From childhood, we were taught that hygiene is the key to health, and every Soviet schoolchild was painfully familiar with the “bow-legged and lame” character from the children's fairy tale by Korney Chukovsky, who calls on everyone to wash dirty. Yes, in Russia with hygiene at all times there were no such global problems as in Europe, which for this reason was called unwashed. As you know, medieval Europeans neglected personal hygiene, and some were even proud of the fact that they washed only two, or even once, in their lives. Surely you would like to know a little more about how the Europeans observed hygiene and who they called "God's pearls".
Don't steal, don't kill, don't wash
A woman takes a bath with a cup of chocolate. Unknown artist. France, 17th century
Unwashed Europe was in the Middle Ages. Many people think so. And they are wrong. On the contrary, until the 15th-16th centuries, Europeans still washed. Unforgivably often - once every six months. And in the Renaissance, paradoxically, they completely abandoned this “bad” habit. The traditions of ancient Rome, with its cult of water and famous terms, were forgotten. Louis XIV bathed only twice in his life. And after each he was so sick that the courtiers were preparing a will. The same "record" is held by Queen Isabella of Castile, who was terribly proud that the water touched her body for the first time - at baptism, and the second - before the wedding
Marital bath. Memo di Filipuccio. Fresco. Around 1320
For the Slavs, ablutions had not so much a hygienic as a sacred meaning. The bath is generally our national project. She washed and warmed, and forgive sins. But in Rus' there were no problems with firewood. Not like in Europe. What is there, even for the inquisitorial fires, there was not enough firewood. And this is sacred, not like your hygiene.
And it would be okay only firewood. The Catholic Church forbade any ablutions except those that take place during baptism (which was supposed to wash a Christian once and for all) and before the wedding. All this, of course, had nothing to do with hygiene. And it was also believed that when the body is immersed in water, especially in hot water, pores open through which water enters the body, which then will not find an exit. Therefore, supposedly the body becomes vulnerable to infections. This is understandable, because everyone washed in the same water - from the cardinal to the cook. So after water procedures, the Europeans really got sick. And strongly.
Louis XIV bathed only twice in his life. And after each he was so sick that the courtiers were preparing a will. The same "record" belongs to Queen Isabella of Castile, who was terribly proud that the water touched her body for the first time - at baptism, and the second - before the wedding.
The Church ordered to take care not of the body, but of the soul, therefore, for the hermits, dirt was a virtue, and nudity was a shame (seeing a body, not only someone else's, but also one's own, is a sin). Therefore, if they washed, then in shirts (this habit will continue until the end of the 19th century).
Lady with a dog
Hunting. Gerrit van Honthorst. 1628
Lice were called "God's pearls" and considered a sign of holiness. The troubadours in love removed the fleas from themselves and put their hearts on the lady, so that the blood, mixed in the stomach of the insect, would unite the hearts of the sweet couple. Despite all their "holiness", insects still got people. That is why everyone carried a flea-catcher or a small dog (in the case of ladies). So, dear girls, when carrying a pocket dog in a pink blanket, remember where the tradition came from.
A woman looking for fleas. Giuseppe Maria Crespi
Lice were disposed of in a different way. They soaked a piece of fur in blood and honey, and then placed it in the hair. Smelling the smell of blood, the insects were supposed to rush to the bait and get stuck in the honey. They also wore silk underwear, which, by the way, became popular precisely because of its “slipperiness”. "God's pearls" could not cling to such a smooth fabric.
Blocholovka, 18th century
This is what else! In the hope of being saved from lice, many practiced a more radical method - mercury. It was rubbed into the scalp and sometimes eaten. True, it was primarily people who died from this, not lice.
National unity
Typical medieval toilet in a knight's castle
In 1911, archaeologists unearthed ancient buildings made of burnt bricks. These were the walls of the fortress of Mohenjo-Daro, the ancient city of the Indus Valley, which arose around 2600 BC. e. Strange openings along the perimeter of buildings turned out to be toilets. The oldest found.
