Biographical information. Svyatoslav Nikolaevich Fedorov

In one of his interviews, S. N. Fedorov said: “I realized that goodness needs to be done in large doses. I am confident that by the end of this century our medicine will be a fantastic industry of humanism: small hospitals will turn into powerful medical centers for early surgical prevention.”

A practical dreamer who devoted his life to creating an industry of humanism in a single clinic, with an attempt to expand it to a state scale.

Son of a Hero

Svyatoslav Nikolaevich Fedorov was born on August 8, 1927 in the town of Proskurovo (Khmelnitsky), in Ukraine. Father, Nikolai Fedorovich, was a blacksmith at 16, and a soldier at 18. His dragoon regiment was one of the first to support the February Revolution. After October, the regiment joined the Red Army. Red cavalryman, red Cossack, hero of the civil war, fanatically devoted to the revolution. He overthrew the monarchy in Petrograd, fought with the Makhnovists, Germans, and Poles. Svyatoslav’s mother is a beauty, half Belarusian and half Polish, Alexandra Danilovna, she is 20, her husband, deputy commander of a cavalry regiment, is 30. Her son’s favorite toy is his father’s revolver without cartridges.

In the early 30s, the family moved to Moscow, Colonel Fedorov entered the Frunze Academy. He always needs to be first - on a horse, on the football field, in school. Energetic, strong, explosive. Even a shattered knee did not stop him from playing football and being the captain of the team.

After graduating from the academy, my father was appointed commander of a cavalry division in Kamenets-Podolsky. Their house is located in a huge garden - a paradise for boys. The friends disappear in the stables, taking care of the horses. Slava learned to shoot well with a small-caliber rifle. A bicycle was bought for my son, for which he was dubbed Bourgeois.

But in 1938, Svyatoslav’s father was arrested for connections with “enemies of the people” - Demichev, Yakir, Tukhachevsky, along with 40 thousand other officers. The army was beheaded. In 1940, 100 division commanders whose last names began with the letters “A” to “P” in alphabetical order were released from prison: Stalin emphasized only the first half of the list of military leaders subject to rehabilitation.

We moved to Novocherkassk to live with our aunt. The son of the “enemy of the people” was shunned by both adults and children. The boy found friends in books. He signed up for three libraries at once—the local press even wrote about the young bookworm. The idols he wanted to be like were D'Artagnan, Pavka Korchagin, the heroes of Jack London - strong, obsessed with a dream. There was no need to go far: his father is an example for any boy. Could the hero's son be a weakling? Slava also sees himself in the military field. Wants to fight and win.

The war has begun. In October 1941, we had to urgently evacuate to Armenia. The train that followed them was bombed... In 1942, famine came to the village of Tsaghkadzor, Slava shot ducks and ducks, and caught fish.

In 1944, the young man and his friend submitted documents to the 19th Yerevan Artillery Special School. He lived on state support, but was oppressed by the senseless drill, and relations with his superiors became strained. Pilots are a different matter; they are their own masters in the sky. Thanks to an influential relative, he is transferred to the 11th Special Air Force School, which soon moves to Rostov-on-Don. The Fedorovs return to their native places.

He was surrounded by the same romantics, but he only had a chance to study for about a year. In March 1945, having put on his only weekend suit, Slava hurries to a festive evening at the school. He jumps onto the tram while it's moving and takes off. To avoid tearing his trousers, he lets go of the handrail and pulls his leg under the tram. The heel of the left foot is crushed. Doctors amputate both the foot and the lower third of the leg.

Slava did not panic; he joked in the hospital and calmed everyone down. I dreamed of flying like Meresyev. But, of course, his flying career did not take place.

I can do everything

In a regular school, it suddenly turned out that I had to improve several subjects at once. To pay tutors, my mother pounded away at night on a typewriter. I graduated from school with one C in chemistry. What's next? I decided to go into medicine and find a specialty there that was close to technical. In 1945 he entered the medical faculty of the Rostov Medical Institute.

In the first year, classmates ran away from boring subjects to the Don. He was almost expelled for missing classes, but his mother persuaded the dean’s office to keep her son at the institute.

He did not record lectures, but delved into the essence of the subject, its laws and, relying on them, reached the smallest details. Got addicted to chess.

In my second year, I fell in love with a student from Novocherkassk. Every weekend I rushed to her by train, then by bus, sometimes walking 6-7 km if I didn’t make it in time for the last one. Once Valya said: “I could only love a strong man, and you...” Life has set a new bar. We must become resilient, strong, worthy of it. He exhausts himself with training - doing pull-ups on the horizontal bar, doing handstands. He squeezes a pound weight 20 times. During these six months, the girl fell in love with someone else, but Fedorov is now an athlete, a strongman. Since then I have not parted with the weights, and acquired the habit of entering the room on birthdays from the hallway in my arms, holding a gift or flowers in my teeth.

He took up swimming seriously and did not feel his physical handicap in the water. Once I swam in a race with water polo athletes who were training on the Don, and the coach offered to compete for the team - just swim to the finish line for the classification. He hesitated and jumped last. I overtook two people in front. And then, according to him, such anger came over him! Suddenly I wanted to overtake and win. About 300 meters before the finish, he overtook the captain of the water polo team and became the winner. Everyone clapped and shouted something. “It was extremely pleasant to realize,” recalled Svyatoslav Nikolaevich, “that I can do something that not everyone can do. At that moment, for the first time, I realized, deeply felt, that I could do anything. I realized that if a person can overcome himself, then he can overcome any difficulties. It was then, on the banks of the Don, that an invincible confidence in myself and in my capabilities was born in me and remained for the rest of my life. Maybe this quality is the most important thing in my character. Standing on the embankment, not yet dry, I discovered a simple but incredibly important truth: you have to work hard until you sweat. Only under this condition can something be achieved. That victory, albeit modest and insignificant, became the starting point of my entire life. So, no matter how paradoxical and blasphemous it sounds, I think: to some extent, I was lucky that I lost my leg. If this had not happened, I probably would not have been able to develop within myself an active principle, will, and fidelity to the goal.”

They lived more than modestly. In the evenings he worked as an electrician. And in his old boots and sports jacket (and even the son of an “enemy of the people”) he was somehow forced to leave the wedding of one of his friends.

But sidelong glances did not bother him. You have your whole life ahead, and you need to find your place in medicine.

To dress up, he learned to take photographs, so much so that he began to earn more than his mother. I read a lot of professional books. His passion for photography logically led to ophthalmology. The eye is the same camera: the cornea with the lens is the lens, the retina is the film. Ophthalmic equipment resembles photographic equipment. Everything is clear and specific, like a man, the requirements are extremely strict, with no room for error.

This is how the character of the surgeon was forged. True, when he saw his eye removed for the first time, the young man ran out of the operating room.

The first operation was performed during internship, on March 8, 1951. A mechanic from the factory got a piece of a chisel in his eye. Fedorov assisted Associate Professor Lakshin. After anesthesia, the surgeon suddenly said: “You will operate yourself,” and left.

In 1952, the young graduate was sent to Tyumen, along with a classmate. But my mother remained in Rostov; trophic ulcers opened on her leg from the cold. Almost without a penny, the friends reached the capital and the USSR Ministry of Health changed their appointments.

Doctor from the village

Veshensky district of the Rostov region, Veshenskaya village, Sholokhov places, native Don. I did my internship here. A small regional hospital, an eye office without equipment. The first step was to obtain equipment. He performed operations, including cataract extraction and glaucoma. He received patients and went on calls as a therapist, in the winter - on skis.

The days passed measuredly and monotonously. Gradually a slight disappointment set in. The soul demanded a big job, but in Veshki how can you become a great specialist...

And then Lilya, an acquaintance from Rostov, came to visit him for the holidays. Soon they got married. After graduating from university, Lilya was assigned to the town of Lysva, Perm Region, to teach chemistry at a metallurgical technical school. Svyatoslav also asked the ministry for a transfer to Lysva and became a doctor at a regional clinic with an eye department with 25 beds, and at the same time both the head of the ambulance station and an inspector of the city health department. On August 7, 2007, a memorial plaque was installed in Lysva on the wooden house where the Fedorovs lived.

The young doctor drew attention to the fact that during operations to remove cataracts, only the nucleus of the lens was removed, leaving behind the membranes, the capsule, which caused secondary cataracts. What if you remove the lens along with the capsule, hooking it with a special loop? This required accuracy and impeccable precision of movements. They heard about Fedorov's first operations in Perm and for the first time in his life he was invited to give a report. At a conference in Perm, Fedorov made a report on 20 similar operations, only one patient experienced vitreous prolapse. But colleagues considered the method dangerous for widespread practice. “Interesting, new, even revolutionary! - noted Professor Chistyakov, famous at that time. “But it’s not worth the risk.” How many more such words will Svyatoslav Nikolaevich hear in his life!

In 1954, daughter Irina was born, and her father returned from the camps.

Svyatoslav writes an official letter to the scientific secretary of the medical faculty of the Rostov Medical Institute with a request to accept him into clinical residency. On October 1, 1955, he entered residency. Rostov-on-Don again.

The residency was reduced to 2 years, and Svyatoslav set himself the goal of defending his Ph.D. thesis during this time. Topic: “Changes in the eye due to a brain tumor.” The day is filled to the limit: until 3 pm - operations in the eye clinic, then observation of patients in the neurosurgical clinic. In the evening I developed and printed photographs of the eyes. He worked, as he put it, like a beast - without days off, holidays and vacations. Data on 150 patients over time formed the basis of the dissertation. Fedorov’s idea refuted the generally accepted one: he argued that in case of eye diseases, its functions are initially preserved, and only then vision begins to deteriorate, which indicates a huge reserve of the body. His theory made it possible to predict how successful the operation to remove a brain tumor would be.

In May 1958, he defended himself, oddly enough, without a single black ball and became a candidate of medical sciences.

But in Rostov there is an overproduction of doctors. Fedorov is hired as a resident at a regional hospital and sent on business trips to examine pre-conscription prisoners—not the best use of energy for a young scientist.

One day he met a friend from his residency from the Cheboksary branch of the Research Institute of Eye Diseases named after. Helmholtz. It turned out that the cataract treatment department needed a director. Svyatoslav applied for the competition and won.

Artificial lens

In the Cheboksary branch of the Research Institute of Eye Diseases named after. Helmholtz, the young scientist thought about how to help patients who suffered from clouding of the lens and were quickly losing their vision.

And then he came across an article criticizing the operations of the English ophthalmologist Harold Ridley to replace the lens with an artificial one made of plastic. He became interested and began to study all the literature on this topic.

Casanova also wrote about the ophthalmologist Casamata from Dresden, who in 1775 proposed making artificial lenses from glass. At the same time, the Polish doctor Gadini proposed replacing the lens with a rock crystal lens, but paid with his freedom. In 1940, ophthalmologist Marchi made a lens from quartz. In 1949, Harold Ridley first replaced a cloudy lens with an artificial one, but the lens turned out to be too big. Then the Englishman Choice, the Dutchman Binkhorst, the Spaniard Barraquer and others did this. In Moscow, an attempt to implant an artificial lens was carried out by ophthalmologist M. M. Krasnov.

But some operations turned out to be successful! This means there is a rational grain here. And we must try to create a new, perfect lens.

The topic is unplanned, there are no materials, equipment, conditions, or funds. But there is the experience of predecessors, a great desire, faith in oneself, in the help of the people to whom Fedorov turned, in human talent.

The first tiny lens that turner Slava Bessonov made lacked transparency. Another volunteer assistant, 55-year-old patternmaker at the Cheboksary Aggregate Plant Semyon Yakovlevich Milman, produced a more successful option. In the evenings in the kitchen, under a microscope, they began making the first implants, attaching arms to plastic crumbs. The rabbit with an artificial lens and a blindfold on his good eye quickly rushed to the carrot. Other operated animals also saw perfectly well. 59th year.

Next year Fedorov goes to Moscow for a conference on inventions in ophthalmology. The audience received the message with excitement. Lens samples passed through the rows mysteriously disappear.

Svyatoslav Nikolaevich Fedorov dares to implant an artificial lens into twelve-year-old Lena Petrova, who suffers from congenital cataracts. The blind eye began to see 100%. All her life she will remember him with gratitude. Later Fedorov operated on her second eye. Then he operated on his eldest son Svyatoslav, named after him, to whom the cataract was inherited.

This is a breakthrough, the first successful operation in the surgical practice of the USSR to implant an intraocular lens to correct aphakia after removal of a cloudy lens. Fedorov is installing the lens on three more patients. Creates a lens model with more elastic arms.

The branch director proudly reports this at a meeting of the regional party committee. The regional committee secretary orders an article. A note appears in the local newspaper about “the creative collaboration of a young scientist and a skilled craftsman.” Pravda reprinted excerpts from it.

And there was a noise. The chief ophthalmologist of the USSR expressed his negative opinion to the rector of the Moscow Institute. Helmholtz, he called the director of the Cheboksary branch. It was forbidden to operate.

The Board of the All-Russian Society of Ophthalmologists convened a meeting and warned colleagues against the production and use of such lenses.

The disgraced surgeon was sent to Yakutia, but he refused because of his leg. Then the “link” was replaced with Tajikistan. During this month, experimental rabbits with precious artificial lenses in their eyes were starved to death, and the director of the branch published incorrect data from observations of operated patients: their diopters were measured immediately after being in the dark, which sharply reduces visual acuity.

Fedorov did not give up. He sent letters and petitions to the authorities, proved, convinced. In a difficult moment, a letter arrived from Kuibyshev from Professor T.I. Eroshevsky: “I believe that you should persistently continue your research with artificial lenses. It is wonderful that you managed to resolve the technology of the process in the conditions of your city and perform the operation on animals and humans. Now the priority is yours, and for us, Soviet ophthalmologists, this is important, since surgery with artificial lenses is still a monopoly of the West...” Eroshevsky will continue to support the innovator more than once.

Fedorov is being sand-fed in the party bureau, he is being obstructed by his colleagues. It was as if they had been waiting for his resignation from the research institute. Fedorov goes to the USSR Ministry of Health - he wants to continue his research somewhere. It took a long time to come to a decision.

