Crimean War - Nikolai Pirogov

A prominent Russian medical doctor and scientist Nikolai Ivanovich Pirogov is considered to be the founder of field surgery, and was one of the first surgeons in Europe to use ether as an anaesthetic. He was the first surgeon to use anaesthesia in a field operation (1847), invented various kinds of surgical operations, and developed his own technique of using plaster casts to treat fractured bones. At the age of 14 he started study medicine at Moscow State University. He specialized in surgery and completed his university education at the age of 18. He became professor of the German University of Dorpat in 1836, aged only 25. He first used ether as an anaesthetic in 1847, and investigated cholera from 1848.

In September 1854, when thousands of the wounded died in Sevastopol Pirogov forwarded a petition to send him to the theatre of the war. With a group of other medical doctors, Pirogov arrived to Sevastopol in winter 1854. His work in Sevastopol saved many lives.  During the siege of Sevastopol he introduced the mass use of anaesthetic in surgical operations on the front line. His experience in field surgery published in German in 1864 became a standard reference that would be used for many years thereafter.

Name on Nikolai Pirogov is one of the most widely recognised in Russian medical history, and he is considered a Russian national hero. He is also remembered as a pioneer for his efforts in advancing the education for women and the poor.