Then the toilets, or latrines, will be with the Romans. Neither in Mohenjo-Daro, nor in the Queen of Waters (Ancient Rome), by the way, they did not assume solitude. Sitting on their "shocks" located opposite each other around the perimeter of the hall (similar to the way seats are arranged in the subway today), the ancient Romans indulged in conversations about stoicism or epigrams of Seneca.
medieval toilets
In Medieval Europe, there were no toilets at all. Only the highest nobility. And that is very rare and the most primitive. They say that the French royal court periodically moved from castle to castle, because there was literally nothing to breathe in the old one. Human waste was everywhere: at the doors, on the balconies, in the yards, under the windows. With the quality of medieval food and unsanitary conditions, diarrhea was common - you simply could not run to the toilet.
Illustration from Marquise's book
At the end of the 13th century, a law was issued in Paris that, when pouring a chamber pot out of a window, you need to shout: “Beware of water!”. Even the fashion for wide-brimmed hats appeared only to protect expensive clothes and wigs from what was flying from above. According to the descriptions of many guests of Paris, such as Leonardo da Vinci, there was a terrible stench on the streets of the city. What is there in the city - in Versailles itself! Once there, the people tried not to leave until they met the king. There were no toilets, so “little Venice” did not smell of roses at all. Louis XIV himself, however, had a water closet. The Sun King could sit on it, even receiving guests. To be present at the toilet of high-ranking persons was generally considered “honoris causa” (especially honorable).
Public toilet for ladies. 1788 drawing from the collection of the British Library
The first public toilet in Paris appeared only in the 19th century. But it was intended exclusively ... for men. In Russia, public latrines appeared under Peter I. But also only for courtiers. True, both sexes.
And 100 years ago, the Spanish campaign to electrify the country began. It was called simply and clearly - "Toilet". It means "unity" in Spanish. Along with insulators, other faience products were also produced. The very ones whose descendants now stand in every house are toilet bowls. The first toilet with a flush tank was invented at the end of the 16th century by the courtier of the English royal court, John Harington. But the water closet was not popular - because of the high cost and lack of sewerage.
And tooth powder and thick comb
The lady at the toilet. Francois Boucher
If there were no such benefits of civilization as an elementary toilet and a bath, then there is no need to talk about a toothbrush and deodorant. Although sometimes they used brushes made of branches to brush their teeth. In Kievan Rus - oak, in the Middle East and South Asia - from arak wood. In Europe, cloths were used. And they didn't brush their teeth at all. True, the toothbrush was invented in Europe, or rather, in England. It was invented by William Addison in 1770. But mass production became far from immediately - in the 19th century. At the same time, tooth powder was invented.
And what about toilet paper? Nothing, of course. In ancient Rome, it was replaced by sponges soaked in salt water, which were attached to a long handle. In America - corn cobs, and for Muslims - plain water. In medieval Europe and in Rus', ordinary people used leaves, grass and moss. Know used silk rags.
First deodorant
It is believed that the perfume was invented only to drown out the terrible street stench. Whether this is true or not is not known for certain. But the cosmetic product, which would now be called deodorant, appeared in Europe only in the 1880s. True, back in the 9th century, someone Ziryab suggested using a deodorant (apparently of his own production) in Moorish Iberia (parts of modern France, Spain, Portugal and Gibraltar), but no one paid attention to this.
But already in ancient times, people understood: if you remove the hair in the armpit, the smell of sweat will not be so strong. The same goes for washing them. But in Europe, as we have already said, this was not practiced. As for depilation, the hair on the female body did not annoy anyone until the 1920s. Only then did European ladies think for the first time: to shave or not to shave.
The history of hygiene is the history of man's struggle for survival. Despite the fact that the enemy in this war is so small that we can’t even see it with our eyes, more than once humanity was almost defeated, and stood on the verge of extinction from terrible epidemics. The main cause of epidemics was unsanitary conditions. Contrary to Lermontov's well-known and oft-quoted poem, "Farewell, Unwashed Russia," compared to its neighbors, Russia was by no means unwashed. The traditions of hygiene here have been strong since ancient times, and the history of hygiene in Russia is much older than in many other countries.
