Belliarminov

Belliarminov, Leonid Georgievich (born in 1859), outstanding Russian ophthalmologist. Graduated from the Military Medical Academy (1883) and in 1893 he took up the chair of his teacher V. I. Dobrovolsky at the academy. Belliarminov's fruitful activity left a deep mark in the history of Russian ophthalmology. He published more than 40 scientific works; in many of them, Belliarminov appears as the creator of completely new methods (and apparatus) that made it possible to establish a number of important facts in the physiology and pathology of the eye. Among Belliarminov's works, the most significant are: 'Application of the graphic method for studying the movements of the pupil and intraocular pressure by means of photography'; 'Application of the colorimetric method for studying diffusion in the normal and pathological eye'; 'Theories of sympathetic inflammation,' where Belliarminov is the author of the bacterio-toxic theory. The school created by Belliarminov is known beyond the borders of the USSR. Belliarminov has many students, who have published more than 250 works on all branches of ophthalmology (most of these works are on topics given by Belliarminov and carried out under his direction). Belliarminov is also an outstanding figure in the public struggle against eye diseases. Having been chairman of the special department of 'Care for the Blind' for 20 years, he was the creator (1893-1914) of the so-called eye detachments (see), which played such a major role in establishing ophthalmological care and increasing the number of ophthalmologists in Russia. Belliarminov created a great enterprise and brought enormous benefit not only to Russia but also to other countries, as the basic ideas of his activity caused imitation abroad - in Egypt, South America and other countries. For 29 years, Belliarminov has been elected the permanent chairman of the Ophthalmological Society in Leningrad.