Who are you, professor Petrova?

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Abstract

The previously unknown facts of the biography of Maria K. Petrova, a student and colleague of academician I.P. Pavlov, are presented. Archival research and analysis of previously inaccessible materials allowed to restore her biography hidden from the public by shedding light on the development of her personality and scientific perspective. Maria spent her early childhood far from St. Petersburg, in a small military garrison in the Caucasus. However, she graduated from high school in the capital of the Russian Empire. The discovered data both shed light on her childhood and youth and provide background information on her parents, spouse, brothers and sisters. This information allows us to reinterpret her decision to get a higher education and practice medicine and reveals the roots of her loyalty to Ivan Pavlov. The article describes Maria Petrova’s character traits, which allowed her to become an outstanding researcher rather than just a mother of a family. Her decision to get a medical degree could not but affect her relationship with her husband, Grigory S. Petrov, from whom she later divorced. Undoubtedly, the new findings will be an impetus for historians of science.

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About the authors

Zoia Yu. Mazing

Institute of Experimental Medicine

Author for correspondence.
Email: zmazing@inbox.ru
SPIN-code: 5317-9710
Russian Federation, Saint Petersburg

References

  1. Nozdrachev AD, Polyakov EL, Kosmachevskaya EA, et al. Pavlovskaya Encyclopedia: people, events, facts. In 2 vols. Saint Petersburg: Gumanistika; 2011. 632 p. (In Russ.) EDN: QMATYD
  2. Nozdrachev AD, Polyakov EL, Kosmachevskaya EA, et al. I.P. Pavlov – the first Nobel Prize Winner of Russia. Vol. 2: Pavlov without retouching (Reminiscences of S.V. Pavlova, A.F. Pavlov, M.K. Petrova). Saint Petersburg: Gumanistika; 2004. 816 p. (In Russ.)
  3. St. Petersburg Necropolis: vol. 1–4. Ed. great book. Nikolai Mikhailovich. St. Petersburg, 1912–1913. In 4 vol. Vol. 2: (D-L). 727 p. (In Russ.)
  4. Petrov GS. The church of the Life Guards of the Jaeger Regiment in the name of the Holy Martyr Miron. Reading for the people. Saint Petersburg: printing house E. Evdokimov; 1896. 80 p. (In Russ.)
  5. Memorial book, who graduated from the course at the St. Petersburg Theological Seminary from 1811 to 1895. 1896. 328 p. (In Russ.)
  6. Yakovlev PS. Memorial Book of the Archaeological Institute in St. Petersburg. 1878–1911. St. Petersburg, 1911. (In Russ.)
  7. A book of remembrance at the St. Petersburg diocese: 1899. Comp. edited by N.M. Kutepov. Saint Petersburg: Printing Office of the Border Guard Corps Department 1899. 72, 508 stb. (In Russ.)

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2. Fig. 1. Maria K. Petrova. © Institute of Experimental Medicine, 2025. Published with the permission of the copyright holder. Source: Collection of the Museum of History of the Institute of Experimental Medicine.

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3. Fig. 2. Vasily G. Ushakov. © Institute of Experimental Medicine, 2025. Published with the permission of the copyright holder. Source: Collection of the Museum of History of the Institute of Experimental Medicine.

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4. Fig. 3. Archpriest Kapiton I. Dobrovolsky. © Petrov G.S., 1896. Source: borrowed from [4].

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