So, if we talk about personal hygiene, then we find irrefutable information that it was maintained at a fairly high level, we already find in the first Russian chronicler, Nestor, in his famous work The Tale of Bygone Years, dating from the beginning of the 12th century. Describing the wanderings of the Apostle Andrew, the same, the first disciple of Christ, respectively, his contemporary, Nestor also mentions washing in the bath: then they make a move for themselves, and not torment. Obviously, what is being described is a traditional Russian wood-fired banya, which is still in great demand. It is possible to dispute the fact that Andrew the First-Called really saw this in Veliky Novgorod, since the difference of at least a thousand years between the events is too great, but it is obvious that in the time of Nestor, washing in the bath was quite natural.
Many travelers, arriving in Russia, were surprised at the Russian custom to take a bath in a bathhouse, about which written evidence has been preserved that has gone down in the history of hygiene in Rus'. So, one of the contemporaries of Peter the Great, chamber junker Berholz described in detail to his compatriots the traditions of the Russian bath. Peter the Great himself is known as a great lover of baths, one of which he built with his own hands, being a carpenter at a Dutch shipyard. 
Later, in St. Petersburg, they were given permission to build duty-free baths. Several beautiful baths - one for the royal family, the other simpler, for the courtiers, were built on the territory of the Grand Palace.
The history of public hygiene also indicates that great importance was attached to the maintenance of cleanliness. It was forbidden to build houses in the swampy lowlands, where the air and water are unclean: “there is no other water more harmful than swampy,” the ancient author points out. It is also known that pavement in Rus' began three hundred years earlier than in Europe, and monitoring the quality of drinking water even earlier. The famous "Domostroy", dating back to the 16th century, describes the sanitary rules for food storage and cooking.
According to written and archaeological sources, we know that hygiene in Ancient Rus' was at a fairly high level. Ibn Ruste describes the bathhouse among the Slavs, which they often used, and about the Rus says that they are "tidy in clothes." In archeology, a certain “toilet and hygiene set” of Ancient Rus' of the 10th century is also presented, which we will characterize here.
crests
In the IX - X centuries. in Europe, one-sided ornamented bone (horn) combs are widely distributed. Already O. I. Davidan proved the spread of such crests in Ancient Rus' from Western and Northern Europe. Northern Germany (Frisian combs) is considered to be the birthplace of these combs, and from there, through the islands of the North Atlantic and through Scandinavia, together with merchants and warriors, they first get to Staraya Ladoga, and then widely spread in Ancient Rus' (Davidan, 1962. p. 100 ). Moreover, such combs are found mainly in trade and craft and early city centers, where elements of the “druzhina culture” are clearly manifested. For example, Swedish colleagues, in the context of studying the Birka garrison, quite unequivocally write that one-sided ornamented combs are elements of male and military culture (Hedenstierna-Jonson, 2006. P. 54): during excavations of a burnt long house where the military garrison of Birka was located, about 40 combs with cases, which became an additional basis for counting the number of the garrison - about 40 people (confirmed by the materials of the burial ground).
Single sided combs. Old Ladoga.
Known in the tenth century. and one-sided bone combs with a high back. They are often decorated with zoomorphic ornaments - images of horses or birds. Such ridges are found in Staraya Ladoga, the Vladimir mounds, in Timerevo and in the Sarsk settlement. At the end of the tenth century bone whole bilateral combs appear (Drevnaya Rus. Life and Culture, 1998, p. 20).
Combs with a high back. Old Ladoga.
Kopoushki
Special small "spatulas" for cleaning the ears. Kopoushki were extremely popular toilet accessories of many peoples of Eurasia and even Africa. They appeared in the Bronze Age. In the 1st millennium AD e. are found in the burials of the Huns, Avars and Goths. Widely distributed from Merovingian France to Tang China. Among the Komi and Udmurts, kopoushki existed until the 19th century, and now they successfully exist in the traditional culture of the Khanty, Mansi and Buryats (Salangina, 2004, p. 2).
The smallest of the medieval Eastern European kopoushki is 3 cm long, the largest is 14 cm. The legs and plates-holders of the kopoushki are often ornamented. The range of ornamental themes is the widest: from the usual geometric ornament to images of birds, animals and people. Up to 60% of medieval kopoushki have an ornament.
