Tadeusz Srogosz

In the years 1780–1781, Doctor Franz Karl Heintz hesitated about the diagnosis for a long time. Initially he thought he had encountered cases of ‘rotten diseases’. However, taking into account the experience of other European countries, he knew one had to be certain about the diagnosis given, especially when it concerned the most terrible infection. Only after some time he admitted was dealing with the plague. He was still optimistic though. He claimed that herbal medicaments were efficient in many cases. In 1786, already as the quarantine physician of the Right-Bank Ukraine, he sensibly assessed the potential of medicine regarding the plague. Although he based his project on the contemporary medicinal state of the art that went along with the 18th c. ideal of medical knowledge (he was a follower of Hippocrates, i.e. a supporter of humoral pathology), the most important components of the project were police-order in their character, which found a permanent place in the medical thought of that time.

The plague epidemics in Right-bank Ukraine and south-western provinces of Russia at the turn of the 19th century were caused by deficiencies in maintaining social distance and inadequate crisis management. The inadequate social distancing was caused by ongoing wars and civil unrest. The first outbreaks of the plague occurred in the territory of the Turkish state, from where it spread to Right-bank Ukraine, as well as to the provinces of the Russian Empire as a result of mobility caused mainly by wars, trade and other phenomena causing population migration (such as mercenary work). After the annexation of the Black Sea territories to Russia, returning soldiers and sailors often unwittingly brought plague from the infected south to the cities and towns of central Russia. The spread of the plague epidemic was facilitated by the efforts of the Russian commanders to limit supply disruptions to the army fighting the Turks. With the effective work of the various branches of the modern administration and the centralized management of the crisis in Right-bank Ukraine, the outbreaks were quickly contained to only a few areas. These circumstances were even more evident in the southwestern provinces of Russia, with a strong central government and its local ties.

Renata Elżbieta Paliga’s book is a negative example of writing in the history of medicine, written under the infl uence of the coronavirus pandemic and the war. It was written in a hurry, on the wave of current epidemiological and military events, without a painstaking search for sources. Its author summarised Tadeusz Srogosz fi ndings, sometimes only indirectly using other bibliographical sources. The interpretations contained in the book are either logically fl awed or outright false.