Friday 29 March 2024 | 05:10

Aleh Dziarnovich: The first female surgeon is the Belarusian Princess Vera Gedroitz

30.07.2016  |  Society
Aleh Dziarnovich: The first female surgeon is the Belarusian Princess Vera Gedroitz

The life history of a non-trivial native of a Belarusian family is worthy of a whole adventure novel.

Historian Aleh Dziarnovich has quite accidentally got interested in the fate of this woman, when eighteen months ago he came across a doctoral thesis in medicine, which had the name "Remote results of surgeries on inguinal hernias." The author of the dissertation, MD, among other things, expresses their vision for the miserable state of the industry) in the Middle Ages. According to the author’s thesis, the doctors in the XVI century were divided into two "camps": "barbers", who had poor classification and merely amputated everything that could be cured had they proper education, and those who, having received an excellent education at Padua and Bologna wouldn’t practice medicine. This, strictly speaking, was the complaint of the author of the dissertation to the latter.

The author’s name is Vera Gedroitz, whose family takes origin in Belarus. This woman has absolutely unique biography. Vera Gedroitz was born in Russia, studied at the Bryansk grammar school. She took interest in medicine very early, but that was hard for her to pursue in the Russian Empire back then. So in 1894, Vera entered a sham marriage with a Russian officer Nikolai Belozerov, which was her way to get a passport, which gives her the opportunity to travel abroad freely. And she went to Lausanne to the famous surgeon Caesar Roux, to study and work as his assistant and even used to be the assistant professor at the university.

Her active spirits and leftist sympathies brought Vera back to the pre-revolutionary Russia, where she asserted her diploma at the University of Moscow and got a divorce, becoming the first female surgeon in the Russian Empire.

- She introduced a lot of innovations in the health sector, performed abdominal surgeries, and participated in the Russo-Japanese War, during which she was creating field hospitals, - Aleh Dziarnovich says.

The king's court noticed the woman-medic and was the head of the Tsarskoye Selo palace hospital, thus attending to the royal family, and even went into a severe conflict with the king's favorite Grigory Rasputin.

- Later in her diaries she described his dirty beard and hair with aversion, - Aleh Dziarnovich says.

Vera was very close to her brother. When he died suddenly in 1910, it was her personal tragedy. At this time she performed in the Russian literary movement under the pseudonym Sergei Gedroitz.

When the World War I started, Vera was a chief physician of the palace hospital. There is a rich collection of images, where she teaches the tsar’s daughters how to give first aid.

After the February Revolution Vera Gedroitz was forced to leave St. Petersburg – she was close to the tsar family, for which the Provisional Government commissars persecuted her. Vera went to front in Kiev. There in 1923 she became a professor of medicine, and in 1929 – the Head of the Department of Surgery at the Faculty of the Kiev Medical Institute.

Soon, Vera met with the countess Maria Nirad and created a lesbian family with her. In the Soviet Union back then, it was fully real, as the Soviet power was trying to eliminate the institute of family. According to the memoirs of the Kiev time Vera was large and overweight and dressed like a man: she was wearing jackets and ties, men’s hats, and short haircuts; she was also referring to herself in masculine pronouns. Mary Nirad’s children from his first marriage lived with them and felt an obvious dislike for Gedroitz.

Over the last years of the Kiev period the female surgeon moved from abdominal to cancer surgeries. She didn’t believe in the viral origin of cancer, and considered it the cause of abnormal growth of residual germ cells. But due to a wicked twist of fate a disease with which Vera Gedroitz fought brutally avenged her. In 1932, she was diagnosed with cancer in the last stage, and she passed away. The woman-medic was buried in Kiev, and grateful patients came to her grave for a long time afterwards.

Other news section «Society»