And Svyatoslav Nikolaevich asked for a meeting with Izvestia journalist Anatoly Agranovsky, who then described his first impression of Fedorov: “He was a young man, broad-shouldered, energetic, impeccably dressed, and it was immediately obvious that he was smart. His face expressed will and calm self-confidence.” He liked Fedorov for his optimism, independence and directness of judgment. I remember the manner of looking your interlocutor straight in the eyes. And A. Agranovsky’s wife spoke about him like this: “Intellectual... Impudent... But the world rests on such people. When they are gone, civilization will die.”

“It’s a lie that there are many Fedorovs. This is a bad formula, that “there are no irreplaceable people,” Agranovsky wrote in the outline of the essay. Their meeting marked the beginning of a long-term friendship.

After a long conversation, Agranovsky called the Deputy Minister of Health. Fedorov was heard at the academic council and decided that the topic should be developed. An order was issued for reinstatement with payment for 20 days of forced absence. The directors of the research institute were obliged to create all conditions for work.

But in Cheboksary they did not welcome him with open arms. There were no rabbits, no laboratory, much less money.

“Will I really achieve the opportunity to work by the time I can no longer work? Will I really be able to implement my ideas when they become outdated?” — he wrote bitterly to Agranovsky.

Fedorov submits documents for a competition to head the department of eye diseases at the same time at the Vladivostok and Arkhangelsk medical institutes. In the end, Arkhangelsk was chosen because Leningrad is not far away, and the production of high-quality lenses requires a technological base.

The family had practically broken up by that time.

Fedorov later told journalist Evgenia Albats: “Somehow it turned out that I completely lack animal fear. When I was a kid, I wasn’t afraid of drowning, I wasn’t afraid that they would punch me in the face, that they would kill me in a dark corner... And then there were many different situations... I remember when in Cheboksary they took me by the throat, drove me into a corner - I didn’t sleep at night, I thought: Why am I suffering so much, suffering so much? There is a head, there are also arms, one leg is also there after all - that’s enough! In the morning I went, wrote a letter of resignation, immediately packed my things, threw two suitcases into the car and - go ahead! He was driving, stuck his head out the window and yelled like crazy: “I’m free! I am free!"

A new life begins. “Cheboksary has lost Fedorov,” Anatoly Agranovsky will write a few years later, in 1965, in his first essay about Svyatoslav Nikolaevich, “The Discovery of Doctor Fedorov.” And - “In 1960, Arkhangelsk got Fedorov.”

Arkhangelsk

So, in 1961, S. N. Fedorov headed the Department of Eye Diseases at the Arkhangelsk Medical Institute. He’s 33—“the age of Christ,” he jokes.

He was received wonderfully. Fedorov's lectures are popular among students.

Svyatoslav Nikolaevich organizes a student group. At first, the students poured out in droves. But in the end, only the most persistent and enthusiastic guys remained - Albina Kolinko, Lena Antonova, Yura Anisimov, Valera Zakharov, Tanya Kopylova and Valya Zolotilova. Later they would become famous ophthalmologists. The leader asked them strictly, did not allow them to relax, and demanded scientific research.

Club members operated on rabbits, studied vascular permeability, developed technology for making lenses, methods for their sterilization, and studied histology, histochemistry, and color photography.

Svyatoslav writes to A. Agranovsky: “...It is difficult with a vivarium that does not exist, it is difficult with the release of funds for the manufacture of instruments for lenses. But there is a team that can be directed towards one goal, there are more opportunities for struggle, there is independence.”

The creation of a laboratory for vision testing and eye examinations began. In Leningrad, Fedorov obtained A.I. Gorban’s installation for measuring the length of the eye using X-rays.

Fedorov began producing and implanting lenses. But the operations gave a negative result.

It became clear that the Danheim lens model was structurally imperfect. The Binkhrost lens seemed more promising. Fedorov began corresponding with Binkhrost, and he sent him the lens directly in an envelope with a reservation about its imperfection.

Svyatoslav Fedorov began to develop the technology of a new lens.

He was gladly helped by other experts in his field, the volunteers to whom he turns. People caught fire with his ideas.

Svyatoslav Nikolayevich involved watchmaker Viktor Smirnov in the work - he carved a new lens and made a miniature press for bending the arms. But you need the appropriate drills. Former theater artist Boris Mikhailovich Ventsenostsev undertook to sharpen microscopic drills, but they got stuck in soft plastic.

Fedorov was told that in Leningrad at the watch factory there was an excellent mechanic, Nikolai Vasilyevich Lebedev. And at the request of Svyatoslav Nikolaevich, he actually made a machine, “an instrument of remarkable precision for drilling lenses.”

The most difficult thing remained - to find a magician who could make accurate molds for the manufacture of optical lenses. At the plant they remembered a foreman named Karan, who once worked here and lives in the basement on Vasilyevsky Island. The doctor searched all the basements until he decided to go to the address desk. There were four people with that last name in Leningrad. Finally, at the fourth address the right person was found, Alexander Modestovich Karan, “an academician in his field.” Proud to be remembered and appreciated, the old man worked the molds to perfection, doing the last polishing with silk. The lenses turned out clean and transparent. Karan was assigned to the clinic as a mechanic.

Physicists E. Kuvshinsky and S. Zakharov made instruments to determine the mechanical properties of the eye - elasticity, extensibility, strength. Optician A. Nizhin helped mold the lenses.

For Fedorov, on a voluntary basis, Leningrad chemists I. Arbuzova, L. Medvedeva and others synthesized hydrophilic plastic: only the 118th experiment produced working plastic.

Valery Zakharov became so skilled at soldering, drilling and stamping that he is called an “ophthalmologist”. He also made an original model of a clip lens, which can be easily inserted into the eye. Surgeon Vitaly Yakovlevich Bedilo not only mastered the surgical technique, but also invented several new instruments.

Even the sick are happy to help the holy cause! Watchmaker Viktor Smirnov spends his evenings in his workshop, an engineer from the Urals has set up a darkroom, a student from Gorky does optical calculations.

Svyatoslav Nikolaevich is struggling to create a new model of the lens, different from the old one in the type of fixation. The Binkhorst model is difficult to insert into the eye and requires a large incision.

Particular difficulties arose with attaching the arms. It was necessary to drill the edge of the lens along the chord with a drill.

The order for a new model was accepted in March 1963 by the All-Russian Research Institute of Surgical Instruments and Equipment in Leningrad, but nothing was done in 9 months.

Help again came from enthusiasts.

Fedorov came to the Leningrad Watch Factory with a request to help drill a 100-micron channel in a new lens model. The watchmakers began to think together about the task. And after 2 weeks they wrote that the device and drills were ready.

The arms were replaced with antennas. But the lens held weakly in the rabbit's eye. Then they decided not to replace all six arches, but only three. Special supports for fixation behind the iris (arches) and in front (antennas) made the position of the lens in the eye more stable.

At that time, the fame of microminiature masters Syadristy and Sysolyatin thundered in Arkhangelsk. Svyatoslav Nikolaevich turned to them for help. Both responded and helped make the necessary instruments, real works of art.

Thus, together, the whole world, under the guidance of the Master, brought out and nurtured a new type of lens, “Iris-clip lenses”. Previously, the lens was held using the angle of the anterior chamber of the eye; now it is held on the iris thanks to two cross-shaped loops.

Thus was born the prototype of an intraocular lens (IOL) patented in many countries, called the “Sputnik” lens by American ophthalmologists. The Sputnik IOL is 40 times lighter than the natural lens and has 40% better optical properties. Svyatoslav Nikolaevich and Valery Zakharov made it from especially pure polymethyl methacrylate, from which they later began to make artificial heart and joint valves. The Sputnik IOL model became the standard design throughout the world and remained so for more than a quarter of a century.

Later, Albina Kolinko, married to Ivashina, a candidate of sciences, would derive a mathematical dependence of lens power on eye parameters, thanks to which tables and graphs were compiled, with the help of which lenses were selected individually for each patient. Previously, they first removed the cataract, then selected a lens, waited for healing and cut it again to insert an artificial lens, now all this began to take half an hour. For the development of optical problems of the new operation, A. Ivashina will receive the Lenin Komsomol Prize.

Lenses on the stream

In 1963, Fedorov began implanting artificial lenses. From 1963 to 1967, Fedorov and his team implanted three types of lenses of a new model. He established his own semi-handicraft production. The lenses were made using an electric stove: a mold filled with plastic was heated, pressed using a micro-vice, and cooled with a fan. Then the mold was pulled apart with special tools, sawed through, and so on.

Apart from Fedorov, artificial lenses were produced only by a small Dutch workshop and the English company Rainer.

The circle of like-minded people worked harmoniously, according to a strict schedule: until 4 o'clock in the evening they studied at the institute, until half past six - at home, by 7 they gathered again, made lenses, looked at patients, prescribed operations, prepared instruments, operated on rabbits.

In Svyatoslav Nikolaevich’s office there was a lathe on which parts for tools and sandpaper were turned. Special surgical needles were made.

Everyone became a bit of a chemist, optician, engineer, installer.

The laboratory served as a former toilet - a three-meter room. Then they reclaimed part of the veranda, where they placed a darkroom.

Thus, a clinic for artificial lens implantation was gradually formed. Patients flocked to Arkhangelsk from all cities of the Soviet Union.

Former patients with implanted lenses who were able to see write to the brave surgeon. Even more letters are from people who are waiting for this operation. To provide assistance to everyone, there are not enough beds, equipment, instruments and doctors.

In 1962 S.N. Fedorov was the first in the world to perform an ophthalmic operation under a microscope. He operated, covering the microscope with books so that it would not fall on the patient. Since 1964, Svyatoslav Nikolaevich began systematically performing operations under a microscope - IOL implantation, corneal transplantation, and operations for glaucoma. These were the first microsurgical operations in our country and the first step towards a scientific and technological revolution in ophthalmology.

With a magnification of 12-16 times, it is possible to examine the small vessels of the eye, particles of 20-30 microns. The microscope has opened up new opportunities for ophthalmologists to perform optical reconstructive operations.

At first, many colleagues were distrustful of this innovation. But soon ophthalmic operations became unthinkable without a microscope.

New operations in ophthalmology also required changes in medical equipment. Valery Zakharov improved the operating table. He made horseshoe-shaped tables above the patient's head. It became more convenient to operate; a good support for the surgeon’s hands was created. But the tables were too high. Then Valery, having mobilized the recovering patients, pulled out one table and set up an instrumental table, sawing off the legs to the required height and attaching a horseshoe-shaped attachment to the head.

In the morning, all the eye surgeons scolded the student. Only Svyatoslav Nikolaevich praised: “That’s right, we’ll operate while sitting. Not a single watchmaker would think of repairing a watch while standing, but we operate on the eyes while standing.” Gradually we got used to the new table.

We also worked on the problem of retinal detachment. In Moscow, a new liquid plastic was obtained, which Svyatoslav Nikolaevich became interested in. In 1963, chemists T. Krasovskaya and L. Sobolevskaya from the Moscow Institute of Organosilicon Compounds synthesized polymethylsiloxane, a liquid silicon-based polymer, for it. Liquid silicone plastic was successfully injected into the vitreous cavity of rabbits. After that, they performed several operations on patients with severe retinal detachments, introducing plastic liquid “fillings” into the eyes. The detachments fell into place. This technology is now widely used in the treatment of retinal detachments.

The circle also worked on the development of technology for manufacturing keratoprostheses. The equipment was created, the first samples were made. Experimental operations to change the cornea were performed.

But he wants to do more. From letters to A. Agranovsky: “10 days ago we performed 3 operations on patients with severe, almost hopeless retinal detachments... On Thursday we will operate on cataracts for the first time and at the same time insert an artificial lens into the eye. Previously, we always performed the operation in two stages... Letters are overwhelming. They brought me about 500 of them upon arrival, and now 30-40 arrive every day... There are even telegrams. After all, people are waiting, hoping... Time flies like crazy. That's how life flies by. A "time machine" is necessary. Shake your hand. Fedorov."

The more popular Fedorov becomes, the more dissatisfied his fellow ophthalmologists show. A central newspaper published an article by the country's chief ophthalmologist criticizing “attempts to insert artificial lenses into the eye,” which “... pose more dangers than benefits,” because they are a foreign body.

Svyatoslav Nikolaevich called patients for operations primarily from those areas where he was not recognized. When the patients returned home, local doctors could no longer dismiss Fedorov’s methods.

In April 1965, Izvestia published an essay by A. Agranovsky, “The Discovery of Doctor Fedorov.” Journalistic ethics and responsibility did not allow him to write about him earlier, without long-term results. Time has shown that Fedorov was right. Agranovsky describes the struggle of an innovator with scientific bureaucrats, his searches and successes.

“You dropped a powerful bomb. Thanks for the help! " - thanks Svyatoslav Nikolaevich. “The fight is just beginning,” was the answer.

The publication had an effect. In those days, the press was listened to. Soon, the Ministry of Health issued an order to organize an experimental research laboratory for artificial lenses in Arkhangelsk and ordered the “Bulletin of Ophthalmology” to publish Fedorov’s articles. The ministry's official response to the editorial office stated that it had "taken note of criticism regarding a certain tendency towards monopolism in this field of science."

A Ministry of Health commission headed by professors from Odessa Gundorova and Bushmich came to Arkhangelsk to personally verify the veracity of the publication. They were delighted. But having received a command from the director of the Helmholtz Institute, Trutneva, at a meeting of the academic council they gave a negative conclusion. Only thanks to the intervention of Agranovsky, who by chance was vacationing in Karlovy Vary with the Deputy Chairman of the Academic Council, Professor Gennady Konstantinovich Ushakov, the work was not closed.

New scientific direction

In 1966, Svyatoslav Nikolaevich went to London to attend a symposium of the international society on implantation. By that time, he had accumulated the wealth of experience: he had performed about one hundred and eighty operations. Fedorov managed not only to come up with a method of operation and a model of artificial lenses, but also to organize their production. It took a lot of effort back then. Only thanks to this titanic work, thousands of Soviet citizens had the opportunity to be treated in accordance with the most modern technologies, which the Western world had not yet had time to adopt.

