Academician V.N. Tonkov: outstanding domestic anatomist, teacher, scientist and organizer of medical service

Prominent Russian and Soviet anatomist Vladimir Nikolaevich Tonkov (1872–1954) made a significant contribution to anatomical science and education. He is the founder of the theory of collateral circulation. For the first time, he established the patterns of blood supply to the intervertebral nodes, nerves, and lymph nodes, identified the source of the development of the spleen, and are a pioneer in the use of X-rays to study the structure of the human body. He prepared an original textbook on normal human anatomy, which went through six editions, and organized anatomical museums at Kazan University and the Military Medical Academy. The name V.N. Tonkov is associated with major social events. He was the first president of the Military Medical Academy in Soviet times. After the revolution, he headed the work of the commission to improve the life of scientists, was elected deputy of various government bodies, and was awarded many orders and medals. During the Great Patriotic War, together with the Military Medical Academy, he evacuated to Samarkand, where, in addition to teaching, he headed the faculty of training doctors during his stay in evacuation. He was one of the organizers of the All-Union Scientific Society of Anatomists, Histologists, and Embryologists, was repeatedly elected its chairman, and created the first in the Soviet Union and numerous anatomical schools. For his significant contribution to science in 1944, V.N. Tonkov was awarded the high title of a full member of the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences. The life and work of V.N. Tonkov became the property of the history of science, and his works, which have passed the strictest test of time, continue in the school he created through the efforts of many generations of his students and their followers. V.N. Tonkov lived for 82 years ― this is a beautiful, worthy life of a great scientist, an example of high service to the people and science, and an example of a bright purposeful personality. He died in 1954 and is buried at the academic site of the theological cemetery. In memory of this outstanding scientist, the Department of Normal Anatomy of the Military Medical Academy has been named after him since 1997.