Is it true that the Smolensk peasants traveled to France to get involved from rabies?

They tell the story that at the end of the 19th century a group of Russian peasants, who were bitten by the wolf, sent to Paris to the microbiologist Louis Pasteur for treatment. We checked how reliable this story is.

Such a story, for example, several times They told The authors of the public History Porn in VKontakte. It is reported that in 1886, in the Smolensk province, the wolf bit several peasants, and the Zemstvo figure, who read about the studies of Pasteur, Pyotr Grandenov decided to send them for treatment to France. They collected money on the road and stay in Paris, 19 peasants were brought to Paris, almost all of them were saved. The result of the vaccine allegedly even became the reason for the French who did not believe in the development of the Pasteur collected money for the construction of his research institute.

We will immediately say that the story of the Smolensk men who underwent treatment in the French capital is reflected on several authoritative resources. In particular, in 2019, the article on this topic was published on the site "Russian service BBC", And a year earlier - in the journal"New literary review". The episode is also known for English -speaking readers - in particular, it is given by Paul de Cruit in the book Microbe Hunters, Rene Walleri Rado in The Life of Pasteur And many other authors. Unfortunately, due to the specifics of these texts, the story of Smolensk patients is mentioned in them either in passing or without links to the sources of that time.

In 2020, the physician and historian of medicine Ann-Valeri Tyrion became interested in the story of the Russian peasants who came to Pasteur. In her study, she I examined This episode based on the materials of the press of that time and archival documents. The discovered scientific information is somewhat different from the published in the press and social networks.

In mid -February 1886, in a small town called Bely in the Smolensk province, several people really bit wolves. First aid was provided to the victims, some of them were even hospitalized, although at that time they did not know how to treat from rabies in Russia - infection, in fact, was a death sentence. Pavel Grudblenov told the mayor Fedor Feinov about Pasteur's experiments, he sent a telegram to the scientist. Pasteur received it on March 2 and agreed to accept patients with accompanying persons. 1000 rub. They were collected for their sending thanks to philanthropists and donation from the imperial family.

On March 13, future patients arrived in Paris by train, they were met by the Russian ambassador Baron Morenheim. The peasants were placed at the hotel and registered in a special book of records, where they recorded the surname, name, age, profession, place of birth and residence, marital status. Also, this document describes the damage caused by the wolf and the course of treatment, as well as the doctor attributed to each patient. The notes say that the arrivals from Smolensk undergo treatment "at the request of Mr. Pasteur."

Vaccination in the Pasteur laboratory begins at 11 in the morning the next day, March 14, 1886. Due to the fact that many were injured very seriously, and a lot of time passed between the infection and the beginning of the treatment, it was decided to make from one to two injections daily throughout the crescent, only 23 vaccinations. As the French newspapers of that time noted, the numerous Russian students who studied in Paris helped visitors who did not know the language from Bely. The peasants were amazed at how they were accepted: they settled in a very worthy hotel, changed their underwear and looked after. As Pasteur reported in an interview with a French journalist, he conducted the vacation of the Smolensk peasants at his own expense. Despite all the efforts, three of the 19 Smolensk peasants who arrived in Paris died of rabies - the wounds were too heavy, and the treatment began late.

At the same time, Tyrion calls not to overestimate the influence of the “delegation” from Bely on the emergence of the Pasteur Institute. As the researcher emphasizes, patients from the Smolensk province were far from the only ones who wanted to use the vaccine. Since 1885, several hundred people have been vaccinated, including the victims of the British, Germans and even Americans were brought to Pasteur. He made a speech about the results of his work at the Academy of Sciences on March 1, 1886 (12 days before the arrival of Russian peasants). Incredibly wide coverage of their treatment in the press really seriously helped, but calling it the main factor is still unnecessary.

Although the story, which is given by different sources (from VKontakte public to BBC), generally corresponds to documents, and therefore reality, often it is not the most significant details differ from these researchers. For example, a frank exaggeration also seems to be a story about peasants who went lonely in Paris, not knowing a word in French-as indicated above, Russian students helped them. In different sources, the amount that Emperor Alexander III donated to the creation of the Pasteur Institute is distinguished: from 100,000 to 300,000 francs. We also failed to find confirmation that the king awarded Pasteur the Order of St. Anna for his merits. Moreover, nevertheless, to the very fact of the trip and treatment of peasants in Paris, these subtleties have only an indirect attitude.

Is it true

What do our verdicts mean?

Read on the topic:

1. Anne-Valérie Thirion. Pasteur et les russes de smolensk
2. René Vallery-Radot. The Life of Pasteur
3. Institute Pasteur. OUR History