The report created a sensation. Svyatoslav Fedorov became the leading surgeon of the International Club of Implantologists.

The symposium recorded the emergence of a new scientific direction. Ophthalmology became a precise technological specialty that included lens manufacturing, eye calculations, and microscopic techniques.

Now it is necessary not only to prove that eye microsurgery is a leading branch of ophthalmology, but also to support this with documentation. Fedorov is working on his dissertation.

The symbiosis of chemistry, optics and ophthalmology bore its first fruits. The 256th implanted lens was not simple, but hydrophilic, soft, and elastic. The calculations were justified, the eye perceived the lens calmly.

At the end of the 60s, rumors about a doctor from Arkhangelsk who restored sight to hopelessly ill people spread throughout the country and began to penetrate abroad. But how could a doctor with a small team in a small hospital with overcrowded wards help them? Patients complained about unacceptable conditions in the clinic and cold. The roads in Arkhangelsk have wooden surfaces; in spring and autumn they were flooded with water, the boards floated up and flew out, and you couldn’t pass them by car.

Fedorov dreams of his own institute, with the best equipment in the world, unique operations, where people from all over the world will come for treatment and study.

In 1965, the Deputy Minister of Health came to Arkhangelsk to deal with complaints. It was decided to move the laboratory to Moscow and provide a clinic with the latest equipment.

However, the wait was prolonged. Fedorov did not sit idly by, but agreed with the director of the clinic in Kyiv, Professor Plytas, who was about to retire, to become his successor. But chance intervened, and another doctor took this place. In Moscow, Fedorov was supported by Minister Boris Vasilyevich Petrovsky.

Long farewells mean extra tears

In 1967, after the next ministerial commission arrived in Arkhangelsk, Svyatoslav Nikolaevich was summoned to Moscow. In the capital, he received an order to be transferred to Moscow. They allowed us to take a few more people and some tools with us.

When Fedorov finally had the transfer order in his hands, he came to the rector of the institute to say goodbye. “Are you going to the capital for fame? — one could hear sarcasm in the rector’s voice. “Stay, we’ll create conditions for you.”

But Fedorov could not afford to wait, forcing patients to wait for years. The situation repeated itself.

And in Arkhangelsk they did not want to lose a doctor who had brought enormous fame to the institute. The matter was not limited only to persuasion and reproaches for desertion.

The regional party committee forbade Svyatoslav Nikolaevich to leave and forbade issuing them work books.

Leaving felt like escaping. Anticipating difficulties, Fedorov decided not to hesitate and called Zakharov: “I think we won’t be able to leave by train tomorrow. We urgently need to hand over our tickets and fly by plane.” Having given other people's names (Fyodorov was flying under the name Nikolaenko), we bought tickets for the first morning flight. And at the station in Arkhangelsk that morning they were actually waiting for them.

The work records were then requested through the prosecutor.

Capital

From 1967 to 1974, S. N. Fedorov was the head of the department of eye diseases at the Moscow Medical Dental Institute (MMDI), located at the Helmholtz Research Institute. At the department, Fedorov creates a problem laboratory in ophthalmology. The laboratory was located in two tiny rooms.

There was no room for an institute. The Moscow city health department held the defense.

Svyatoslav Nikolaevich collects papers and sneaks behind the tightly locked office doors. Raises funds, knocks out equipment. Proves that it is high time to turn medicine into an industry. That the time of artisans has sunk into the past.

Fedorov writes to his friend and colleague A. Gorban: “Moscow is taking me with hostility, this is natural, I’m afraid for the clinic, equipment, staff, etc. Everything is going slowly, we have to literally beat out every little thing... I managed to agree on payment for domestic equipment at 15-20 thousand (already issued bills for 3.5 thousand), imported equipment for 7-8 thousand. I agreed with a watch factory for help and found an excellent die mechanic there. It may be possible to obtain equipment for a film laboratory; they promise to provide 3 typewriters.

Today I received tools from France, but the Swiss company refused delivery. I’m thinking of going to the Swiss ambassador and persuading him. They make too good tools there... The City Health Department is dragging its feet with the base, probably due to some outside influence. The “fathers” are probably afraid that as soon as I have a base and patients start leaving our “conveyor belt”, they will have to make room for a lot of space... The Institute of Reconstructive Surgery will still exist! We just need to start operating as soon as possible.”

50th Hospital

In the early 70s, the premises were finally allocated - a department with 60 beds in city hospital No. 50 on the basis of MMSI. The department and laboratory were transferred there.

Next to him are the faithful Valery Zakharov, Albina Kolinko, Alexander Ivashin. He continues to assemble a team. Graduates of graduate schools and medical institutes come to him - E. Zakharova, I. Yartseva, E. Egorova, Z. Moroz, T. Grigoryants, V. Kopaeva and others. He did not promise mountains of gold and, on the contrary, warned that they would work for five kopecks, that they would have to fight for all their “want”. And they remained, fascinated by his ideas, energy and enthusiasm.

Refurbishment of premises for a clinic has begun.

“I’m having a fight, as always,” Fedorov writes to A. Gorban. - “I’m rushing into the clouds, but there are many who want to pull on the coattails. I'm tired of repairs; I have no time to operate on patients. I sit on the phone for half a day and knock out linoleum, moldings, and ceramics. I knocked out 5 scientific staff positions; a resolution of the Science Committee should be signed in a few days. They promise another 5-7 bets in the new year. I don’t know where I’ll place new personnel. He took over an entire room for new equipment. I went for days to receive 4 parcels from the imperialist powers. Great, devils make tools! Fairy tale! Come, I'll show you. Surgical tweezers have tips that are not visible to the naked eye. I received an operating microscope from Germany, and I enjoy the operations. The pleasure is greater than from Hemingway or Raikin..."

A vivarium was located in the transformer substation, and milling and turning machines were installed for making lenses. A laboratory was placed in a converted toilet. In a fruit and vegetable store, Fedorov knocked out a small room in the district executive committee for a histological laboratory.

In the same year, Svyatoslav Nikolaevich defended his dissertation on the topic “Correction of unilateral aphasia with intraocular lenses.” She refuted the established dogmas of ophthalmological science that artificial lenses have ceased to be implanted almost throughout the world due to alleged complications. T.I. Eroshevsky persuaded him to remove the heated controversy, because the facts are already quite eloquent. It worked. Opponents praised him “like at a funeral.” Approval by the Higher Attestation Commission was still pending. The work was sent for conclusion to none other than Professor Dmitriev in Krasnoyarsk, a long-time opponent of the method of implanting artificial lenses, expecting, naturally, a negative conclusion. For six months, the professor thought through the review, objective, but careful not to make enemies: he did not share the idea of ​​the dissertation, but since the applicant had well developed the problem in the experiment and had fully mastered the technology of making lenses, he earned the title of Doctor of Science. This sounded bold, since Fedorov was still not held in high esteem in the capital.

Hospital No. 81

In 1970, the clinic of Professor S. N. Fedorov moved to Moscow hospital No. 81. Here they are allocated 4 floors.

With the new surgical technique, when the sizes became smaller, patients were discharged not after 3 weeks, but after a week. And it turned out that you couldn’t let all the patients through one operating room with two tables. Contrary to the ban, Fedorov removed 20 beds and added two operating tables. The clinic began to treat 3,100 people per year instead of 1,600.

“It has been calculated,” wrote Deputy Minister of Health of the RSFSR A.V. Sergeev, “that by doubling capacity, the clinic saves the state about 150 thousand rubles... 30% of cured patients become fully able to work... Each of them produces products worth approximately 5 thousand rubles , and in total they will give the state 2.5 million rubles. Thus, the intensification of work in a hospital brings enormous economic benefits to the state (they don’t even talk about the most important thing - that the patients of this clinic have improved or restored their vision).”

Experiments are being conducted to study the biological properties of preserved and non-preserved corneas. The experimenters were interested in the viability of all parts of the cornea, but most of all, the inner layer. The ability of cells to maintain tissue respiration was studied. Experiments have shown that a few hours after the death of the donor, the activity of oxidative enzymes decreases, and after two days the cells’ ability to perform aerobic respiration is lost. Cells die. This served as the basis for the use of non-preserved cadaveric cornea. Using fresh cornea, it is possible to perform a transplant for cataracts that were previously considered inoperable. For the first time in our country, Fedorov used non-preserved donor cornea for penetrating keratoplasty and improved the corresponding surgical technique, which made it possible to improve results even in that group of patients who were previously considered inoperable.

At the same time, the hospital is conducting research in the field of keratoprosthesis. In case of severe burn lesions and corneal dystrophy, keratoplasty is often ineffective. The institute managed to develop a keratoprosthesis. This is a thin support plate with window-type holes - an ocular prosthesis that is inserted into the cornea. The Fedorov-Zuev keratoprosthesis received an author's certificate. It is patented in many countries: the USA, Germany, England, Italy. The advantage of the model is its low weight. Relatively large holes facilitate rapid implantation of the plate into the cornea. Removable optics allows the model to be implanted in two stages, which reduces both surgical trauma and the number of rejections. You can quickly remove the retoprosthetic film that sometimes builds up on the optical part of the cylinder. The clinic operated on many patients who were considered hopeless due to chemical burns or severe degeneration of the cornea.

They began to use the method of indirect binocular ophthalmoscopy in the treatment of retinal detachment, which shortened the treatment period and made it possible to detect and localize retinal breaks directly on the operating table.

Fedorov opens his own clinic, with the latest equipment, but without doctors on staff. The patient will be examined by a doctor from the hospital and will be admitted to his ward for surgery. The same doctor nurses the patient and examines him in a month, six months. There is no duplication or dispersion of forces, and the surgeon’s responsibility increases. He can observe the disease over time.

But the doctor may get sick and go on vacation. And Fedorov introduces a team method into the work of the clinic. The team divided into teams of 3-4 people and assigned them their chambers. Everyone has their own clinic day. Led by associate professors and candidates of science. The professor is involved in doubtful cases. At the end of the month, the performance indicators of the teams were compared publicly, at meetings, and posted on stands. All teams are equal, and the team of the “chief” himself is no exception. If a team performs poorly, it is disbanded and another leader is appointed.

The team method raises the professional level of doctors themselves. If on average in the country 12-13 patients were cured per year, then Fedorov’s clinic “saw the light” on 35 patients. The number of complications during operations has also decreased. “There is nothing surprising in this,” said Fedorov, “after all, when you do a lot of operations, you certainly become a good surgeon. Our young guys, literally a year or two after graduating from college, are already considered qualified specialists: they can implant a lens or perform surgery for myopia.” Fedorov was convinced that the sooner the burden of responsibility is placed on a young doctor, the faster he will develop as a specialist and as a person, the more hope there is that he will become a doctor of a new generation, a scientist with an open view of the problems of medicine.

In 1971, Fedorov proposed to the chairman of the All-Union Society of the Blind the paradoxical idea of ​​ophthalmological medical examination. Residents, graduate students, and doctors went to the factories where members of the society worked and examined several thousand people. 842 people were selected for clinical examination, and 493 were scheduled for surgery. 182 managed to restore vision from 0.1 to 0.7 diopters. A 42-year-old blind man left the clinic without a guide. The woman saw her children after surgery 17 years later. People in the wards learned to read not with their fingers using the Braille method, but using an alphabet book.

For his success in the field of health care, he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor.

Revolutionary techniques

S. N. Fedorov was one of the first to introduce laser into ophthalmology.

He opened the country's first laser surgery department, which was later transformed into the Laser Surgery Center.

Under his leadership, several generations of domestic infrared lasers for refractive surgery were developed, which made it possible to dose the thermal energy pulse in terms of power, time and depth of exposure.

In the field of laser surgery, Fedorov proposed a new method for treating secondary cataracts and glaucoma. He proposed treating retinal vein thrombosis using the method of occlusion (blockage) of arterial trunks, which improved vision in 60-65% of patients with chronic thrombosis.

Developed a new method for treating diabetic retinopathy using the combined effects of low temperatures and laser coagulation. In special cases, he practiced a combination of laser coagulation and vitrectomy. In this way, it was possible to help hundreds of patients with hemophthalmia and diabetic retinopathy.

Previously, patients with vitreous hemorrhages, inflammatory and degenerative opacities were considered hopeless. Fedorov designed an original device - a special Vitreoton device, which allows you to replace the vitreous body. If you remove it and replace it with a buffer liquid, the inflammatory process in the vascular tract stops. The device allows you to achieve tangible results in the treatment of vitreous opacities due to trauma, inflammatory processes, and hemorrhages. With the help of vitreoton, it became possible to remove dislocated and subluxated lenses with minimal complications. A conventional operation required complex surgical techniques.

Vitreoton allowed us to solve the problem of cataracts in a new way. A method of lensectomy, mechanical destruction of the lens, using the Lensvitreotom device was developed and introduced. The cataract was removed through the pars plana of the ciliary body. The incision is small, which means the injury is minimal, and, as a result, rehabilitation occurs faster.

For patients with severe hemophthalmia, vitreoretinal destruction, retinal detachment, who were previously considered inoperable and were doomed to blindness, the developed original methods of endovitreal surgery began to be used: vitrectomy in combination with endolaser coagulation and the introduction of perfluoroorganic compounds into the vitreous cavity.

To correct a high degree of myopia, for the first time in the world, operations were developed to implant negative soft collagen and silicone lenses onto the natural lens, as well as to remove the natural lens.

In 1974, Fedorov proposed a new, vascular, theory of the origin and development of primary open-angle glaucoma. On the basis of which he and his students managed to significantly change the methods and tactics of early diagnosis and treatment of this pathology. As a result of the research, a new tactic for surgical treatment of this disease in the early stages was developed. For this purpose, fundamentally new operations were proposed - vasoreconstructive and laser operations, non-penetrating deep sclerectomy. It represents the creation of a biological pump inside the eye. The operation takes only 10 minutes, and its reliability is 98-99%.

To correct hypermetropia, a fundamentally new method of thermokeratoplasty was developed, and subsequently laser keratoplasty.

Before Fedorov, no one had undertaken to treat optic nerve atrophy.

