Lazarevich

LAZAREVICH Ivan Pavlovich (1829-1902), one of the outstanding gynecologists of the late 19th century. He graduated from the University of Kiev in 1853 and was an assistant to Professor A. P. Matveev. After defending his dissertation "De pelvis fe-mineae metiendae rationibus" (Kioviae, 1857), he received a docent position; in 1862, after a foreign trip, he was elected to the chair of obstetric, women's and children's diseases at Kharkov University, where he remained for about 25 years, and after moving to St. Petersburg, he remained a lifelong honorary professor of Kharkov University. Until his death, L. worked scientifically and in St. Petersburg was a member of the council of the Ministry of National Education and the Medical Council. - In the history and development of Russian gynecology in the 19th century, L. holds an exceptional place. Many of L.'s works were translated into foreign languages and, due to their originality and novelty of thought, earned him an honorable place abroad. Among L.'s scientific works, special mention should be made of "Research on the abdomen of pregnant women" (Kharkov, 1865), "Course of Obstetrics" (Vol. I-II, Kharkov, 1877), as well as experimental works on the physiology of the act of childbirth, on the female organism in relation to work, on diaphanoscopy in the application to the study of tissues and organs in the female pelvis, on ovariotomy, on parasites of the female genital organs, and a whole series of works on operative obstetrics. L. was also a talented inventor; he invented many new instruments, among which L.'s "straight forceps" gained worldwide fame. L.'s instruments were described by him in an artistically published "Atlas of Gynecological and Obstetrical Invented by the Author" (SPB, 1867). L. actively participated in the life of scientific societies, was elected honorary chairman and was an honorary member of a number of societies both in Russia and abroad (London, Boston), and presented reports at international congresses. The well-known English contemporary of Lazarevich, Varne, dedicated his textbook on obstetrics to him. L. also did much for secondary medical education: he founded a maternity institute in Kharkov in 1869, which greatly contributed to the improvement of obstetrics, which he considered "perhaps the most important and difficult branch of medical assistance".