Земские врачи Осинского уезда Пермской губернии в 1870–1919 гг. (к дискуссии о типичном образе этих специалистов)

Abstract

Already contemporaries, and then several generations of researchers, tried to create a typical image of a zemstvo doctor. The results obtained were very contradictory. According to the supporters of one historiographic tradition, conventionally called “romantic” by us, many zemstvo doctors devoted themselves to selfless service to the common people. Others (conditionally "pragmatic") believe that for these specialists the possibility of self-realization in cities was more attractive. The significant difference of these zemstvo doctors created images is largely determined by quantitative parameters. Supporters of the "romantic" historiographical tradition focus their attention on the life and work of individual specialists who served for a long time in the same local government and/or performed various public functions. Their opponents tend to consider this medical corporation, noting the frequent change of duty station by most of its members, especially in rural areas. For further analysis, painstaking work is needed to create databases for all zemstvo doctors in a wide chronological range. This will make it possible to systematize information about the places and terms of their service, the reasons for their abandonment, previous and subsequent professional activities, changing the self-awareness of this category of the population. The authors created such a database for all 70 zemstvo doctors who served in the Osinsky district of the Perm province in 1870–1919. Its materials testify to the predominantly pragmatic nature of the activities of most of these specialists. The average service life of zemstvo doctors in the Osinsky zemstvo was 3.5 years. Moreover, this indicator was largely ensured by the long-term activity of several physicians. The most common reason for the dismissal of zemstvo doctors in the county was the transition to a service with more comfortable conditions. At the same time, here, as in all other districts of the Perm province, there were some vivid examples of their many years of selfless activity. In general, the creation of a typical image of a zemstvo doctor, even at the level of a separate province or county, seems to us a debatable goal. This big corporation included representatives very different in their life attitudes. Therefore, contemporaries already reasonably selected several typical images of zemstvo doctors at once.