He developed a set of surgical methods to prevent the progression of myopia - scleroplasty, collagenoplasty, vasoreconstructive surgery. Using original surgical instruments, he successfully operates on astigmatism and farsightedness.

Operation Sunshine

Work is underway in all areas of surgery: myopia, farsightedness, astigmatism, glaucoma, cataracts, retinal detachment and much more. In a short period of time, the team has developed and implemented a huge number of treatment methods and operations that have not been used anywhere in the world.

The name of Professor Fedorov is associated with a new unique direction in ophthalmology - refractive surgery.

Moscow ophthalmologists still treat him with distrust. “In Moscow, the attitude towards me is cold,” writes Fedorov to A. Gorban, “they pinch me from time to time. This is good: it promotes the release of adrenaline into the blood. I’m in a fighting mood, I want to bite.”

But confidence was already growing that the blockade would be broken.

A young American ophthalmologist, Michael Gaylin, arrived at the clinic. When he saw the IOL implantation operation, he exclaimed: “A completely new approach to microsurgery! Your own lenses, your own devices, your own methods. This should be taken seriously." Geilin did not leave the operating room, worked almost without breaks, and bombarded Svyatoslav Nikolaevich with questions.

A year later, Fedorov visited America. He was struck by the pace of work of American ophthalmologists. There he performed about a hundred operations to correct myopia using a technique developed by Colombian surgeon Jose Barraquer. But they did not give the desired effect.

Keratotomy (“kerato” - cornea) is an operation in which the surgeon makes non-through radial incisions on the cornea. The radius of its curvature changes, it becomes flatter, the shape of the eyeball changes, and myopia decreases.

Having returned, Svyatoslav Nikolaevich told everything he saw to the employees. Having compared all the results, the clinic decided to incise the cornea not from the inside, but from the outer, front surface, outside the central zone of the eye. Such operations turned out to be safe for the eye and significantly reduced myopia. Fedorov, his students and collaborators began to cut the cornea much deeper and closer to the optical axis of the eye. This requires precise calculations, and a computer center was brought in to help the doctor. Many parameters are stored in the computer’s memory, starting with the patient’s age and ending with the thickness of the cornea of ​​the eye. The machine determines how many notches need to be made - depending on the degree of the disease, there can be 8, 10, 12, 14, 16 - and what depth should be.

Simple surgical instruments were not suitable for such thin incisions. If earlier the error during an operation was 200 microns, now it is 20. Blades with a radius of curvature of no more than 20 angstroms or less are needed. And the doctors of Fedorov’s team first used a guitar string, and then ordinary Neva blades, prepared in a special way.

In the West, keratotomy began to be called “Russian”, and Fedorov’s people began to call it “Sun”: if you look at the eye after surgery through a slit lamp, in the middle you can see a small circle with diverging rays.

We teach the world

In the essay “10 Years Later,” A. Agranovsky wrote: “...He was entrusted with representing Soviet science in England, Holland, Vietnam, Hungary, the USA, he performed several operations at the Mayflower Hospital in New York, he took his own lenses, and By the way, our craftsmen managed to make tiny inscriptions on them. When American doctors examine the blind people to whom he restored their sight, they will read inside the eye, along the edge of the lens: “Made in the USSR.”

Fedorov and his students generously shared their knowledge and skills with their colleagues. For four years, Svyatoslav Nikolaevich went through the authorities, seeking permission to study for foreigners. Finally, having received permission, Fedorov began teaching courses.

Associate Professor Tost from the GDR, Professor Schmidt from the Federal Republic of Germany, Professor Forsius from Finland, the chief ophthalmologist of Cuba Palae, the chief ophthalmologist of Bulgaria Dybov, Professor Alpar from the USA and other leading specialists come for month-long internships.

He was reproached: how can Soviet doctors teach foreigners for foreign currency! And funds are needed for the purchase of equipment, medicines, construction of new areas, and development of ophthalmology. Part of the funds received from training foreign specialists remains at the institute. Good equipment and tools mean people's health, and therefore income for the state.

Construction of the century

In 1974, the problem laboratory became the Moscow Research Laboratory of Experimental and Clinical Eye Surgery (MRILEKKhG) of the Ministry of Health of the RSFSR and received the status of an independent scientific institution.

For her, by order of the Government of the RSFSR, a republican hospital with a whole complex of buildings began to be built in the north of Moscow, on Beskudnikovsky Boulevard.

The All-Russian Society of the Blind allocated several million rubles.

A concrete mixing shop was located at the construction site. But soon, thanks to the persistence of Svyatoslav Nikolaevich, the site was cleared.

Everything was thought out in this diagnostic and treatment complex with a total area of ​​26 thousand square meters. meters, with a children's department, an operating block with 14 operating rooms, a scientific building, a vivarium, an experimental operating room, a film and photo laboratory, and a conference hall with 300 seats. A clinic, premises for production, and a building for after-care will be built nearby. The patient will not have to run to other clinics, because he will be provided with a full range of services.

“The most important joy is the start of construction. Every day I drive and admire the slab board fence. It looks, of course, terrible, but it’s still nice that something has already moved forward. Apparently, it will take four years for construction, and maybe more, but in a real clinic, although there is a shortage of space, you can still work effectively, and therefore the wait is not so hard,” Fedorov wrote to T. I. Eroshevsky .

Svyatoslav Nikolaevich was aware of all events. He knew how many bricks were delivered and knocked out the required building material. He offered the directors a mutually beneficial exchange: in exchange for construction materials and blade workers, he treated the company’s employees. Or he interested directors by providing custom-made ophthalmological equipment, which they then sold together abroad.

“I always walk like a tank: I’ll turn the gun back and across the lawns,” he said about himself.

I went to the construction site every day. I loved bringing guests here. One day, in front of the amazed eyes of Anatoly Agranovsky, he personally caught up and stopped a thief who wanted to take away a new door.

Sputnik gains altitude

The fight against Fedorov's methods has noticeably weakened. As IOL surgery was finally recognized in the United States, a society of artificial lens surgeons emerged. For some reason, ideas brought to life by our enthusiasts are accepted with aggression in our country, until someone abroad says: “That was really great.” Fedorov called this state of affairs “slavery of thought” and fought against it all his life. He inspired his employees: “You are not slaves. Stop the slave mentality!

In 1975, the method was officially legalized.

Anatoly Agranovsky writes a second essay about Fedorov, “10 years later.” “My hero was no longer a lone inventor. But every step was given to him by such hard work, such incredible tension, that, looking around this path, I am amazed today how he could complete it to the end.”

Svyatoslav Fedorov is introducing a new technology for cataract removal - phacoemulsification. Subsequently, this contributed to the development of small incision surgery and the development of a new generation of intraocular artificial optical lenses with elasticity and shape memory, which can be inserted into the eye through a small incision in a folded state using special injectors.

The development of various models of posterior chamber lenses begins, which are installed in the posterior chamber - the space between the iris and the capsule of the removed lens. The design of posterior chamber lenses, which are mounted in the capsule, is especially successful: they do not come into contact with the iris, so recovery after their installation occurs faster. Studies have shown that immature cataracts should be operated on when the capsule is still strong, then lens implantation gives the best results.

In 1976, Fedorov organized a production facility where a unique technology for large-scale production of intraocular lenses was developed.

The Fedorov-Zakharov Sputnik lens model was awarded a diploma and a bronze medal at the World Exhibition of Inventions in Geneva. And in Bratislava he will receive a gold medal.

A new lens design has been created with three rear loops.

Implantation of an artificial lens costs the state 90 rubles, and surgery using the old method costs 200.

At the end of the seventies, the production of lenses was put on stream. Each installer makes three to four lenses a day. It turns out about 300 pieces per day, 9 thousand per year. They are produced not only for Fedorov’s clinic, but even for export.

Based on the Sputnik model, dozens of others began to be manufactured. The clinic's surgeons develop new models, look for fresh solutions, invent, obtain patents, and sell licenses abroad.

Svyatoslav Nikolaevich sought to develop his own tools and consumables, domestic, but at the world level.

Until the thing was brought to perfection, there could be no talk of vacation. Products manufactured by experimental technical production have a series of trademarks. All inventions made by Fedorov and his team have patents and copyright certificates. They were a young team, but they already included experienced surgeons, scientists, engineers, and technicians.

The Neva blade, which was used to make keratotomy incisions, gradually became obsolete, and was replaced by diamond knives and lasers.

At each operative, Fedorov said: “We have developed a unique thing! We need to implement it and replicate it.”

They produced collagen films, drainages used for healing postoperative scars, diamond and ruby ​​knives. A little later, the lens itself began to be made from collagen.

The biconvex lens, the Sputnik lens, was always in Svyatoslav Nikolaevich’s pocket, and he used this miracle in every case, raising funds for new equipment, for the construction of an institute, for the implementation of his ideas.

Many of Svyatoslav Fedorov’s plans seemed unrealistic, fantastic, and when he shared them at meetings with his employees, many were skeptical about them. But time passed, and Fedorov’s dreams took shape right before his eyes.

New technological techniques used in eye surgery radically changed the entire process of a surgeon’s work. The emergence of new apparatus and equipment required the development and application of new approaches to sterilization. It was necessary to change the entire operating unit, starting with the climate, to eliminate the possibility of dust in the air and fogging of the microscope eyepieces.

In a word, we need a modern institute where we can provide treatment, engage in scientific work, and produce equipment.

There will be an institute!

In the summer of 1978, the Minister of Health of the RSFSR V.V. Trofimov invited Fedorov to head the joint Helmholtz Institute of Eye Diseases and the laboratory. Svyatoslav Nikolaevich refused.

In October 1979, he was invited to the Kremlin. Syrian President Hafez al-Assad wants to meet him. They are going to the clinic. The next day, the President of Syria spoke about his impressions to the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR A. N. Kosygin. He asked the Minister of Health B.V. Petrovsky to provide detailed information about the clinic. Petrovsky visited the complex under construction on Beskudnikovsky Boulevard. He was especially impressed by the new operating room: 16 halls, 32 operating tables.

After the tour, everyone gathered in Fedorov’s office in hospital No. 81. The operation was shown on the monitor. Valery Dmitrievich Zakharov began to operate. Suddenly the minister quickly stood up: “What is he doing?!” “Implants an artificial lens...” - "How so? After all, five minutes have passed since the start of the operation!” “Yes, it’s just that the whole operation lasts 10 minutes,” answered Svyatoslav Nikolaevich. Boris Vasilyevich's surprise knew no bounds. It turned out that recently, at a respected clinic, a respected ophthalmologist had both lenses removed and IOL implanted for the minister, but each operation lasted 1.5 hours.

At the end of the meeting, the minister said: “You have long outgrown your name. You are a real Institute." And he continued: “Unfortunately, my powers are not enough for this. It is necessary to obtain official support and consent of the Moscow City Council, the Moscow City Committee of the CPSU, the Ministry of Health of the RSFSR, the government of Russia, the Ministry of Health of the USSR, the State Committee for Science and Technology and, finally, the government of the Union. At the same time, you should keep in mind that the government of the country has taken a course to reduce the number of research institutes in Moscow and transfer them to other cities, since the number of research institutes in Moscow has exceeded reasonable limits. Thus, the path to promotion to the rank of the Institute is long and difficult. But, if he doesn’t scare you, I will help and assist you.”

When the issue was finally resolved, a discussion arose in the USSR Government. In Moscow there is the Moscow Research Institute of Eye Diseases named after. Helmholtz and the All-Union Research Institute of GB under the leadership of M. M. Krasnov. Why do we need a third Institute of Eye Diseases? The decisive speech was the speech of B.V. Petrovsky: “This will not be the third institute of eye diseases in Moscow. This will be the world's first and only Research Institute of Eye Microsurgery.

On September 11, 1980, the USSR Government issued an order to transform the MNIILEKHG into the Moscow Research Institute of Eye Microsurgery of the Ministry of Health of the RSFSR. Production was converted into a technical department.

For the first implantation of an IOL into a human eye, Svyatoslav Nikolaevich almost lost his doctor’s diploma.

Many years later, Minister of Health N. T. Trubilin said: “I am ashamed of these walls, which witnessed our shameful past, when at the next board we almost deprived Dr. Fedorov of his medical diploma.”

In 1981, together with GOI named after. Vavilov created the world's first serial multi-purpose laser ophthalmoscopic complex “Liman-2” for the treatment of diabetic retinopathy, degenerative retinal lesions, and glaucoma.

In 1983, the complex was finally completed. The queues for appointments were hundreds of meters long.

In an effort to bring ophthalmological care closer to the residents of the country, Fedorov is introducing into medical practice a mobile operating room with a bus-based diagnostic complex. The operating room bus, equipped with the latest medical equipment, traveled throughout the Soviet Union for 25 years. Worked in India and Yemen, where 1224 operations were performed.

Line of epiphany

The huge number of patients queuing up for hospitalization at the institute required a radical change in the treatment process. Once Svyatoslav Nikolaevich visited a poultry farm, the structure of which delighted him. When he returned, he said: “We will also make a factory for restoring vision and a conveyor belt, which we will call the “Line of Insight.”

The Council of Ministers of the USSR allocated 12 million rubles to the institute for the construction of a new building.

And in the new building in 1984, an automated surgical conveyor was designed. The operations are divided into stages: auxiliary - preparation for the operation and its completion, and main - removal of the diseased lens and introduction of an artificial lens. Each surgeon performs his part of the work, much like on a factory assembly line. But every surgeon is able to perform all stages of all operations in their entirety. “Conveyor” surgery has increased the number of operations performed by one surgeon by 10 times. Doctors got the opportunity to practice a lot and, therefore, quickly improve their qualifications. At first they used a horizontal production line from the West German company Siemens, then in Cheboksary they started producing the domestic “Romashka”.

First

For the first time in the world, the institute began implanting intraocular IOLs in children.

For the first time, the lightest, functional, collapsible keratoprostheses, a biokeratoprosthesis and a corneal prosthetic complex were designed, which made it possible to transfer severe cataracts from the category of inoperable to operable.

For the first time in the world, keratomelosis was performed on a non-frozen eye.

For the first time in the world, methods of surgical correction of farsightedness were proposed and developed: thermocoagulation and implantation of a positive posterior chamber IOL.

