Болезнь и смерть в жизни казанских мещан (конец XVIII - первая половина XIX в.)

Abstract

The article deals with the issues of illness and death in the everyday life of Kazan burghers of the first half of the 19th century. Based on the analysis of a significant number of archival documents, an analysis of the nature of diseases was carried out, climatic, geographical and social causes of diseases and mortality were identified. The social factors of diseases are the low standard of living of the burghers, the peculiarities of the city as a habitat, the weak level of sanitary culture, the lack of qualified medical care. A significant role was played by the commitment of the burghers to the traditional conservative lifestyle, which was based on adherence to established practices and habits, including the refusal to consult doctors. The daily way of life was significantly corrected by epidemic diseases, among which smallpox and cholera were especially significant. The therapeutic and preventive measures taken significantly changed everyday life and required new practices that were perceived differently by people. Restrictive measures violated the usual order of life, a mass phenomenon was the refusal of smallpox vaccination, as well as non-compliance with sanitary measures. The burghers understood the disease as an attribute of the material world, which was expressed in the rational perception and designation of the disease as a state of the body, although some features of the irrational understanding of the disease can still be traced in the language of the burghers. The burghers realized death as an inevitable natural outcome of life, which required the necessary actions to complete earthly affairs.