This aphorism, which describes the attitude of the Secretary General to the work of doctors, is often used both in the context of the Soviet past and to describe the current situation. We decided to check if he really belongs to Stalin.

The mention of this phrase of Stalin can be found in numerous media: in "Moscow Komsomolets","Vesti.ru","New newspaper","Kommersant","Radio Liberty","Russian newspaper". In other publications, this phrase is attributed to the People's Commissar of Health Nikolai Semashko. Such an attribution is found in the materials "Mercy" Air Force, "Vedomosti","Arguments and facts", As well as in the already mentioned"Moscow Komsomolets" And "Kommersant".

Mostly subordination of the national corps of the Russian language this phrase Not found In general, in the newspaper - only her mention With attribution, Semashko is without any attribution.

The gradual restriction of the search period in Google allows you to find the first mention of this phrase - in publications magazine "Kommersant. Money ”dated October 18, 2000. The article “Neither give nor take” tells: “It is no coincidence that Stalin, as they say, refusing once in raising salaries to health workers, noticed that the people will feed the people themselves a good doctor.” Neither the mention of Nikolai Semashko, nor the fate of bad doctors in the phrase yet.

The Google Books service allows you to find this idea in earlier publications, but without mentioning Stalin - for example, in collection Leonid Podolsky’s “flood”: “In the arguments of his father was everyday logic: a strong profession, a roof over his head, a piece of bread with butter (“ people will feed the people ”).”

The earliest appearance of similar thoughts in books, according to the Google Books service, is 1958. In Russian Translations The Kazakh poet Sultanmate Toraigrov, made by Alexander Zhovtis, has lines: “Agronomy must be engaged in and learn. And the people willingly feed the agronomist as a doctor. ” However, the translation is posthumous, Toraigrov died Back in 1920.

A significant role in the management of the state, in particular the opportunity to raise or not raise salaries, Stalin I could not Get earlier than 1922. Not in any historical document, a transcript of the congress or memoirs of people personally familiar with him, there is no mention of at least some thought that the people will feed their doctors. As can be seen from the poem by Toraigrov, such an idea was popular no later than 1920.

Thus, most likely, the aphorism of the people who nursing doctors exist long before Joseph Stalin headed the Soviet Union. At first, it is found without mentioning such an attribution, but after publication in Kommersant in 2000, together with the name of the politician, it begins to grow in details. There are such details of the conversation as communication with the People's Commissariat of Hall Semashko about raising salaries to doctors and adding about the fate of bad doctors.

Image on the cover: Public Domain