For the first time, organ-preserving operations for eye tumors were developed and introduced into practice.

For the first time, a device has been created that allows quantitative assessment of the degree of damage to the optic nerve.

For the first time, a method of electromagnetic stimulation of the optic nerve was developed and a device was created.

A unique method of treating patients with diabetes mellitus complicated by traction retinal detachment has been developed.

For the first time, removal of preretinal tissue in a single block, combined tamponade in the vitreoretinal cavity with silicone and endolaser coagulation of the retina in a PFOS environment were developed and introduced into clinical practice.

Every year, 150-200 doctors from all over the country undergo training at the eye microsurgery courses advocated by S.N. Fedorov.

For the first time in Russia and the CIS, a licensed Eye Bank has been created at the level of broad standards. In 1983, at the Research Institute of Eye Microsurgery of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, a donor site was created in the department of experimental surgery, which, along with the preparation of native (fresh) donor material, collected cadaver eyes for the production of scleroplastic material. In 1987, the donor site was transferred to a specialized department of corneal surgery, and in 1988 it was transformed into an Eye Bank. This is a scientific-practical, scientific-methodological and scientific-production division of the institute, where, in addition to the tissue donation service, together with leading Russian institutes, scientific research is conducted in applied and fundamental areas at the intersection of medical and biological sciences: morphology and pathophysiology, biochemistry and biophysics, immunology and pharmacology, immunology and epidemiology.

In 1984, experimental research began on the development of excimer laser technology. As a result, the first domestic excimer laser installation “Profile” was created, and in 1995 “Profile-500”. The technology of refractive surgery, developed by S. N. Fedorov and widespread in many countries around the world, has allowed more than 12 million people to get rid of glasses. The installation is unique in that, unlike foreign analogues, it made it possible to correct myopia not only of low and moderate degrees, but also of high degrees. At the same time, a multifocal effect of refractive reshaping of the corneal surface was achieved, which provided patients with good vision both at distance and near.

MNTK

On April 9, 1986, it was decided to create the MNTK “Eye Microsurgery”. A meeting of the USSR Council of Ministers was scheduled for the end of April, where the issue of organizing the MNTK and building branches was raised. On April 10, someone came to Petrovka, 38, to confess: he accused Fedorov of bribery, saying that at the institute he had involved a doctor and a nurse in a deal. Two employees of the institute were arrested. They sought recognition. But thanks to the courage of the women, they were not able to create a “criminal case.” Nobody gave evidence. The investigation ended in failure. But while it was going on, the doctor served 1.5 years. Other doctors sewed up their pockets just in case - they were provoked into bribes, they tried to put money in... When leaving, they put a rag under the door so that nothing would be slipped.

On April 24, 1986, the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR adopted a resolution on the creation of the Intersectoral Scientific and Technical Complex "Eye Microsurgery" with full self-support and self-financing.

MNTK began to earn money for its own maintenance, including through paid operations for foreign patients.

The Cosmos Hotel was adapted for the treatment of foreign patients.

Financing was provided for each cured patient according to the industry average standard, the value of which was established by the state. The Ministry of Health paid the cost of treatment based on the negotiated price - 27% lower than in other eye clinics.

The money received according to the standard was distributed along the entire chain: for the maintenance of the premises, the preparation of the operating unit, for diagnostics, engineering services, surgery, after-care, and transportation costs.

The rights of the team expanded significantly - they themselves began to set the staffing schedule and the number of personnel.

The third innovation is team contracting and the piecework principle of remuneration.

Collective contracting is the distribution of income according to the percentage of participation in the total income. The method increased the team’s productivity in the first year by 82%. Everyone began to strive to obtain the maximum total income, and this is only possible if the quality of treatment improves. The number of complications decreased by 5 times.

Doctors began to receive 500 rubles or more, and work 7-8 times more efficiently. Instead of 21 thousand patients, the institute treated 31 thousand, then 42 thousand, then they began to perform 70 thousand operations a year. Nurses received 300 rubles, an operating room nurse received 500. At first, women were even afraid to take a salary!

The general director limited his salary to 4.5 times the salary of a nurse, since the Prime Minister of Sweden, U. Palme, at one time introduced a law according to which a minister could not have a salary greater than 4 times the salary of a skilled worker.

However, we had to think about ensuring that people took care of the equipment, the building, and the funds. Fedorov realized that only if employees become owners, shareholders, co-owners of the institution, will they think about the end result. Then the team leased the institute for 30 years with a rent payment to the state equal to 3% of the cost of the institute. Each employee contributed their share. At the end of the year, the team decided where to send her. If the profit was large, part of it was contributed to the equity fund, and everyone received dividends. Typically, in clinics, the salary fund is 41-47% of allocations. At MNTK, salaries were used only by 32%. But due to the flow of patients, the fund becomes quite large.

MNTK also finances science from self-supporting income. The operating principles of the parent institute were completely reconstructed: 8 of the most important ones were selected from 22 topics. Researchers receive salaries 2 times less than clinicians working using ready-made methods. But when they finish the topic, they are entitled to 8% of the economic effect obtained during implementation for 3 years.

Science became cramped within the walls of the institute. A new 9-story energy healing building has appeared next door. Here, scientific development of energy effects on eye tissue is carried out. New lasers are being developed that vaporize tissue. The effects of radioactive isotopes are being studied. Generators of pi-mesons and other types of energy are being created, with the help of which they correct myopia and farsightedness and change the properties of the cornea.

The social sphere is also developing from the self-supporting income of the MNTK. 2 recreation centers were built, on the Black Sea and near Moscow. A sports town was built in the former estate of the Baryatinsky princes. It was given to the institute on the condition that it would restore the church on its territory. This required 0.5 million rubles. They organized an equestrian sports section and started their own yacht club.

“What are the principles of collective creativity, the ethics of relationships in your research team? What is the optimal ratio of creative to support staff?” — journalists asked Fedorov. “No one here strives to stand out, if I have ideas in my head, then I give them away with pleasure, they are collectively developed and then accepted with five signatures. The relationship between employees is friendly and democratic, although I am a demanding person, especially if some mistakes are made when working with patients. This applies equally to nurses and researchers. I believe that the style of communication should be based on the principle of universal equality; no one can have any privileges.

Staff errors are corrected very quickly. We punish only economically, based on how much the team loses due to wrong decisions. This works fine. The punishment is not excessive, but quite sensitive.”

Young specialists who came to Fedorov had to put into action all their skills, knowledge and abilities. “Find me a young doctor, one who can come up with fresh ideas and is eager to move mountains, so that his eyes sparkle at the mention of work, so that he is ready to sit in the clinic until the night. Then he will overcome any difficulties, then he will become a real “conductor” doctor, a coordinating doctor.”

“The main thing, in my opinion, is a clear understanding of the goal. In a passionate desire to prevent hackwork. Don't have good equipment? Find it, get it! Don't have the needles you need? The patient should not know your problems; you must cure him at the most modern level. Otherwise, you need to choose another profession.

For me, business is more important. Someone made a mistake - I can forgive you. If there is negligence or professional incompetence, we will not work together. And therefore, for me, the most unattractive thing is opportunism. Betrayal. I have been betrayed more than once. Forgave. But he preferred not to see anymore. He blamed himself: he didn’t understand the person in time...”

“All together - for the benefit of everyone and for the sake of the greatness of Russia” became the motto of the MNTK.

MNTK united two factories, including an optical one, which provided it with tools and equipment; the main research institute with a clinic, the Moscow Ophthalmological Center and branches.

The technical department was transformed into a pilot plant ETP (Experimental Technical Production), where ophthalmic surgical instruments, operating knives made of natural and artificial crystals with diamond, leucosapphire, cubic zirconia and steel blades - more than 150 types of instruments and devices - began to be mass-produced.

Artificial lenses are produced. 60 thousand girls under a microscope with 32x magnification collect up to 12 thousand lenses per year. About half goes to the foreign market, where one lens costs $80-100.

In parallel with ETP, Svyatoslav Nikolaevich creates NEP (Scientific Experimental Production) to study the pathogenesis of the most important diseases of the organ of vision and develop means and methods for their surgical and conservative treatment.

The most significant achievements of NEP are the creation of collagen coatings, drugs for corneal regeneration based on sulfated glycosaminoglycans (balarpan and glycomene), corneal endothelial protectors (visitil and visiton), collastop and scleroplastic materials for the treatment of progressive myopia, various soft models of artificial optical lenses (IOLs) from collagen copolymer, drainage from collagen, artificial iris, biokeratoprosthesis, etc.

To quickly implement new technologies, methods of examining and treating patients, Fedorov creates a patent and licensing information department and an information department with a library and a modern publishing base.

The first branch of MNTK opened in October 1987 in Cheboksary. By 1989, the network of branches covered the entire country - they appeared in 11 large cities of Russia: Leningrad, Volgograd, Kaluga, Krasnodar, Novosibirsk, Orenburg, Sverdlovsk, Tambov, Khabarovsk, Irkutsk. All branches were built on a turnkey basis by the Finnish company Polar. 100 million rubles were invested in the construction of their branches.

And these funds paid off. In all branches, diagnostic equipment is combined into a computer line, which made it possible to abandon paper media. The patient receives a special card, sits in a chair and travels along the diagnostic line, from machine to machine. The examination takes 40 minutes, 7-8 on each device. The results are immediately entered into the computer. And the doctor has all the data, even a preliminary diagnosis. If necessary, the patient will be immediately sent to the operating room, changed, given tea, and prepared. The operation lasts 15 minutes.

MNTK treats cataracts, glaucoma, myopia, astigmatism, farsightedness, progressive myopia in adolescents 14-16 years old. The main part of the operations is performed by the most qualified specialists. This makes it possible to reduce the number of complications that occur during individual surgery by 5-8 times. The institute and its branches perform 1,400-1,500 operations per day, and more than 200 thousand per year.

Fedorov delivered the latest Soviet technology in medicine to different parts of the globe.

In 1989, the comfortable ship “Peter I” was accepted and launched, on the basis of which a specialized clinic was created with diagnostic departments, traditional and conveyor eye surgery, a laser department and a medical boarding house. This is the world’s first marine operating room and joint medical enterprise “Phlox” - “fleet-eye-service”, created by MNTK Eye Microsurgery, Sovcomflot and the West German company Lloyd Werft. More than 21,000 operations were performed in the floating clinic in the waters of the UAE, Cyprus and Gibraltar, Italy, Brazil, and Spain. For several months a year, the ship provided ophthalmological care to Soviet patients, and they only paid for their stay on the ship.

Since 1971, Fedorov has been pushing the idea of ​​a flying clinic. Finally, in 1989, MNTK got its own IL-86 airbus with an operating unit, a clinic, and a conference hall, which made ophthalmological “landings” to many countries of the world

An operational and diagnostic module was created on the basis of a railway car.

The Cosmos Hotel was adapted for the treatment of foreign patients. More than 70 thousand foreign patients from 122 countries have been consulted at MNTK and 36,320 operations have been performed.

Clinics and medical offices built according to Svyatoslav Fedorov’s designs have appeared in many cities around the world.

The Moscow People's Bank in London provided a loan for a joint Soviet-French venture - the construction of a high-class hotel at MNTK. MNTK "Eye Microsurgery", Vneshtorgbank of the USSR, the French companies "Bouygues", "Pullman" and four French banks created another joint Soviet-French enterprise "Iris" for the treatment of eye diseases on a commercial basis. A number of treatment centers have been built in the Canary Islands, Cyprus, and Kuwait. MNTK doctors operated there.

Automated MNTK clinics were built in Germany, the UAE, Jordan, and other countries. MNTK collaborated with China and other countries.

Svyatoslav Nikolaevich was fascinated by the ideas of Fidel Castro’s industrial clinic. In 1988, a branch of the MNTK “Eye Microsurgery” was opened in Havana. The plan was carried out with the support of a large landing of specialists from the institute.

In 1994, at the International Congress of Ophthalmologists in Canada, S. N. Fedorov was recognized as an “Outstanding Ophthalmic Surgeon of the 20th Century.”

For the first time in the world, a new material, a collagen copolymer, was created, from which posterior chamber collagen IOLs, collagen coatings were made and introduced into clinical practice, and a material was created for collagenoplasty for the treatment of progressive myopia.

The pinnacle in this area was the development in 1995, for the first time in the world, of a technology for the destruction and evacuation of cataracts of any degree of hardness using laser energy and an original vacuum installation. The use of this technology has expanded the age indications and does not require a postoperative suture.

Much attention in the scientific and inventive activities of S.N. Fedorov was interested in the problem of corneal surgery based on its transplantation, plastic surgery and prosthetics. A Fedorov-Zuev penetrating keratoprosthesis was developed for the treatment of burns and dystrophic corneal cataracts, which is still used today in many ophthalmological clinics, and a new method of keratoprosthesis for thinned vascular cataracts, which combines two types of surgical intervention - keratoplasty and keratoprosthesis.

A specially treated donor cornea with a keratoprosthesis support plate implanted into its layers increases the antiproteolytic strength of the cornea and stimulates the development of neovascularization of the graft, which improves the fixation of the prosthesis in the eye.

Revolution - to the village

Svyatoslav Fedorov rented an agricultural farm in Protasovo near Moscow. And he applied on the state farm the system by which MNTK lived - pay for labor the money it costs. Milkmaids milked 200 liters of milk from a cow, and began to milk 650-700. He calculated: if half of the money earned from selling milk was given to peasants, there would be enough money for feed, equipment, and gasoline. Svyatoslav Fedorov wanted to prove that the principle of “to each according to his work” can work wonders. But provided that no one sets financial or other restrictions. He wanted the people to become independent. I wanted to prove to both agricultural managers and politicians that farming, the personal interest of the peasant who owns both personal tools of production and the field, is the path that will allow the country to get on its feet. He was convinced that universal rental of the means of production was necessary. First for 20-30 years, then for 100. When it becomes clear that the team or family is working productively, it will be beneficial for society to give away the tools of production for a long period. Property must belong to the worker. The income that ownership of the instruments of production can provide must belong entirely to the collective owner and be distributed according to labor.

