A historical essay on the life of A.A. Tatarinov, MD, and his research on chinese medicine (on the 210th anniversary of the scientist's birth)

Nikolay N. Tsygan; Цыган Василий Николаевич; Nikita V. Makeev; Макеев Никита Вячеславович; Antoniy V. Dukul; Дукуль Антоний Владиславович; Vladislav V. Khusainov; Хусаинов Владислав Вагапович; Danil K. Lalayev; Лалаев Данил Камоевич; Vyacheslav P. Ganapolskiy; Ганапольский Вячеслав Павлович; Svetlana A. Mamayeva; Мамаева Светлана Анатольевна

doi:10.17816/rmmar680510

A historical essay on the life of A.A. Tatarinov, MD, and his research on chinese medicine (on the 210th anniversary of the scientist's birth)

Authors: Tsygan N.N.¹, Makeev N.V.¹, Dukul A.V.¹, Khusainov V.V.¹, Lalayev D.K.¹, Ganapolskiy V.P.¹, Mamayeva S.A.¹
Affiliations:
1. Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution "Military Medical Academy named after S. M. Kirov" of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
Section: History of medicine
Submitted: 26.05.2025
Accepted: 12.08.2025
Published: 05.08.2025
URL: https://journals.eco-vector.com/RMMArep/article/view/680510
DOI: https://doi.org/10.17816/rmmar680510
ID: 680510

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Abstract

This work aims to tell about the little-known facts of the biography of the graduate of the Imperial Medical and Surgical Academy, Doctor of Medicine Alexander Alekseevich Tatarinov (1814–1886), and his scientific legacy based on the study of Chinese medicine. The personality of the scientist is an example of the valiant service of doctors in the era of Russian spiritual missions in China. Alexander Alekseevich's main scientific works were created during the most vibrant period of his medical and research activities, which coincided with his 10-year service as a member of the XII Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Beijing. In this work, researchers focused on the collection of medicinal plants that the scientist had collected and described. The study of herbal remedies used in traditional Chinese medicine allowed the physician to identify important characteristics of these remedies, which contributed to the adoption of pharmacological knowledge by Russian scientists. This work also provides the first analysis of the scientist's handwritten monographs, which have survived to this day in the archives of the Fundamental Library of the Military Medical Academy. In Alexander Alekseevich's scientific work "On Fever," we can observe the early signs of the formation of scientific thought aimed at understanding the pathogenesis of specific diseases and pathological processes. This conclusion suggests that the scientist's work contributed to the development of the emerging field of pathological physiology. The scientist proposed a classification of medical specialties based on the list of diseases affecting specific organ systems. This is reflected in the manuscript "Acupuncture and Moxa: What They Are in China," and this approach is also used in the modern nomenclature of medical positions. Despite the fact that the name of the scientist enjoys insufficient popularity in modern times, his work was considerable benefit for the development of medical science in the Russian Empire of the XIX century.

Keywords

Tatarinov A.A., biography, botany, Chinese medicine, Imperial Medical and Surgical Academy, Military Medical Academy, pathological physiology, pharmacology, Russian Ecclesiastical Mission