Nikolay Ivanovich Pirogov: Forerunner, co-founder and Inspector-General of the Red Cross

Abstract

Surgeon Nikolay I. Pirogov and Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna Romanova, née Württemberg, contributed substantially to the emergence of neutral organised care to soldiers during times of war and victims of epidemics. They closely cooperated in organising and training women as nurses to care for the wounded at the battlefront during the Crimean war. Russia became the first country to send trained nurses to the Crimea. They became a model for other women to train as nurses by the Red Cross. Their expertise was precious during the famine and cholera epidemics. During the Crimean war, Pirogov pleaded for the establishment of an international treaty to oversee the provision of medical help, including civilian volunteers, to both civilian and military victims of war, regardless of rank or nationality. Pirogov was a founder and Privy Councillor of the Russian Red Cross. Internationally he acted as Inspector-General for the Red Cross to report on the medical care in the Franco-German and Russian-Turkish War.