When asked if Fedorov was a capitalist, he answered: “I profess socialism, and I put Marx’s theory into action, creating a comradely collective, carrying out more transactions than the Americans, I prove that Marx is right: political systems are determined by the principles of distribution or appropriation of surplus cost." K. Marx considered the “association of free producers” to be the main unit of socialism. The people, represented by government authorities, need to regulate the work of these associations by creating an economic interest in good work.

He turned to Lenin’s thought: only cooperative ownership of the instruments of production will make it possible to sharply increase labor productivity.

For the benefit of society

Fedorov was glad that the logic of the economy, profits, and numbers was starting to work. He hoped to live to see the time when this logic would become decisive for the entire country. He believed that the people were thirsting for change, spiritual and economic freedom, that a socialist market would appear, where intelligence, talent, and individuality would be assessed. The market will teach you to respect a person and value personality. “What is perestroika? This is a won strike - a quiet, sit-in Russian strike that lasted several decades. And today we realized: we can’t sit and live like this anymore, we need to start working.”

He dreamed of a socialist market in which goods do not involve hired labor. He said that hired labor should be prohibited. That tariff rates do not reflect the quality and quantity of specific labor, the relationship between labor and the final product sold.

He didn't care what was happening in the country. And to bring the times of change closer, he also took up social activities.

In 1989-1993, Svyatoslav Fedorov was a people's deputy of the USSR. In the Supreme Council he was a member of the Committee on Economic Reform and was a member of the Interregional Deputy Group.

In 1993, he ran for the State Duma of the Russian Federation on the list of the electoral association "Russian Movement of Democratic Reforms". The association failed to overcome the five percent barrier.

In 1995, he became the founder and leader of the Workers' Self-Government Party. Fedorov's party did not get into the State Duma. He was elected as a deputy in single-mandate district No. 33 (Chuvash Republic). In the State Duma, he served as co-chairman of the parliamentary group “Democracy” and was a member of the Committee on Health Protection.

In June 1996 he ran for the post of President of the Russian Federation. In the first round he took 6th place, receiving 00.92% of the votes.

In 1996, he headed the Chamber of Science, Health, Education and Culture of the Political Advisory Council under the President of the Russian Federation.

In the fall of 1999, on the eve of the elections to the State Duma of the third convocation, together with the leader of the “Union of Democracy and Labor” Andrei Nikolaev, he created the electoral “Bloc of General Andrei Nikolaev, Academician Svyatoslav Fedorov.” At the same time, he ran for the State Duma in the Sheremetyevo single-mandate electoral district No. 205 in Moscow. In December 1999, the bloc of Nikolaev and Fedorov failed to overcome the five percent barrier; Fedorov received 15.99% of the votes.

Man with wings

He was a very brave man and always went all-in.

Svyatoslav Nikolaevich said about himself: “Actually, I am a fatalist. I believe in my destiny. I believe that I will do everything that I have in mind - I will not die before. This is probably why I am not afraid of difficulties, nor obstacles, nor intrigues, nor heights, nor depth, nor speed. I believe that I am lucky. More than once I was two steps away from death, and yet fate did not abandon me.”

Fate kept him in order for him to fulfill his destiny - to raise ophthalmology to new heights.

Svyatoslav Nikolaevich’s passion for flight remained with him from his youth throughout his life. “What a joy it is to feel like a person with wings. That’s why I’m drawn somewhere upward,” he said.

Fedorov received the license to fly a helicopter at the age of 72 and, like a boy, showed it to everyone he knew. In an inimitable manner, he invited business partners and friends to a meeting: “I will fly for you in a helicopter,” while a sunflower smile flashed on his lips.

On June 2, 2000, the four-seater helicopter of the MNTK "Eye Microsurgery", on which Svyatoslav Nikolaevich Fedorov was flying to Moscow after the anniversary celebrations on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the Tambov branch of the MNTK, crashed on one of the vacant lots in the north-west of Moscow. Academician Fedorov died tragically. The commission found that the accident occurred due to a malfunction of the aircraft.

Svyatoslav Nikolaevich Fedorov was buried in the rural cemetery of the village of Rozhdestvenno-Suvorovo, Mytishchi district, 60 km from Moscow. The local Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary was restored in 1989 with funds from the MNTK.

Academician of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences (RAMS), corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAN), full member of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences (RANS), for services in the field of public health S. N. Fedorov was awarded the Orders of the October Revolution, the Red Banner of Labor, and Lenin , Badge of Honor and the title “Hero of Socialist Labor”. For scientific research in the field of ophthalmic surgery, he was awarded the highest award of the USSR Academy of Sciences - the Lomonosov Gold Medal - and the Prize named after. M.I. Averbakh Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR. He is a laureate of the State Prize of the Russian Federation in the field of science and technology, as well as a laureate of the Palaeologus Prize (USA), Pericles Prize (Italy). S. N. Fedorov was Chairman of the Board of the All-Russian Scientific Society of Ophthalmologists, editor-in-chief of the journal “Ophthalmosurgery”, member of the editorial boards of the journals “Bulletin of Ophthalmology” (USA), “American Society of Implantologists”, “Refractive Surgery” (USA), “News of Eye Surgery” (USA), "European Journal of Implantation and Refractive Surgery", President of the International Society of Keratorefractologists, Honorary Member of the International Society of Artificial Lens Implantation, Member of the International Society of Phacoemulsification and Cataract Surgery, Honorary Member of the International Society of Corneoplastic Microsurgery, Member of the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery surgery.

He was strict with himself and his subordinates. The main qualities in a person for him were determination, professionalism and enthusiasm. They were afraid of the demanding boss, but they respected him. He said: “Nothing is impossible for a person.” He was quick-tempered, but cooled down easily. He loved a joke, an anecdote, a precise and to the point word spoken.

A year after the death of Svyatoslav Nikolaevich, he was awarded the title “Best Ophthalmologist in the World.”

The Government of the Russian Federation assigned the MNTK “Eye Microsurgery” of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation the name of Academician S. N. Fedorov, perpetuating his memory.

The brainchild of Svyatoslav Fedorov, MNTK "Eye Microsurgery", is alive and well. MNTK has become not only one of the best medical centers in the world, but also a world-famous scientific school, which has produced hundreds of highly qualified specialists who have headed ophthalmological institutions in Russia and many countries.

On the second floor of the institute there is the office-museum of Svyatoslav Nikolaevich. Here he sometimes worked day and night, led, argued.

A spacious office with a huge bookcase, a lot of documents on the table, with photographs of Fedorov, his family members, friends, colleagues, teachers. Certificates and awards hang here, and there is even an Oscar, awarded not for acting, but for inventive merits. Behind the glass cabinet door are airplane models made from plastic construction sets.

His daughters continue the dynasty of ophthalmologists.

Irene Efimovna Fedorova created a foundation named after Fedorov, which established medals and diplomas (for doctors and prizes) of S. N. Fedorov in various categories - culture, politics, business, for organizing national enterprises, etc. There are four nominations in medicine.

Svyatoslav Fedorov is remembered and loved by grateful patients, students, and colleagues. His books, scientific works, interviews remain, where his words and ideas are captured.

“I want my life to help someone free themselves from the shackles of dogmatism in their consciousness, first of all. Understand that you can’t be “like everyone else” and keep your head down.”

“I am never afraid of real surgery. I'm careful - it happens. If the operation is new. Then you constantly check yourself, feel out the way... The operation, of course, has already been all calculated, drawn, erased times, “played in a brain video recorder”... You visually imagine each step, the sequence of steps. But new is new: surprises are possible.

I love to operate... You feel your power over the process, as if you are in flight: you need to gain altitude - you gain it, you need a turn - you spin it. And it’s as if you’re constantly walking along a razor blade 100 angstroms thick, thinner than a hair, but you know that you’ll get there, you won’t fall. A feeling of responsibility and usefulness of what you are doing: this patient, almost blind, will see normally tomorrow... I am an impulsive, explosive person by nature and therefore could not be, say, a therapist: I need to quickly see the result of what I have done. And patients, right in our clinic, throw away their glasses as unnecessary!

Operation is a dynamic process, always creative. No two are alike, you constantly change tactics.”

“I literally get sick if I don’t feel the dynamics in life. You see, I don't need to prove to people that I'm better. I said and say that this is a very convenient method for not doing anything yourself: “Can Fedorov succeed? - so this is Fedorov! And I’m just Ivanov, Sidorov, and I’m out of my depth. How convenient! I don’t have any super talents, except for wild persistence, ability to work, the desire to achieve my goal if this goal will benefit people... I want things to be done at a normal, that is, professional level... Injured professional pride is unpleasant. Not to mention the fact that there is national pride. This is also the engine that pushes me, I really want to work no worse than my colleagues in the world.”

“For me, life is a constant climb to Everest. This is not an easy climb. You climb, you fall, your hands are bleeding. But the knowledge that there is a peak ahead and that we must overcome it, forces us to continue on our way.”

In the stories of great and successful people, we are interested not only in the details of their personal lives, gastronomic preferences, etc. First of all, we are concerned with the question: how were they able to reach the very heights of success? Of course, it would be easier to attribute everything to luck, luck, talent. But almost always behind worldwide recognition, honor and fame there is continuous work. Talent without hard work is nothing.

Svyatoslav Fedorov was a talented ophthalmologist, a successful businessman, a very wealthy and prosperous person. What was the secret of his success, what was the phenomenon of Professor Fedorov? The story is told by professor, academician of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, a man who knew the great surgeon closely, Boris Shamilevich NUVAKHOV.

Dreams and reality

NOW this story would be called the "American Dream". Fedorov started out as a simple provincial doctor. He became a millionaire, the owner of a huge medical corporation. But this was by no means an old childhood dream that came true so visibly and significantly. I dreamed of something completely different. About the sky, heights, airplanes, in a word, about the profession of a real man. But Fedorov failed to become a pilot...

At the beginning of March 1945, when the war was thundering with its penultimate volleys, a festive evening was being prepared at the school. Having put on his only going-out suit, Slava hurried to the holiday. I jumped on the tram while it was moving - I was afraid of being late. He fell, barely managed to grab the handrail - he was dragged along the ground. I tried to get to my feet - a sharp pain pierced my left leg. I woke up in the hospital. Doctors decided to amputate the foot and lower third of the leg. Probably, it was possible to do without this: after all, only the heel bone was crushed. But the surgeons played it safe. However, then nothing else could have occurred to them.

After the operation, flying was strictly forbidden. I had to leave the school. What's next? Where to go? Which specialty should I choose? In Rostov, where he lived then, there was not much choice. Technical university, humanitarian and even medical. I had no interest in technical sciences. I didn’t feel capable of the humanities. I decided to try medical school. This choice was almost a step of despair. Well, we need to decide somewhere! I passed the entrance exams without much success, and generally received a “C” for my essay, so I barely passed the competition. I studied like everyone else, without standing out. An incident also brought him to ophthalmology. At that time, Slava was interested in photography, and even worked part-time at it. Therefore, when the time came to choose a specialization, I decided to choose ophthalmology - after all, the eye resembled a camera.

Fedorov performed the first operation on March 8, 1951. The department was preparing for Women's Day when they brought in a sick mechanic from the factory. While working, a piece of the chisel jumped off and hit the worker in the eye. Young Fedorov assisted Associate Professor Lakshin. Having administered anesthesia, the surgeon suddenly said to Svyatoslav: “You will operate yourself,” and left the operating room.

Later, Professor Fedorov admits that the profession of an ophthalmological surgeon is his real calling and destiny: “I love to operate... You feel your power over the process, as if you are in flight. And it’s as if you are walking along the razor’s edge all the time, but you know that you will get there, you won't fall. A feeling of responsibility and usefulness of what you are doing: this patient, almost blind, will see normally tomorrow... I am an impulsive, explosive person and therefore could not be, say, a therapist: I need to quickly see the result of what I have done. And patients "Right here in our clinic they throw away glasses because they are no longer needed! Surgery is a dynamic process, always creative."

In the meantime... Finding the way

The YOUNG surgeon turned out to be ambitious. Oh, how I didn’t want to remain an ordinary doctor! I didn’t sleep at night, painfully thinking: will life really be so mediocre? He fantasized, inventing interesting scientific topics. Finally I decided: my business is an operation to replace a cloudy lens with an artificial one made of plastic. The idea itself was not new. There have already been attempts at such operations abroad, although not always successful. In Russian ophthalmology, the new “Western hobby” was considered almost quackery. But Fedorov did not let up. He himself, without permission from the institute’s management, began work on an unplanned topic and conducted experiments on animals. The rabbits with artificial lenses felt good; they rushed to carrots as soon as they removed the bandage from the operated eye.

Soon fate brought the young doctor together with a seriously ill patient. Twelve-year-old Chuvash schoolgirl Lena Petrova suffered from cataracts from birth. She couldn't see anything with her right eye. After consulting with her parents, Fedorov decided to take a risk- operate on Lena’s diseased eye and insert an artificial lens into it. Operation was successfully completed. The girl began to see. But as for the scientific career and reputation of Fedorov himself, the result was exactly the opposite - the operations were banned. Senior influential comrades warned their colleagues against using Fedorov’s “dubious” method. Letters, appeals to various authorities - all are useless. For a long time, the luminaries did not want to accept a “boy” doctor, an “upstart”.

To the capital

In ARKHANGELSK, where he was invited to head the department of eye diseases at the medical institute, things went better or worse. Fedorov even formed a team of like-minded people. They organized a small clinic for the implantation of an artificial lens, but after a while he had to... run away - literally run away.

At the end of the 60s, rumors about a doctor from Arkhangelsk who restored sight to hopelessly ill people spread throughout the country and began to penetrate abroad. Patients arrived, but there were no conditions to treat all those in need: a tiny laboratory, overcrowded wards, homemade equipment. And patients wrote complaints to all authorities that the conditions in the clinic were unacceptable. The Deputy Minister of Health came to Arkhangelsk to investigate. It was decided to move the laboratory to Moscow and equip the clinic with the latest equipment. When Fedorov finally had the order to transfer to the capital in his hands, he came to the rector to say goodbye. He greeted him rather coldly. In Arkhangelsk they did not at all want to lose a doctor who had brought enormous fame to the institute. The matter was not limited only to persuasion and reproaches for desertion. Anticipating difficulties, Fedorov decided not to hesitate and called his friend: “I think we won’t be able to leave by train tomorrow. We need to urgently return our tickets and fly by plane.” Having given other people's names - then tickets were sold without presenting a passport - we bought tickets for the first morning flight. Fedorov flew to Moscow under the name Nikolaenko. They refused to give them work books. Then they requested them through the prosecutor. At the station, as Fedorov had expected, that morning an inspector from the personnel department and several other people were waiting for the fugitives, who had received orders from above “Don’t let them in!”