What actually the State List of Historical and Cultural Values gives to Belarusan Heritage Sites?
What actually the State List of Historical and Cultural Values gives to Belarusan Heritage Sites?
The Belarus Committee of ICOMOS announces the collection of cases on the effectiveness of the State List of Historical and Cultural Values as a tool of the safeguarding the cultural monuments.
The right to heritage according to the standards of the Faro Convention: is it possible in Belarus?
The right to heritage according to the standards of the Faro Convention: is it possible in Belarus?
On March 27-28, the Belarus ICOMOS and the EuroBelarus held an online expert workshop on expanding opportunities for community participation in the governance of historical and cultural heritage.
“It is our big joint work”
“It is our big joint work”
It is impossible to change life in cities just in three years (the timeline of the “Agenda 50” campaign implementation). But changing the structure of relationships in local communities is possible.
The “Agenda 50” campaign was finalised by the Regional Development Forum
The “Agenda 50” campaign was finalised by the Regional Development Forum
The Forum was devoted not so much to the outputs as to the challenges and prospects after the creation and signing of local agendas.
Mikhail Matskevich: How to create a local agenda and make it a problem solving tool
Mikhail Matskevich: How to create a local agenda and make it a problem solving tool
To achieve changes, you need to be interested in them and stop pinning all hopes on the state.
“If a person cannot leave the apartment, he or she does not need an accessible Opera House”
“If a person cannot leave the apartment, he or she does not need an accessible Opera House”
In Stoubcy, they talked about universal design and conducted pilot monitoring of two urban sites accessibility.
Local agenda in Valożyn: mission accomplished
Local agenda in Valożyn: mission accomplished
"Specificity is different, but the priority is general." In Valożyn, a local strategy for the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was signed.
How Ščučyn was proceeding towards the solution of problems of people with disabilities
How Ščučyn was proceeding towards the solution of problems of people with disabilities
The campaign "Agenda 50" was summed up in Ščučyn, and a local action plan for the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was signed there.
A program to improve the quality of life of people with disabilities was designed in Stolin
A program to improve the quality of life of people with disabilities was designed in Stolin
The regional center has become the second city in Belarus where the local plan for the implementation of the principles of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was signed.
“Agenda 50” in Belarus: from strategies to implementation
“Agenda 50” in Belarus: from strategies to implementation
Representatives of the campaign “Agenda 50” from five pilot cities discussed achievements in creating local agendas for implementing the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
In Stoubcy, a local action plan for the implementation of the Convention was signed
In Stoubcy, a local action plan for the implementation of the Convention was signed
It is noteworthy that out of the five pilot cities, Stoubcy was the last to join the campaign “Agenda 50”, but the first one to complete the preparation of the local agenda.
The monitoring of accessibility was presented in Stolin
The monitoring of accessibility was presented in Stolin
On May 28, the city hosted a presentation of the results of the project "Equal to Equal" which was dedicated to monitoring the barrier-free environment in the city.
“They think if the legs don’t function, neither functions the head.”
“They think if the legs don’t function, neither functions the head.”
In Babruysk, wheelchair users are fighting discrimination.
The real work of the Convention depends on all interested communities and organizations
The real work of the Convention depends on all interested communities and organizations
What results has the campaign "Agenda 50" given, what helps to implement the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in the regions?
The Convention is a fight against fears, barriers and stigmata
The Convention is a fight against fears, barriers and stigmata
Experts in Valožyn have determined that the quality of people’s life depends on their awareness.
The Convention should become a "living tool”, rather than remaining just an ordinary document
The Convention should become a "living tool”, rather than remaining just an ordinary document
On March 3, members of the campaign "Agenda 50" from different Belarusian cities met in Minsk. The campaign is aimed at the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
The main thing is one’s personal motivation for full active life (PHOTOS)
The main thing is one’s personal motivation for full active life (PHOTOS)
There are being implemented three projects under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities campaign in the city of Babruysk.
One man does not make a team, but united we are able to do a lot
One man does not make a team, but united we are able to do a lot
In Ščučyn, people with disabilities learned to be leaders and to advocate their interests.
Barrier-free environment – it is not a ramp, but a means of independence (PHOTOS)
Barrier-free environment – it is not a ramp, but a means of independence (PHOTOS)
In Stolin, social organizations and local authorities are implementing a project aimed at independent living of persons with disabilities, and creating local agenda for the district.
Polish experts: We say “equality” and you say “inclusion”
Polish experts: We say “equality” and you say “inclusion”
Will creation of local agendas be an effective tool in ensuring rights of persons with disabilities in Belarus, just as it was in Poland?
Gintautas Mažeikis: The relation of political field and arena in the framework of information war

In his report, philosopher Gintautas Mažeikis discusses several concepts that have been a part of the European social and philosophical thought for quite a time.

“It is our big joint work”

It is impossible to change life in cities just in three years (the timeline of the “Agenda 50” campaign implementation). But changing the structure of relationships in local communities is possible.

Shhh! Belarus Wants You to Think It’s Turning Over a New Leaf

Minsk’s muddled media clampdown could jeopardize warming of relations with the West.

Mikhail Matskevich: How to create a local agenda and make it a problem solving tool

To achieve changes, you need to be interested in them and stop pinning all hopes on the state.