Open AccessNikolay Ivanovich Pirogov: Forerunner, co-founder and Inspector-General of the Red Cross
Author(s) -
I. F. Hendriks,
D. A. Zhuravlev,
James Bovill,
Eddy Houwaart,
F. Boer,
Pancras C.W. Hogendoorn
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
vestnik sankt-peterburgskogo universiteta. medicina/vestnik sankt-peterburgskogo universiteta. seriâ 11, medicina
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2587-5876
pISSN - 1818-2909
DOI - 10.21638/spbu11.2020.107
Subject(s) - ivanovich , german , treaty , ancient history , spanish civil war , history , ottoman empire , nationality , world war ii , law , first world war , political science , medicine , sociology , politics , archaeology , immigration , russian federation , regional science
Surgeon Nikolay I. Pirogov and Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna Romanova, née Württemberg, contributed substantially to the emergence of neutral organised care to soldiers during times of war and victims of epidemics. They closely cooperated in organising and training women as nurses to care for the wounded at the battlefront during the Crimean war. Russia became the first country to send trained nurses to the Crimea. They became a model for other women to train as nurses by the Red Cross. Their expertise was precious during the famine and cholera epidemics. During the Crimean war, Pirogov pleaded for the establishment of an international treaty to oversee the provision of medical help, including civilian volunteers, to both civilian and military victims of war, regardless of rank or nationality. Pirogov was a founder and Privy Councillor of the Russian Red Cross. Internationally he acted as Inspector-General for the Red Cross to report on the medical care in the Franco-German and Russian-Turkish War.