In a word, the escape was a success. But what next? What seemed so tempting from distant Arkhangelsk - the capital, recognition in scientific circles, its own clinic - was put off for another year. But Fedorov knew what he was running towards and what he wanted: to have his own large institute, the opportunity to restore sight not to tens, but to thousands and millions of sick people. Actually, that’s how it happened. True, the path was not short. There was everything: envy, numerous prohibitions and provocations, reproaches for self-promotion, even attempts to accuse him of bribery. One day, two employees of the institute were arrested. For six days they sought a confession that Professor Fedorov takes bribes or, at least, knows that they are taken from him at the institute. If such testimony could be “knocked out,” the prepared project on the creation of the “Eye Microsurgery” complex could not be accepted. But thanks to the courage of the women, the provocateurs were unable to concoct a “criminal case.” Other doctors sewed up their pockets just in case - they tried to stuff money into them...

It took Fedorov thirty years to realize his dream. But the reward was also high.

Fedorov phenomenon

SVYATOSLAV Fedorov is a talented surgeon, the author of many inventions and discoveries in ophthalmology, including the method of implanting an artificial lens, which he called “Sputnik”, methods of treating myopia, glaucoma, astigmatism, the creator of a huge interdisciplinary scientific and technical complex “Eye Microsurgery”. The poet A. Voznesensky called him an “eye genius.” But Fedorov is also an extraordinary organizer, who was the first to use in domestic medicine the conveyor belt method and the narrow specialization of doctors (a team of surgeons operates on one patient, each performing their part of the operation sequentially). What makes a person so obsessed, makes him achieve the seemingly impossible, strive for the very top and achieve it? Parental genes, environment, circumstances, one’s own will, forces from above?

In his youth, Fedorov had one incident that largely determined his attitude towards life and himself. While still a student, he took up swimming. It was more than a hobby. In the water he was equal with everyone, did not feel his physical handicap due to his amputated foot and mastered almost all styles. Once I swam in a race with water polo athletes who were training on the Don, and overtook many. The coach offered to compete for the team - they were missing one person: “You just swim to the finish line, nothing else is required of you - we just need to get a test.” When the start was given, he was the last to jump. I thought: just to swim! He raised his head and there were three people ahead. I overtook one, the other, there was one more left. “And then,” recalled Svyatoslav Nikolaevich, “such anger came over me! Suddenly I wanted to overtake and win. Three hundred meters before the finish line, I overtook the leader and, to my surprise, became the winner. A large crowd gathered on the embankment, everyone clapped, which - then they shouted. It was unusually pleasant to realize that I could do something that others could not. At that moment for the first time I understood, deeply felt that everything was within my power. I realized that if a person can overcome himself, then he can overcome any difficulties. That is Then, on the banks of the Don, an invincible confidence in myself, in my capabilities, was born in me and remained for the rest of my life. Perhaps this quality is the most important thing in my character. Standing on the embankment, before I had time to dry off, I discovered a simple, but an incredibly important truth: you have to, as they say, work hard. Work until you sweat. Only under this condition can you achieve something in life. For me, that victory, albeit modest and insignificant, became the starting point of my whole life. So, no matter how Paradoxically, no matter how blasphemous it sounds, I consider myself lucky to have lost my leg. If this had not happened, I probably would not have been able to develop such will in myself, the ability not to change my goal under any circumstances."

And to the question of what is the phenomenon of Professor Fedorov, he best answers himself: “God did not give me any super talents, except wild perseverance, ability to work, the desire to achieve my goal, if this goal will benefit people. I believe that a person, if he wants ", can achieve everything that is possible in this Universe. To do this, you need to want incredibly. To strive incredibly for the goal."

Reference

Svyatoslav Nikolaevich Fedorov was born in 1927 in the small Ukrainian town of Proskurovo. Father, a Red commander, was repressed and spent 17 years in Stalin’s camps.

In 1943, Fedorov entered the artillery school in Yerevan, and a year later he transferred to the flight school in Rostov-on-Don.

After graduating from college, he entered medical school.

1952 Veshenskaya village. A provincial clinic - no office, no necessary equipment. He also worked part-time as a therapist.

The city of Lysva, not far from Perm. Eye department with 15 beds. Two years of residency, the title of Candidate of Medical Sciences and an appointment to a regional hospital.

Head of the department of the Cheboksary branch of the Institute of Eye Diseases named after. Helmholtz.

Head of the Department of Eye Diseases, Arkhangelsk Medical Institute.

Moscow. Eye department in the 50th hospital. Defense of doctoral dissertation. Its own institute, which has turned into a huge scientific and medical complex, is the Eye Microsurgery MNTK. On June 2, 2000, he died in a plane crash.

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Positive psychology 07.10.2018

We receive the lion's share of information about the world through vision. And when it gets worse, we experience a lot of inconvenience, and even real suffering. It’s good if we are lucky enough to meet a competent specialist who will help improve the situation.

Today, dear readers, I would like to tell you about the fate of such an amazing professional and very charming person who radiated the energy of light. This is ophthalmologist Svyatoslav Fedorov, a legend of Russian medicine.

He became the author of a number of unique developments that are recognized throughout the world as revolutionary in this branch of medicine. Together with like-minded people, he put his discoveries into practice, which helped restore and improve vision for thousands of Russians. These technologies still work successfully today.

The innovative doctor had to work in difficult, turning-point years for the country. His destiny is a constant overcoming of difficulties, resistance to an inert environment, and the desire to develop. He was always in a hurry, as if he had a presentiment that his life would end early. And he managed to do an incredible amount, making a real revolution in the methods of treating eye diseases and restoring vision.

As Wikipedia tells us, Svyatoslav Fedorov was a true representative of the 20th century, the personification of its best features. And the problems, troubles, and bad weather of this turbulent century also did not pass him by. But they didn’t break me, they only made me stronger and wiser. Let's get acquainted a little with the biography of Svyatoslav Fedorov.

Family and first life lessons

Svyatoslav Fedorov comes from the Ukrainian city of Proskurov, now called Khmelnitsky. His date of birth: August 8, 1927, and this alone speaks volumes. His family did not escape the main tragedy of the pre-war years; his father became a victim of political repression in the 1930s.

Svyatoslav's father made a brilliant military career, rising to the rank of general, although he was from a simple working family by origin. In the notorious year of 1938, when his son was 11 years old, Nikolai Fedorov was sentenced to 17 years for slanderous denunciation. Relatives had to live with the stigma of the family being an “enemy of the people.” They moved to Rostov-on-Don, where the future luminary of medicine continued his studies at school. He graduated with a silver medal.

Like most of his young peers, Svyatoslav dreamed of the sky, of becoming a pilot. When the war began, of course, his interests shifted towards military aviation. He didn’t just dream of the sky, but did everything to make this dream come true. In 1943, the young man entered the Yerevan Preparatory Flight School, where he studied for two years.

But... Plans to conquer the sky were dashed by completely earthly obstacles. A simple fall and injury to the left leg resulted in the amputation of the entire foot and part of the lower leg. Having received a disability, Svyatoslav Fedorov managed to overcome depressive thoughts and built an algorithm for further movement forward. For him, the stories of some of his neighbors in the ward became a difficult lesson. The guy spent several months in the hospital, and saw how others, feeling crippled, simply gave up, “deflated,” and gave up.

Svyatoslav decided that he would never allow himself to be pitied. He will become strong! And the young man begins grueling training, through pain, through “I can’t.” As a result, he became a very successful swimmer, winner of a number of respectable competitions. And then he endured many hours of operations, and the people who worked and lived next to him, most often did not suspect his injury.

The choice is made!

Looking at the photo of Svyatoslav Fedorov, many note his assertive gaze, strong-willed chin, powerful forehead of a sage and stubborn man, who more than once in his life had, as the classic said, “butt heads with oak.”

But first it was necessary to decide on the choice of profession. The young man entered the Rostov Medical Institute, which he successfully graduated in 1952. Why ophthalmology? Because it is very interesting, very difficult, and therefore promising. After university there were residency and postgraduate studies, but in addition to theory, Svyatoslav had the opportunity to prove himself in medical practice.

While still a student, he performed his first brilliant operation. The patient received a serious work injury; an iron fragment flew into his eyeball. Even for an experienced physician, such a problem is not always solvable, but student Fedorov was not at a loss and coped brilliantly with the problem. As a result, the man managed to save his sight.

Svyatoslav Nikolaevich Fedorov began his ophthalmological practice in the village of Veshenskaya. He considered himself lucky, because the writer Mikhail Sholokhov, who glorified these places, had long been Svyatoslav’s idol.

After the Don start, he began eye surgery in the Urals. He promptly defended his Ph.D. dissertation, but was soon fired, and even with the damning wording: “for charlatanism.” The essence of the matter is simple: an innovative doctor risked using a technique that had already been used abroad, but was not welcomed “in our Palestines.” He replaced the patient's failed lens with an artificial one. The angry medical community did not appreciate such creativity. Although the operation was absolutely successful. “Charlatan” went to continue his research to the North, to Arkhangelsk.

It is unknown whether the “troublemaker” would have managed to remain in the profession at all if he had not been supported by the famous publicist Agranovsky. In the spring of 1965, he published a voluminous material in Izvestia about a talented doctor, whose bold experiments were not only not recognized, but became the cause of persecution. You can read about this in detail in the article “Discovery of Doctor Fedorov”. And here I will give only one short excerpt from that newspaper article, which caused a lot of noise at that time.

Where does this assertiveness, willpower, and strength to achieve his goal come from? Perhaps he has not lost anything from the strengths of the old Russian intelligentsia; he has softness towards people, a desire for good, internal honesty, independence or, as Leo Tolstoy said, pride of thought. His kindness is full of strength, and he is at ease with the people, and there is no feeling of insecurity in him before the people, because he himself is the people. The grandson of a peasant, the son of a cavalryman, an intellectual.

After such all-Union publicity, ophthalmologist Svyatoslav Fedorov was able to do what he loved without much fear, and even his “dubious” experiments were given the green light.

Northern "link"

60s. The period of the “thaw”, our Russian political “Renaissance”. Fedorov moved to Arkhangelsk, where in 1961-67 he headed the department of eye diseases at the Medical Institute.

He again performs operations using an artificial lens. It is impossible to buy the material; it is very expensive, and in scarce currency. The miracle doctor is helped by northern craftsmen, turning lenses in local workshops. And this is a double success: the production of such medical “diamonds” requires truly jeweler’s precision and remarkable skill, working ingenuity.

Patients from all over the vast country come to Fedorov, he teaches his methods to his colleagues, unique operations are practically put on stream. But he feels cramped within the institute’s laboratory. We need scale, we need to move from handicrafts to working with modern scientific equipment, but Arkhangelsk does not have it and will not have it for a long time.

Fedorov decides to escape to the capital. It was a real detective story: the local authorities did not want to let go of a popular specialist who had already received worldwide recognition. Real fame came to him after speaking in 1966 at a symposium of the International Society for Implantation in London.

The party leadership of Arkhangelsk prevented his departure to Moscow; Svyatoslav Nikolaevich was accused of almost desertion, seeking “cheap glory.” The regional party committee simply forbade the institute authorities to issue work books to the assertive doctor and his associates. But he knew what he wanted, and gossip and “spikes in the wheels” could not stop him. With several of his closest assistants, he confused his tracks in order to outwit his pursuers.

They learned about the impending escape “where necessary”; the fugitives were waited at the railway station. They quickly handed over their tickets and rushed to the airport, where they purchased tickets for the next flight under other people's names. This was still possible then. Yes, regarding work records: in the capital they had to make a prosecutor’s request so that Arkhangelsk officials would return them to their owners...

Science and practice

In 1967, a sharp turn occurred in the biography of Svyatoslav Fedorov and his family. He becomes the head of the department at the Third Medical Institute, creates a laboratory within the university, where he experiments with artificial lenses and corneas of the eye. A few years later, the laboratory became an independent institution, receiving the status of a research institute, and then an STC (scientific and technical complex) of eye microsurgery.

It was a productive symbiosis of breakthrough scientific research and advanced technological innovations. Stories about many operations carried out at NTK began with the words “for the first time in the country,” or even “for the first time in the world.” I will not delve into the details of that truly titanic work here.

You can get acquainted with the details of the capital period of his activity by watching the documentary film “Svyatoslav Fedorov. See the light."

His clinic becomes truly world famous, and its director becomes a corresponding member of the Union Academy of Sciences and a full member of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences.

In the 90s, it was also necessary to deal with purely economic issues, and those around him noted with surprise and respect Svyatoslav Fedorov’s entrepreneurial talent. “Eye Microsurgery” and a number of related related enterprises became successful business units, earning a lot of foreign currency, which made it possible to seriously increase staff salaries. The clinic was even able to acquire its own aircraft fleet.

Family matters

Photos of Svyatoslav Fedorov, rare video footage easily convey his incredible energy. Women felt this magnetism of a strong personality, many fell in love with the talented and charming doctor.

He married three times. He lived with his first wife Lilia for 13 years. Their daughter Irina has decided on her choice of profession since her school years: of course, it is ophthalmology! She continues her father’s work and works in his clinic.

The second marital union also culminated in the birth of a daughter. The heiress Olga works in her father’s scientific and technical complex, although she is not engaged in medical practice. She nurtures a memorial cabinet, the exhibits of which tell about the history of Eye Microsurgery and the fate of the first director of the clinic.

In the personal life of Svyatoslav Fedorov, there was a third marriage. In this union he had twin daughters, although not his own: these were the children of his last wife from a previous marriage. They are now employees of the Svyatoslav Nikolaevich Foundation for the Popularization of Surgical Techniques.

