Life histories of the founders of Kharkiv school of hygiene

Abstract

This article describes the life history of the founders of Kharkiv school of hygiene Arkadiy Ivanovich Yakobiy (1827–1907) and Ezro Musiyovych Kahan (1887–1948). It is dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the Department of Hygiene and Ecology No.1 of Kharkiv National Medical University (KhNMU) and the 100th anniversary of Research Institute of Occupational Hygiene and Occupational Diseases. Both of these talented individuals left their places of birth, secondary and higher education at some point, due to certain unfavorable consequences of regional life, and arrived in prosperous Kharkiv. Having a wide range of knowledge, both worked in a wide aspect of science and practice that relate to the general well-being of various categories of the population, including environmental, household, epidemic, production, family and other statuses of human life. Both came to the conclusion that identifying and overcoming risk factors for health deterioration is a very promising direction for achieving global well-being of humanity. Based on this, both became the founders of the Kharkiv School of Hygiene. Yakobiy A.I. founded the first department of hygiene at Kharkiv University оn February 1, 1873, and headed it for the following 12 years. Kahan E.M. headed specialized institute for workers' health problems (the first on the territory of the USSR), namely the Institute of Occupational Medicine, іn May 1923, and managed it until 1931. During the term of their work at Kharkiv hygienic institutions, these professors provided a methodological basis for the multi-decade development of the corresponding scientific, pedagogical and practical field of state health care. Keywords: historical aspects, scientific research, health care, lifestyle, professor Yakobiy A.I., professor Kahan E.M.