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Kara medicīnas ārstu–rezervistu sagatavošana padomju armijas vajadzībām Rīgas Medicīnas institūtā 1950.–1991. gadā (atmiņās un dokumentos)

Pētījuma mērķis ir, konfrontējot bijušo studentu atmiņas ar arhīvu un preses dokumentu liecībām, aplūkot Rīgas Medicīnas institūta (Rīgas Stradiņa universitātes nosaukums no 1950. līdz 1990. gadam) Kara katedras darbību, ietekmi uz topošo mediķu sagatavošanu un studentu pretošanos militārajai apmācībai. Kara katedra Rīgas Medicīnas institūtā pastāvēja no 1951. līdz 1961. gadam un no 1968. līdz 1991. gadam. Tās uzdevums bija sagatavot mediķus – Padomju armijas rezerves virsniekus (pārsvarā iespējamā kara gadījumam). Lai gan formāli Kara katedra bija Rīgas Medicīnas institūta struktūrvienība, institūta vadība tās darbību nespēja ietekmēt, jo katedra atradās PSRS Aizsardzības ministrijas pakļautībā. Nodarbības notika krievu valodā, tās bija ideoloģizētas, obligātas visiem studentiem. Mēģinājumi izvairīties no Kara katedras nodarbībām vai ignorēt tās prasības tika sodīti. Smagākais sods bija izslēgšana no institūta, bet varēja izmantot arī citus ietekmes līdzekļus. Tā 1961.–1963. gadā vairākus desmitus absolventu piespiedu kārtā nosūtīja dienēt par kadru virsniekiem līdz izdienas vecuma sasniegšanai. Vismaz dažiem no viņiem tas bija sods par protestēšanu pret militāro dresūru un sadzīves apstākļiem militārās apmācības vasaras nometnēs. Rezerves virsnieku sagatavošana Kara katedrā atbrīvoja studentus no vispārējā obligātā karadienesta. Šis princips tika pārkāpts 80. gados, kad studentus iesauca armijā pēc 1. kursa, bet pēc studiju atsākšanas viņi bija spiesti atkal apmeklēt Kara katedras nodarbības. Sākot ar 1988. gadu, Rīgas Medicīnas institūta studenti pieprasīja mainīt Kara katedras darbības stilu un saturu, taču līdz pat Latvijas neatkarības atgūšanai izdevās panākt tikai minimālu PSRS aizsardzības resora piekāpšanos.

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Silencing Sex Education in Soviet Latvia in the early 1980s: the Case of the Destruction of the Book Mīlestības vārdā by Jānis Zālītis

Through the case study of the publishing and banning of the second edi- tion of the book Mīlestības vārdā (1982, In the Name of Love) by the Latvian physician Jānis Zālītis (1933–2007), the article aims to analyse the changed understanding among medical educators and officials of the Latvian Communist Party on limits of what could be promoted in a handbook on sex education in the early 1980s. The author of the handbook and the publishing house were convinced that the degree of explicitness of the content of the sex education books already published was sufficient to risk expanding it with drawings of sex positions, despite the fact that the message of the illustrations did not correspond to the thesis of the conservative sexual agenda prevailing in the Soviet Union that sexual intercourse should take place only within marriage. Drawings by Edgars Ozoliņš clearly conveyed the message of pleasure and enjoyment, but they did not explicitly state that the woman and man enjoying penetrative sex were in a marital relationship as husband and wife. The article will argue that the decision to destroy the book was ethe nforced by the decision of the Burau of the Central Committee of the Latvian Communist Party of August 17, 1982, and promoted by its First Secretary (1966–1984) Augusts Voss, who called the book pornographic and influenced by Western ideology and harmful to Soviet ideology. The paper will establish that the destruction of the book Mīlestības vārdā shows that not only Zālītis’ ideas about what was and was not permissible in promoting sexual knowledge differed from the Soviet conservative sexual agenda, but that there was also a diversity of opinions within the Soviet Latvian nomenklatura.

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Competition for the Chair for Pharmacology at the University of Dorpat in 1882 between Hans Horst Meyer and Gustav von Bunge

The study focuses on the first position held by pharmacologist Hans Horst Meyer (1853–1939) 1 as a professor of pharmacology, dietetics, and the history of medicine at the University of Dorpat (today, Tartu University, Estonia) from 1882 to 1884. Meyer is known as the founder of pharmacology as an independent academic discipline in Vienna (Austria). 2 He competed with the well-known physiologist Gustav Piers Alexander von Bunge (1844–1920) for the position of the chairman of the department in 1881. Meyer was given the position of a professor in Dorpat instead of Gustav von Bunge (1844–1929). The outcome of the competition raises several research questions: why Meyer was allocated the chair in 1881; which arguments spoke in favour of Meyer and what was against him, what spoke against von Bunge; which historical events influenced university life in Dorpat; under which political and ideological currents the decision for the new professor was made. Events such as the Russification of the university and the assassination of Alexander II (1818–1881) significantly impacted teaching at the University of Dorpat from 1875 to 1885. During that period, both professors formed the basis of their outstanding academic careers. The arti- cle provides biographical analysis of Hans Horst Meyer based on Meyer’s files from the University’s of Tartu archive. Since Meyer competed with Gustav von Bunge for his first position as a chairholder, the biography of Gustav von Bunge has also been studied, contextualising it with the significant changes in the organisation of the University of Dorpat. Individual academic achievements of both scholars have been identified and listed using such platforms as Web of Science, Neurotree, the pharmacological journal “Naunyn-Schmiedeberg’s Archives of Pharmacology”, The Online Books Page, and WorldCat. Afterward, the conclusions about the individual scientific portfolios of the two applicants for the chair- man of the department have been made. Finally, contributing factor to why Hans Horst Meyer was successful with his application has been identified.

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