Guarding public health: cooperation between the Pirogov Society of Russian Physicians and the clergy

The article analyzes the practices of medical education in the late 19th century. It examines the experience of "popular readings" ( narod­nye chteniia ) organized by members of the Commission for the Dissemination of Hygienic Knowledge among the People of the Pirogov Society of Russian Physicians in collaboration with the clergy. The foundations of this cooperation are explored. On the one hand, medical courses were part of spiritual education; the prevention of smallpox and cholera was among the duties of priests, who were frequently consulted for medical advice. On the other hand, a significant percentage of the medical community consisted of the children of clergymen ( popovichi ). Based on publications in both medical and religious press, the article traces the efforts of physicians and priests to combine spiritual and medical content in these "readings", spanning the period from the fifth cholera pandemic of the 1890s to the 1905 Revolution. Special attention is paid to educational activities in Moscow and the Moscow Governorate. The author concludes that there was a commonality of goals between priests and physicians — the prevention of epidemics, the organization of "wholesome entertainment", and the transformation of the people's worldview — which fostered mutually beneficial cooperation between these professional groups during the period under study.