The Presidential Library hosted the exhibition about the feat of Leningrad medical workers during the siege

On January 18, 2023 the Presidential Library hosted the grand opening of the multimedia exhibition "Leningrad Pediatric Medical Institute in the Severe Years of the Siege", timed to coincide with the 80th anniversary of the breaking of the siege of Leningrad. The exposition has been prepared by the St. Petersburg State Pediatric Medical University of the Ministry of Health of Russia (formerly the Leningrad Pediatric Medical Institute - LPMI) with the participation of the Presidential Library.

According to the Director General of the Presidential Library Yuri Nosov it is no coincidence that the event is held in the building at Senate Square, 3: “The Presidential Library pays much attention to the siege. The institution’s portal features the electronic collection Defence and Siege of Leningrad. It includes official documents, film and photo chronicles, digitized food cards, leaflets, memos, as well as diaries and materials from the personal archives of Leningrad blockade survivors. Many sources are devoted to the feat of medical workers during the Great Patriotic War.

Rector of the St. Petersburg State Pediatric Medical University Dmitry Ivanov, Chairman of the Archival Committee of St. Petersburg Pyotr Tishchenko and Head of the Department of Humanitarian Disciplines and Bioethics of the Pediatric University Galina Mikirtichan addressed the participants of the event with welcoming words. Tatyana Vitalievna Fomina, who was born in besieged Leningrad in 1942 and survived thanks to the LPMI staff, also spoke at the opening of the exhibition.

For the first time, sources from the Central State Archive of Historical and Political Documents of St. Petersburg are demonstrated at the multimedia exhibition in the Presidential Library. Through the prism of archival documents, the feat of employees and students of the Leningrad Pediatric Medical Institute, who made huge sacrifices and hardships, giving all their strength in the name of the Great Victory, is highlighted.

The exposition, in particular, illustrates  the educational process during the war years. So, in order to provide the front with medical personnel, the training periods in 1941 and 1942 were reduced to 4 and 3.5 years. Classes were often held in bomb shelters. In their free time, students were on duty in hospital departments, looked after wounded soldiers, donated blood, made individual dressing bags for the Leningrad People's Militia Army and the front, worked at logging and peat harvesting, unloaded vehicles near Lake Ladoga.

During the war years, the research work of the institute did not stop and thesis were defended. The exhibition materials show how the war influenced the topics of the research.

Part of the exposition tells about the activities of the institute's clinical hospital, which did not interrupt its work for a single day, saving the lives of little Leningraders: according to various sources, from 400 to 600 thousand children remained in the besieged city. Wounded and sick children, orphans were placed in LPMI. For the entire period of the siege, not a single child under the care of the institute staff was killed or injured by shells.

The exposition "Leningrad Pediatric Medical Institute in the Severe Years of the Siege" has become the second joint exhibition project of St. Petersburg State Medical University and the Presidential Library, implemented as part of a cooperation agreement between the institutions signed in 2022. The exposition “LPMI during the siege years. Saving Children: Honor and Courage of Leningrad Pediatricians” was launched in April 2022.

The exhibition "Leningrad Pediatric Medical Institute in the harsh years of the siege" will run until February 28, 2023. To visit the exposition please pre-register by phone (812) 334-25-14 or e-mail at excursion@prlib.ru.