also evacuated wounded soldiers under hostile fire, organized triage, aid and dressing stations, including special sections for soldiers with stomach, lungs and skull wounds. For the first time in battlefield medicine Burdenko applied first aid care for skull injuries. From 1915 to 1917, he also worked as a consultant surgeon, first at the Kovno and Vilna Governorates, then at the 2nd Army and various Riga hospitals. In March 1917, he was appointed the Main Battlefield Medical Inspector, but left the post on May due to disagreements with the Russian Provisional Government and returned to front.[6][7]

He was diagnosed with the post-concussion syndrome after one of the battles and had to return to his Alma mater where he headed the surgery department. Following the occupation of Yuryev by German forces Burdenko was suggested to continue to carry out his duties under the new power, but he declined the offer and in June 1918 evacuated to Voronezh along with other professors. There, he became one of the founders of the Voronezh State University based on the University of Yuryev.[7]

Scientific work

Burdenko took active part in building and managing war hospitals for the Red Army. In 1920 he organized medical courses to prepare field surgeons and nurses. Simultaneously he consulted the Voronezh Health Department and continued his scientific work. His researches concerned shock prevention, healing of wounds and infections, surgical treatment of tuberculosis, anesthesia, blood transfusion and so on. At the time he also came to conclusion that neurosurgery must be taken as a separate specialty.

In 1923, Burdenko moved to

1st Moscow Medical Institute. He also headed the university surgical clinic from 1924 until his death which currently bears his name. In 1929, a faculty of field surgery was founded on his initiative. Same year Burdenko was appointed a director of the neurosurgical clinic of the X-ray institute under the People's Commissariat for Health which served as the basis for the world's first Central Neurosurgical Institute founded in 1932 (known today as N .N. Burdenko National Scientific and Practical Center for Neurosurgery).[4][8]

Burdenko was among the first to introduce surgery of the

blood circulation were the valuable contribution of Burdenko and his school to the theory and practice of neurosurgery.[4]

With his active participation, neurosurgical clinics and departments appeared all over the country. Burdenko organized and headed various medical conferences, including the All-Union Neurosurgical Council founded in 1935, and represented Soviet Union at international conferences. He also headed the All-Union Association of Surgeons and became a member of the USSR Academy of Sciences in 1938, the same year he joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. From 1937, he worked as the main consultant surgeon under the Red Army Board of Health.[1] He also published the first guide concerning field surgery based on his war experience which helped to prepare the army for the World War II.[6]

World War II

In 1939, the 64-year-old Burdenko joined the

antibiotics — benzylpenicillin and gramicidin — to treat injury infections.[4][7]

During one of the

Nazi bombings, Burdenko survived another heavy concussion which led to a stroke; he also completely lost ability to talk and had to train hard to regain it. He spent two months in war hospitals and in April 1942 returned to Moscow where he continued scientific work. For the first time in world medicine he suggested to treat pus complications after brain and skull injures by injecting streptocide white into a carotid artery
which turned to be more effective compared to intravenous injections practiced at the time. He also promoted the usage of secondary suture and effective treating of artery wounds.

In November 1942, Burdenko was appointed a member of the Extraordinary State Commission.[7] He investigated various Nazi crimes, including attacks on medical personnel, hospital trains and Red Cross units. He also headed the special commission of forensic medical examination that revealed atrocities committed during the Nazi occupation of the Smolensk and Oryol Oblast where over 215 000 Soviet civilians were murdered.

In January 1944, he headed a special commission established to investigate the

Nuremberg trial. In 1993, a commission of experts under the Russia's Chief Military Prosecutor's Office disapproved the Burdenko commission's report as "false" and "not meeting science requirements".[11][12]

In 1950, Boris Olshansky, a defector to the

Dan Flood, Olshansky "appeared and testified voluntarly".[17] However, other doubts arose as to the credibility of Olshansky's testimony the following years.[18]

Burdenko's name also appeared on the official Soviet report regarding the Auschwitz concentration camp as document USSR-008.[19]

In June 1944, the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences was founded in Moscow. It was designed in accordance with plans developed by Burdenko and was partially based on the Institute of Experimental Medicine — the first Russian research institute that existed from 1890 to 1944. Burdenko served as its president from 20 December until his death.[20]

Death

In June 1945, he survived a second stroke, and during the summer of 1946 — a third one. While in hospital, Burdenko finished a report on healing of gunshot wounds.[4]

Burdenko died on 11 November 1946, just several months after the third stroke. He was buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow. He was survived by his wife Maria Emilievna Burdenko (1882—1954) and their son Vladimir Nikolaevich Burdenko (1912—1974), Captain 2nd rank who served on submarine during the war.[21]

Honours and awards

Burdenko on a 1962 Soviet stamp

The following were named after Burdenko: SRI of the neurosurgery in

6754 Burdenko
).

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Бурденко Николай Нилович. Great Soviet Encyclopedia
  2. ^ a b Pavel Nilin (1982). Interesting Life: Episodes from the Life of Burdenko Nikolay Nilovich, a Surgeon. — Moscow: Sovremennik, p. 3-7
  3. ^
    ISBN 9785944280916
  4. ^ a b c d e f People of Russian Science. Essays on Prominent Figures in Natural History and Engineering. Biology, Medicine, Agricultural Sciences // ed. by Ivan Kuzntesov. — Moscow: Fizmatlit, 1963, p. 669—678
  5. ^ Alma Mater: Nikolay Burdenko article from the Tomsk State University newspaper, 31 May 2002 (in Russian)
  6. ^ a b c Burdenko Nikolay Nilovich at the War Heroes database (in Russian)
  7. ^ a b c d Mark Mirsky (1983). Healing with a Scalpel. Academician N. N. Burdenko. Moscow: Znanie, pp. 57-67, 131–160
  8. ^ Nikolay Nilovich Burdenko Neurosurgery Institute Archived 6 June 2017 at the Wayback Machine official website
  9. ^
    ISBN 978-0-300-10851-4
    . Retrieved 2 June 2011.
  10. ISBN 5-7777-0160-4
  11. ISBN 978-83-240-0792-9.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link
    )
  12. ^ Conclusion text at the Katyn library (in Russian)
  13. ^ The Katyn Forest Massacre: Hearings Before the Select Committee to Conduct an Investigation of the Facts, Evidence and Circumstances of the Katyn Forest Massacre. Vol. 5–7. Washington: United States. Congress. House. Select Committee to Conduct an Investigation and Study of the Facts, Evidence, and Circumstances on the Katyn Forest Massacre. 1952. pp. 1938–1942.
  14. ^ "The Katyn Forest Massacre". Reports and Documents. Vol. 4. Washington: United States Congress. 1952. p. 31.
  15. ISBN 2-86914-043-6
    .
  16. ISBN 5-298-00335-4
  17. ^ Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the United States Congress. Vol. 102, part 10. Washington: United States Congress. 1956. p. 14128.
  18. ^ Петров, Игорь (8 July 2011). "Два Ольшанских боролись друг с другом..." (in Russian). Katyn Files. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  19. ^ Trial of the Major War Criminals before the International Military Tribunal. Blue Series Vol. 39, p.241. https://www.loc.gov/rr/frd/Military_Law/NT_major-war-criminals.html
  20. ^ How it all started Archived 8 July 2017 at the Wayback Machine article from the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences website
  21. ^ "Российский некрополь. Академик медицины Николай Нилович Бурденко и его могила". www.necropol.org. Retrieved 11 June 2019.

Literature

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