With such a busy work and personal life, Fedorov found time and energy for sports and other hobbies. Remember, at the beginning of the story I told you that in his early youth he dreamed of sitting at the helm of an airliner. Despite health problems, he made this dream come true! Became a pilot of his own plane when he was 62 years old. He also mastered the helicopter, because sometimes he had to fly to hard-to-reach regions to perform operations or consult the staff of local clinic departments.

Despite all this, he somehow incomprehensibly managed to remain a romantic and a slightly naive dreamer. Or maybe he just hoped that the maximum number of colleagues would follow his example?..

I realized that goodness needs to be done in large doses. I am sure that by the end of this century our medicine will be a fantastic industry of humanism: small hospitals will turn into powerful medical centers for early surgical prevention.

An active life position led him into politics; Fedorov was a people's deputy of the USSR and a deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation. He even took part in the presidential elections in 1996, although with minimal results. But I soon realized that I shouldn’t waste my time, that I needed to concentrate my energy on the main task of my life. As it turned out, this was the right choice, because at the turn of the century he had very little time.

Tragic flight and grateful memory

Premature death is always tragic. It looks especially unnatural when people, bursting with energy and full of ambitious plans, “go into a tailspin” in the prime of their lives. This is what happened with the death of Svyatoslav Fedorov. On June 2, 2000, he crashed while performing another routine helicopter flight. The car turned out to be faulty, the technical staff did not pay attention. True, there were other versions of the tragedy; many said that the incident in the air did not occur by accident. But it was not possible to prove this.

The streets of several cities and hospitals are named after him, and there are 6 monuments to the great doctor in the country. His followers study the works of the academician, published during his lifetime and posthumously. In the practice of ophthalmology and other medical specialties, about 180 different inventions of the master of ophthalmology are used.

He was awarded many medals and orders, received a number of prestigious international awards, had the title of Hero of Labor and many other regalia. Two years after his death, Fedorov was awarded the title “The Greatest Ophthalmologist of the 19th-20th Centuries.” This is how the merits of a gifted colleague were appreciated by the international professional community.

Dear readers, there were so many bright pages in the life of Svyatoslav Fedorov that it is impossible to even list them, it’s easy to touch on them in a review article. But I will be sincerely glad if this fate interests you and gives you food for thought and further discoveries.

He was so different: a revolutionary, a rebel, a pioneer and thinker, a hard worker, an organizer. Author of breakthrough technologies and successful businessman. A strict team leader and a gentle, caring head of the family. Always inspired, although they so often tried to “clip his wings”...

A lot has been done, there is a lot left for all of us to do. He gave people light, the opportunity to see this world, to live fully. All we have to do is be worthy of this great gift...

The eye twitches. What to do?

A real hero, scientist, courageous man, Svyatoslav Nikolaevich Fedorov, biography, whose personal life continues to interest the public even today, years after his death, is an example of unprecedented determination and will to live. The intensity of his life, the passion with which he devoted himself to every task, had such intensity that only a real hero could withstand such a rhythm.

Childhood and parents

On August 8, 1927, in the Ukrainian city of Proskurov, which today is called Khmelnitsky, Svyatoslav Nikolaevich Fedorov was born. Svyatoslav’s father was once a worker, then became a Red Army soldier, rising to the rank of brigade commander and the rank of general. In 1930, the family moved to Kamenets-Podolsky due to the transfer of his father. Nikolai Fedorov went through the First World War and the Civil War. He was a professional military man, a man of his word and honor. But when the boy was 11 years old, his father was arrested following a denunciation and sentenced to 17 years. Fedorov was labeled an enemy of the people. Svyatoslav tried his best to prove that he was no worse than others, perhaps it was then that a steely, fighting character began to form in him. After the arrest of the father, the family moves to relatives in Rostov-on-Don to avoid repression.

Studies

At school, Svyatoslav Nikolaevich Fedorov studied well, although chemistry was difficult for him. He also did not like to write essays, but he did well in a foreign language and graduated from school with a silver medal. Like many boys of that time, he was fanatically in love with aviation and dreamed of becoming a pilot. When the war began, Fedorov wanted to volunteer, but due to his youth, of course, no one took him into the army. Then, in 1943, he entered the Yerevan Preparatory School in order to quickly master piloting skills. For two years he studied hard, dreaming of the sky and how he would beat the enemy. But life turned out differently.

Tragic twist

In 1945, Svyatoslav Nikolaevich Fedorov, whose biography takes a sharp turn, gets into an accident. The young man was in a hurry to attend a festive evening at the school. While trying to catch up with the tram, he tripped and injured his left leg. At the hospital where he was taken, it turned out that his heel was crushed, and the doctor decided to amputate his foot and a third of his lower leg. Fedorov had to forget about aviation. He spent several months in the hospital and there he made several of the most important decisions in his life. He saw masses of crippled men who gave up and believed that their lives were over. Svyatoslav, overcoming the pain, began swimming and even won several competitions with full-fledged athletes. Then he realized that he had to work hard - and anything was possible. And for the rest of his life, Fedorov worked tirelessly. He proved to everyone that he was not disabled, and later many simply had no idea about his disability. The second decision made by the young man during these years is related to the choice of a professional field.

Medicine

In 1947, Svyatoslav Nikolaevich Fedorov entered the Rostov Medical Institute. After graduating in 1952, he entered residency and then graduate school. While still a student, Svyatoslav chose his specialization, ophthalmology. He realized that the human eye is a complex optical instrument and needs fine tuning. After graduating from university, he begins working as an ophthalmologist in the village of Veshenskaya, where the famous writer Mikhail Sholokhov once lived and worked. Fedorov has said more than once that the writer became a moral ideal for him for many years. In 1957 he defended his Ph.D. thesis. Fedorov spent his first one while still a student. He happened to operate on a mechanic who had a piece of an iron chisel embedded in his eyeball. The manipulation was extremely difficult, but Svyatoslav managed it and was able to save the patient’s sight.

Doctor's career

Since the mid-50s, Svyatoslav Nikolaevich Fedorov has been working as a practicing physician. After the Don village, he moved to the Urals, where he practices eye surgery. While working in Cheboksary, he performed a unique operation for the USSR to replace the affected lens with an artificial one. Soviet medicine could not tolerate such a step, and Fedorov was fired from his job “for quackery.” He moves to Arkhangelsk, where he becomes head. Department of Eye Diseases at the Medical Institute. Quite quickly, a team of like-minded people forms around Fedorov, the fame of magic doctors spreads throughout the country, and people who dream of restoring their sight flock to Arkhangelsk.

In 1967, official confirmation of Svyatoslav Nikolaevich’s achievements came. He is transferred to Moscow, where he is at the Third Medical Center. Institute headed the department of eye diseases and headed the laboratory for the creation of an artificial lens. Here Fedorov begins to experiment with operations to install an artificial cornea. In 1974, Stanislav Nikolaevich’s laboratory separated from the structure of the institute and became an independent research institution in the field of eye surgery.

Scientific activity

Since the 50s, Svyatoslav Nikolaevich Fedorov began to study science and did not abandon his research until the end of his life. In 1962, he created the best hard lens in the world, the so-called Fedorov-Zakharov lens. In 1967, he successfully defended his doctoral dissertation. In 1973, for the first time in the world, he performed surgical therapy for glaucoma in the early stages. The sclerectomy method he discovered has received worldwide recognition and is still used in all leading clinics in the world. In 1987, Fedorov became a corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Sciences. In 1995, he was elected a full member of the Academy of Medical Sciences of the Russian Federation.

Clinic

In 1979, the laboratory, managed by Svyatoslav Nikolaevich Fedorov, was turned into a research institute for eye microsurgery. And in 1986, the institute was transformed into the scientific and technical complex “Eye Microsurgery”. Fedorov performs the most complex operations, actively shares his experience with young surgeons, and conducts scientific research. The fame of his clinic reaches a global scale. Changes are just taking place in the country, a market economy is starting to work. And during this period, Fedorov showed himself in yet another form. The clinic had legal and financial freedom; Svyatoslav Fedorovich could set the cost of operations himself. Eye Microsurgery is starting to earn a lot, including in foreign currency. Fedorov established high salaries for doctors and staff, he creates comfortable conditions for patients. Over the course of several years, he opens several modern branches in the regions of the country where his best students work. Eye surgeries become commonplace, and Fedorov becomes a successful entrepreneur and wealthy person. But the clinic is also getting richer. In just a few years, he turns the complex into an entire empire. Eye Microsurgery not only has many branches in the country and abroad, but also a huge complex “Protasovo” with hotels and residential buildings, a dairy plant, a plant for the production of drinking water, two large enterprises for the production of frames, lenses, and surgical instruments. The clinic even had a specially equipped ship, Peter the Great, on which operations were carried out. Fedorov built his own aviation facility for the clinic with a hangar, a helicopter, an airplane, a runway, a radio station and a gas station. The academician himself was in charge of everything, but there weren’t enough hands for everything, and in recent years many people began to appear in the clinic who only craved profit. This undermined the team spirit, discontent and envy appeared. For Fedorov, all this was a difficult problem.

Main achievements

Academician Svyatoslav Nikolaevich Fedorov made many discoveries in his life; he owns the right to 180 patents for various inventions. His main achievement is more than 3 million people around the world who have been successfully operated on using his technique. He published several serious works, which still allow us to develop ophthalmology today.

Awards

Fedorov Svyatoslav Nikolaevich, whose biography is filled with constant work, received many titles and awards during his life. In 1987 he was awarded the title of Hero of Social Labor. Fedorov was a holder of the orders: Lenin, Red Banner of Labor, October Revolution, Badge of Honor, Friendship. The list of his medals is very long, among them: the gold medal “Hammer and Sickle”, the medal named after. M. Lomonosov Academy of Sciences of the USSR. Svyatoslav Nikolaevich was awarded the title “Honored Inventor of the USSR.” In 2002, he was awarded the international title of “The Greatest Ophthalmologist of the 19th and 20th Centuries.” He has won many awards, including the State Prize of the Russian Federation, the Palaeologus Prize, the Pericles Prize, and the. and M. Averbukh from the Academy of Medical Sciences.

Political activity

With the beginning of perestroika, Svyatoslav Nikolaevich Fedorov (photo attached to the article) became actively interested in politics. In 1989, he was elected people's deputy of the USSR and for 2 years participated in the lawmaking of a new, emerging country. He actively met with voters, conducted political campaigning, and served on the editorial board of the Ogonyok magazine. Fedorov created and led the party of self-government of workers, which was based on left-liberal views. In 1995, Stanislav Nikolaevich was elected to the State Duma. In 1996, he even participated in the presidential elections of the Russian Federation, taking sixth place with 0.92% of the vote. Having served one term in the Duma, Fedorov did not run for office again, since he did not see a real return from his activities, and he was a man of action and results. In the last years of his life he focused on developing the clinic.

Personal life

Fedorov Svyatoslav Nikolaevich, whose personal life interests many, was married three times. He exuded incredible charm and magnetism, and women fell in love with him instantly. If in his professional activities Fedorov was purposeful, assertive, and extremely hardworking, then in his private life he was a very calm and compliant person. He never scolded, considering this an unworthy matter, he loved to rely on someone else in everyday matters, and easily joined the opinions of other people. Therefore, some considered him henpecked, but, most likely, this was simply his position. At work he was a force and leader, and at home he was a companion and assistant. Fedorov Svyatoslav Nikolaevich, for whom his family was a safe haven, a refuge, treated women with respect and reverence, and therefore calmly gave them a leading role in everyday life. Although this did not relate to issues of principle - they could not be twirled like a puppet, he always adhered to his convictions.

Wives and children

Academician Fedorov had three wives in his life. The first marriage happened at the beginning of Svyatoslav Nikolaevich’s medical career. Lilia, the first wife, was a chemist by training. They met on vacation in a youth group, the girl was smitten by Fedorov’s advances. And six months later, secretly from her parents, she married him, coming to him. For the first six months, the couple lived in different cities, Lilia completed her studies at the institute. And then there were 13 years of happy life. Stanislav's letters to his wife have been preserved, which are full of love and tenderness. The couple had a daughter, Irina. Since childhood, she was fascinated by her father’s profession and already from the 9th grade she knew that she would follow in his footsteps. Today she is a practicing surgeon, working at the Fedorov clinic. Fedorov's second wife was Elena Leonovna. This marriage also produced a girl, Olga. Today she is engaged in the activities of the memorial office at the Eye Microsurgery clinic. This marriage also broke up. Irene burst into Fedorov’s life. One day she came to his office to arrange an operation for her relative, and was immediately struck by the strength and energy of the surgeon. There were no children in this marriage, but he raised the two twin girls that Irene had from her first marriage as his daughters. Both girls today work at the Foundation for the Popularization of Surgeon Fedorov’s Methods. After the death of the head of the family, newspapers wrote about conflicts among the heirs. Fedorov Svyatoslav Nikolaevich, for whom children were a very important part of his life, until the end of his days he maintained good, friendly relations with all his daughters, and arranged for them to work for him in various positions. But his relationship with his previous wives did not work out.

Hobbies and lifestyle

In addition to work and family, Svyatoslav Nikolaevich Fedorov, whose wives and children were a large, but not the only part of his life, had many hobbies. All his life he played a lot of sports: he swam and was an excellent horseman. He didn’t smoke, hardly drank, and wasn’t a fan of any food. At 62, he was able to realize his youthful dream and took the helm of his own plane. He flew by helicopter to regional offices to conduct operations. His life, of course, was mostly filled with work, but he also managed to get pleasure from it.

Death and memory

On June 2, 2000, tragic news spread around the world: Svyatoslav Nikolaevich Fedorov died. His death was the result of a plane crash; he was at the controls of a helicopter that crashed due to malfunctions. After the death of the academician, his family repeatedly said that the tragedy was not an accident. But investigators and journalists never found evidence of this. The surgeon's memory was immortalized in the names of streets in cities such as Kaluga and Cheboksary. There are 6 monuments to Svyatoslav Fedorov erected in Russia. Two ophthalmological institutions in Moscow bear his name.