Stepan Fomich Khotovitsky as an encyclopedic scientist, one of the founders of scientific hygiene and public health. For the 225th anniversary of his birth

Abstract

The article is dedicated to the outstanding Russian scientist of the 19th century, the first Russian pediatrician Stepan Fomich Hotovitsky (1796-1885), whose 225th anniversary is celebrated this year. The purpose of the work is to once again draw attention to his name, despite a sufficient number of publications, to present him as a versatile scientist, an encyclopedist of his time, not appreciated and not properly recognized by his contemporaries. Analysis of the scientific heritage of S.F. Hotovitsky shows that his work covers different areas of medicine: infectious diseases, forensic medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, medical police, and these are significant, fundamental works for these fields. Each of them reveals a comprehensive knowledge of the subject, an exhaustive acquaintance with contemporary domestic and foreign literature, an excursion into history, and new ideas. Many of the provisions of his works have stood the test of time. The article also attempts to focus on the works of S.F. Hotovitsky on the problems of the medical police, an area that in his time included the organization of medical affairs in general and ensuring the control of state bodies over compliance with sanitary and hygienic requirements, the organization of anti epidemic measures, the conduct of current sanitary supervision in order to protect and restore people’s health, that is, what hygiene and public health are studying today. In 5 works on the medical police with a total volume of more than 700 pages, S.F. Hotovitsky raised the problems of food hygiene, communal hygiene, hygiene of children and adolescents, sanitary and hygienic education and upbringing. S.F. Hotovitsky can rightly be called an encyclopedic scientist, the founder of not only pediatrics, but also one of the founders of scientific hygiene and public health.