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Birthday of Ivan Pavlov, scientist, holder of medical doctoral degree, first Nobel prize winner in Russia
Ivan Pavlov - the greatest scientist, who made a huge contribution to the world science, holder of medical doctoral degree, the first Nobel Prize winner in Russia (1904), academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences (1907), was born into the family of a priest on September 14 (26), 1849 in Ryazan. Ivan Pavlov studied at the church school in Ryazan (1860–1864). He abandoned his studies at the Ryazan Theological Seminary (1869) to enter St. Petersburg University (1870–1875). To improve his practical skills and expand his knowledge of human physiology, he became a 3rd year student at the Military Medical Academy and completed his course with an outstanding record. As a student of the Military Medical Academy he organized work at the Physiological Laboratory.
He was the head of the Department of Pharmacology at the Military Medical Academy and soon was appointed the head of the Department of Physiology at the same academy.
In the field of physiology of blood circulation Ivan Pavlov presented his doctor’s theses on the subject “The Centrifugal Nerves of the Heart”, discovered the intensifying nerve of the heart and its trophic nature. The work in the field of digestion brought him worldwide fame. Ivan Pavlov developed the method of the chronic experiment and a number of methods for studying the activities of the digestive glands, stomach, gallbladder, etc. He discovered that the nervous system played the dominant part in regulating the digestive process, and this discovery is still the basis of modern physiology of digestion.
Outstanding research undertaken by the scientist into the physiology of the central nervous system led to the discovery of a new field - the physiology of higher nervous activity. These achievements were associated with the discovery of conditioned reflexes.
While working at neuropsychiatric clinics, Ivan Pavlov came to understand the mechanisms of certain diseases, such as hysteria, neurasthenia, and psychasthenia.
The Soviet government acknowledged the importance of scientific work carried out by Ivan Pavlov and issued a special decree (1921) on creating conditions for promoting scientific research in his laboratory. A biological station was built at Koltushy near Leningrad, which later became the Pavlov Institute of Evolutionary Physiology and Pathology.
The scientist did not forget his hometown: he often came to Ryazan, visited his parents, and spent holidays there. The last time Ivan Pavlov visited Ryazan was in August 1935.
The house, where Ivan Pavlov was born and lived, in the street, which is named after the prominent researcher, is today the Memorial Museum-Estate. It was opened in 1946. A monument to Pavlov (sculptor M.G. Manizer) was unveiled in Ryazan in 1949. The Ryazan Medical University is also named after academician I. P. Pavlov.
Lit.: Библиография трудов И. П. Павлова и литература о нём / Под ред. Э. Ш. Арапетянца. М.-Л., 1954; Летопись жизни и деятельности И. П. Павлова. Т. 1. 1849–1917 / Сост. Н. М. Гуреева и Н. А. Чебышева. Л., 1969; Павлов в воспоминаниях современников. Л., 1967; Переписка И. П. Павлова / Сост. И. М. Гуреева и др. Л., 1970.
Based on the Presidential Library’s materials:
Портрет академика И. П. Павлова. 1935 / М. В. Нестеров (худож.). Советский художник, 1962 [доступно в электронном читальном зале];
Колыбина О.Д. Учение И.П. Павлова и некоторые вопросы теории и практики советского здравоохранения; [Текст]: автореф. дис. …кан. мед.наук; Рязанский мед.ин-т им.ак. И.П. Павлова. Рязань, 1962 [доступно в электронном читальном зале].
Materials were provided by the Ryazan Regional Center of the Presidential Library