Kopoushka. Tag.
In the tenth century kopoushki were made of bronze and bone, and bone products in Eastern Europe predominate almost twice as much as metal ones. Most likely, kopoushki were also made of wood, but no data on this has been preserved. In the VIII - X centuries. among the Alans, Hungarians and, more broadly, the main population of the Saltov-Mayak culture, almost all known kopoushki are made of bronze. Among the Finns, bone kopoushki predominate, although bronze ones are also widespread in the weighty and Karelian lands. From exotic materials that do not belong to our period - a thousand years earlier, the Scythians and Sarmatians knew kopoushki made of gold and glass. Old Russian materials of the tenth century. as always, polyethnic - we have common kopoushki and bone, and bronze.
An analysis of the burial materials of Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages (including the Finnish population) showed that 70% of the burials with kopoushkas are female (Salangina, 2004, p. 14). It can probably be said that the kopoushka is predominantly (but not exclusively) a female attribute. In addition to utilitarian functions, kopoushki could serve as jewelry-pendants and amulets-amulets.
Kopoushki. Old Ladoga.
Scissors
In the tenth century spring and articulated scissors were simultaneously distributed. Spring ones are numerically predominant. They were used in various areas of life - from cutting nails to shearing sheep. Toilet appointment, of course, had scissors with a small length of the cutting blade.
Spring scissors. Total length - 13 cm. Staraya Ladoga.
Hinged scissors - less common in the tenth century. and, one might say, a more "privileged" type. They are known in Gnezdovo, in Timerevo, on Shestovitsa and on the Sarsk settlement. Most likely, this type of scissors came to Rus' from the Arab world through our steppe neighbors (most likely with the help of Arab merchants). For example, in Sarkel alone, 6 pairs of articulated scissors were found.
A rather interesting specimen of articulated scissors was found in 2003 in Gnezdovo. They are forged from iron; a small round bronze plate is placed under the connecting stud; surviving traces of copper alloy suggest that the handles of the scissors were completely covered with bronze. On one of the handles during restoration, an Arabic inscription "Allah" was revealed (Murasheva, Eniosova, Fetisov, 2007, pp. 43 - 44).
Articulated scissors with the inscription "Allah" on the handle. Gnezdovo.
Razors
In Ancient Rus', they appear rather late. In Novgorod, razors were widely distributed in the 13th century. The finds of razors in Berestye (Brest) belong to an earlier time (XI - XII centuries) (Ancient Rus'. Life and culture, 1998. P. 18).
About the razors of the Viking Age, information is quite contradictory. Before the "Novgorod-Ladoga" form of razors, which was classical for the Middle Ages, was formed, certain products of the 9th - 10th centuries were attributed to razors. is quite problematic.
Folding razors. 13th century Novgorod.
It has not yet been fully determined whether knives or razors are in the 10th century. folding products with a wide blade. Such folding knives are known in the 7th - 8th centuries. on the territory of modern Germany; at the end of the Vendel Age and in the Viking Age, they also spread in Scandinavia - they were found in Valsgerd and in Birka.
Subject interpreted for the tenth century. like a razor, comes from Gnezdovo. According to the description of D. A. Avdusin, this is “the oldest iron razor in Rus', short and wide, folding, like modern “dangerous” razors. She had a brass handle."
Makushnikov's 1999 publication speaks of a 10th-century razor found in Nisimkovichi - folding, but with a straight blade (Makushnikov, 1999, p. 139).
Folding razor (?) from Nisimkovichi.
Thus, the spread of traditional razors in Ancient Rus' in the tenth century. it is still impossible to determine exactly. But how did our distant ancestors shave? And what they shaved - we know for sure from written sources.
Tweezers
Among the ways to remove hair from the face, there is one completely cannibalistic version - tweezers.
