Professor Pyotr Alexandrovich Dubovitsky (1815–1868) (on the 210th anniversary of his birth)

An outstanding reformer of medical education in Russia, a talented surgeon, scientist and teacher, the founder of domestic plastic and reconstructive surgery, Academician (1849) and president (1857–1867) of the Imperial Medical and Surgical Academy, head of the Main Military Medical Directorate (1867), corresponding member of the Paris Medical Academy (1846), privy councilor (1849), doctor of medicine and surgery (1837), Professor (1837) Pyotr Alexandrovich Dubovitsky was born in Moscow on February 18 (March 2, new style) in 1815 into a noble family of a landowner in the Ryazan province. Pyotr Dubovitsky received an excellent education at home and at the age of 14, he entered the medical faculty of Moscow University, which he successfully graduated from in 1833 and then went to Paris for an internship in surgery, where in 1835, he published a monograph in French on lithotripsy «An exact reproduction of the discussion on stone crushing and stone cutting that took place at the Royal Medical Academy in 1835». This work was recognized among specialists, and after returning to St. Petersburg in 1837, P. A. Dubovitsky defended a dissertation on this topic at the Imperial Medical and Surgical Academy and received the academic degree of Doctor of Medicine and Surgery at the age of 22. In the same year, he was appointed extraordinary Professor of the department of general and special surgery at Kazan University, and in March 1838, he was elected ordinary Professor. The greatest successes were achieved in the field of plastic and reconstructive surgery. In 1839 in Kazan, as a result of an accident, P. A. Dubovitsky received a serious injury – a complex intra-articular fracture of the left humerus, which resulted in the development of ankylosis of the left elbow joint. In 1841, Pyotr Alexandrovich was elected Professor of the department of theoretical surgery of the Imperial Medical and Surgical Academy. The curriculum was significantly expanded and improved, and the quality of teaching surgery at the department reached a fundamentally new level in a few years. From 1857 to 1867, P. A. Dubovitsky held the post of president of the Medical and Surgical Academy. During this time, the number of departments in natural and medical sciences was doubled. Independent departments were created: chemistry, physics with climatology, botany with phytotherapy, zoology with comparative anatomy. For the first time in Russia and Europe, departments of pathological anatomy, operative surgery and topographic anatomy, hygiene and medical police, childhood diseases, mental and nervous diseases were created, and the department of eye diseases was restored. On the initiative of P. A. Dubovitsky in 1858, the «Medical Institute» was established at the Medical and Surgical Academy to train scientific and teaching staff, which became the prototype of adjunct and postgraduate studies. By decree of Pyotr Aleksandrovich, it was permitted to write and defend dissertations in Russian. In March 1867, the Medical Department of the War Ministry was reorganized into the Main Military Medical Directorate, headed by P. A. Dubovitsky. Professor P. A. Dubovitsky died on March 30, 1868 from a malignant disease and was buried in the Old Cemetery of the Donskoy Monastery in Moscow. Pyotr Aleksandrovich was the last president in the history of the Imperial Medical and Surgical Academy and the only person to whom, by decision of the IMHA Conference, a full-length monument was erected in the meeting room of the Academic Council. 

1. Belyakov V. N. Petr Aleksandrovich Dubovitsky. L .: Publ. VMA im. S.M. Kirov, 1976. 65 p. (In Russ.).

2. Kosachev I. D., Ivanusa S. Ya., Zubarev P. N. P. A. Dubovitsky – an outstanding domestic organizer-reformer, surgeon, teacher, scientist (on the 200th anniversary of his birth). Bulletin of the Russian Military Medical Academy. 2015;51(3):295–303. (In Russ.).

3. Shevchenko Yu. L., Epifanov S. A., Matveyev S. A., Shalygin L. D. An outstanding reformer of medical education in Russia (on the 200th anniversary of P. A. Dubovitsky’s birth). Bulletin of the National Medical and Surgical Center named after N. I. Pirogov. 2015;10(1):3–5. (In Russ.).

4. Dubovitsky P. A. Attachment of an artificial nose, rhinoplasty. Operation performed in Paris by the Russian surgeon Dubovitsky. Friend of health. 1835;(48):416–417. (In Russ.).

5. Belyakov V. N. Contribution of P. A. Dubovitsky to the development of reconstructive surgery (on the 140th anniversary of his birth). Surgery. Journal named after N. I. Pirogov. 1959;(5):130–132. (In Russ.).

6. Dubovitsky P. A. Stone crush. Scientific notes of Kazan University. 1837;Book 3:167–171. (In Russ.).

7. Dubovitsky P. A. A look at the incorrect position of the kidneys with a remarkable observation in this case. Proceedings of the General Russian Doctors. 1852;Part 5:134–152. (In Russ.).

8. Dubovitsky P. A. Theoretical surgery. Notes compiled from lectures of Academician P. A. Dubovitsky. Lithography. Moscow Art Academy. 1848. 607 p. (In Russ.).

9. Dubovitsky P. A. Theory of wounds. Lectures. St. Petersburg. 1850. 314 p. (In Russ.).

10. Dubovitsky P. A. Theory of eye diseases. Lithography. St. Petersburg. 1852. 270 p. (In Russ.).

11. Dubovitsky P. A. A look at ugliness in general with a brief application to practical medical sciences. SPb. 1847. 151 p. (In Russ.).