Military Medical Academy in Antarctica

Until now, there have been no attempts to evaluate the contribution of the Military Medical Academy to the development and exploration of Antarctica – the article opens a series of publications devoted to this issue. In 1820, graduates of the Medico-Surgical Academy, who were part of the expedition of Bellingshausen and Lazarev as ship doctors, were among the discoverers of the new continent. Since 1956, the period of constant operation of the domestic Antarctic expedition begins – until 1991, the Soviet, and then the Russian. Since 1959, military doctors – graduates and employees of the Military Medical Academy – have been participating in Antarctic expeditions. The main purpose of the polar doctor of the Antarctic expedition is to provide qualified medical help to winterers, but this does terminate there. The medical personnel of the Antarctic stations actively participate in implementing various programs of scientific study of the southern continent, a significant part of which is devoted to the problems of biology, medicine and related disciplines. Scientific research carried out by representatives of the academy has become part of the common scientific heritage of the Antarctic expeditions. To study the Academy’s contribution to the history of Antarctic expeditions comprehensively, the authors analyzed and summarized numerous publications of polar doctors, unpublished documents, and some archival materials. In this article, the authors dwelled on the periodization of the stages of exploration and study of Antarctica and characterized the composition of the participants from the academy, their total number, distribution by the number of wintering carried out, by dislocation points (Antarctic stations), professional specialization, structural divisions of the academy. Based on the analysis, conclusions were drawn about the high activity and noticeable representation of the Military Medical Academy in the development and study of Antarctica.