Polotebnov, Alexey Gerasimovich

POLOTEBNOV, Alexey Gerasimovich (1839–1907), the first Russian professor of the department of skin and venereal diseases (the "grandfather" of Russian dermatology). In 1864, he graduated from the Medico-Surgical Academy, at which he was retained for further advanced training. After working for 3 years under Prof. S. P. Botkin, Polotebnov was sent abroad by the academy in 1867 to study dermatology. There, for 3¹/₂ years, Polotebnov studied in Vienna and Paris under the prominent dermatologists of that time (F. Hebra, A. Fournier, and others). From 1871, Polotebnov was a privat-docent, and later a professor at the Medico-Surgical Academy. In the rash ward of the hospital, which was

assigned for lectures on dermatology, he "did not find a single one of the most ordinary scientific aids for examining patients." In his 1882 article on the current state of dermatology in Russia, Polotebnov was the first to speak out in defense of dermatology, a then-ignored branch of science (departments of skin and venereal diseases did not yet exist in universities at that time). This article contributed to a change in the university charter, according to which departments of skin and venereal diseases were established in all universities from 1884. Trained in the school of S. P. Botkin, Polotebnov took a critical view of the Viennese dermatological school, which viewed skin diseases as exclusively local processes; in contrast to it, Polotebnov strove to study not the disease, but the patient. Polotebnov also took a critical view of the vague hypothesis of "dyscrasia" of the French school, setting as his goal the collection of factual data to clarify the connection of skin diseases with the disorder of other organs of the body, and introduced into his clinic a comprehensive study of the skin patient, placing clinical observations at the level of modern research adopted in other specialized clinics. Thus, thanks to Polotebnov, Russian dermatology from its first steps stood on a firm and true path of clinical research. Polotebnov was the first to accurately study infectious forms of erythema, but he erroneously combined a whole group of diseases, distinct from each other in appearance and essence (psoriasis, pemphigus, lichen ruber, ichthyosis, prurigo, and sclerodermia), into one nosological unit. Polotebnov collected a large amount of material to clarify the dependence of psoriasis, lichen ruber, and others on changes in the nervous system. To Polotebnov's pen belongs the collection "Dermatological Studies" (St. Petersburg, 1886–87), which even at the present time can serve as a handbook for a dermatologist. Polotebnov's studies on erythema have been translated into German. Polotebnov was the first in St. Petersburg to diagnose lichen ruber, elephantiasis osseum, and the first case of leprosy in St. Petersburg.