Tweezers, like scissors, were multifunctional tools. In addition to jewelry and craft tweezers of various sizes, toilet tweezers are also traditionally distinguished. It is believed that they plucked facial hair. The fashion for them came to Ancient Rus' from Northern Europe. Already in the Vendel era, in the 6th - 7th centuries, such tweezers were known in Gotland. In the Viking Age, toilet tweezers were common in Scandinavia (in the same Birka), where they are found mainly in male burials.
Toilet tweezers. Tag.
There are 4 Scandinavian bronze toilet tweezers known at Rurik's Settlement. The tops of three of them are decorated in the form of human heads in headdresses (Pushkina, 1988). Such tweezers are known in Gnezdovo and in Novoselki near Smolensk.
The tip of a toilet tweezer. Gnezdovo.
Literature:
- Davidan O. I. Ridges of Staraya Ladoga // ASGE. Issue. 4. L. 1962.
- Makushnikov O. A. Medieval settlement and Nisimkovichi-1 burial ground in Posozhye // GAZ. Minsk. 1999. Issue. 14.
- Murasheva V. V., Eniosova N. V., Fetisov A. A. Forging and jewelry workshop of the floodplain part of the Gnezdovsky settlement // Gnezdovo. The results of complex research of the monument. SPb. 2007.
- Pushkina T. A. Scandinavian finds from Gorodische near Novgorod // SS. Tallinn. 1988. Issue. XXXI.
- Salangina S. V. Kopoushki as a historical source (based on materials from archaeological sites in Eastern Europe). AKD. Izhevsk. 2004.
- Old Ladoga. The ancient capital of Rus'. Exhibition catalogue. SPb. 2003.
- Hedenstierna-Jonson Ch. The Birka warrior. Stockholm. 2006.
Victory over cold. The eastern part of Europe from the Arctic Ocean to the Black and Caspian Seas has been inhabited for several millennia BC. The living conditions of our distant ancestors were not homogeneous and differed greatly from those in which the ancient Greeks and Romans lived. Wide steppes in the south, impenetrable forests in the north made life not only difficult, but also dangerous. The fight against hunger, the raids of neighboring tribes and the cold were the main concern of the inhabitants of these territories.
Our ancestors lived in dugouts or huts made of branches. Somewhat later, they learned to build houses from logs. The floor in them was earthen, and the windows were cut through near the ground. A hearth was made of stones in the corner. The smoke from it left through a window or a door. Such buildings have existed for many years.
The next step in the fight against "cold" was the invention of the stove. The stove differs from the hearth in that it has chimneys. The smoke does not enter the room, but is taken out. This invention was an important achievement in communal hygiene, not only because the air in the room became cleaner, but and because the oven made it possible to better process the food, it created a more uniform heating.This contributed to the improvement of nutrition.
A log house, in which there was a hearth or stove, began to be called a hut. According to some historians, the word "hut"
Fig.1. A letter on birch bark: A - the pose of a scribe; B - birch bark with inscriptions; B wrote.
comes from the word "istba", which in the Old Slavic language arose from the word "stove". Now people could regulate the temperature in the room, which was very important for residents of areas with cold winters.
The development of writing and the solution of hygienic problems associated with writing. New discoveries often solved not only cultural and technical problems, but also hygienic ones. By the end of the XVI century. writing on paper was firmly established in Rus'. But they wrote before, though not on paper, but on birch bark. They used writing as feathers - sharp objects with which they scratched out inscriptions. Not immediately people came to the modern way of writing - sitting at a table or standing near it. In ancient times, birch bark was held in the left hand, which rested with the elbow on the left knee (Fig. 1). The letters were written with the right hand. One word was not separated from another, they often resorted to abbreviations, only at the end of the phrase they sometimes put a period, other punctuation marks were absent. Such a letter caused a number of difficulties of a purely hygienic nature. An uncomfortable posture caused a large static load in a person, and writing was a rather tedious task. In order to write or read such a text, it was necessary to expend a lot of nervous energy. The scribe and the reader were tired not only physically, but also mentally. At that time, people did not know the continuous letter (it was invented later) and wrote out each letter separately. This greatly reduced productivity.
The appearance of paper, light goose feathers and continuous writing not only accelerated the work, but also solved many hygienic issues. It became convenient to write, and this was reflected in labor productivity. An ancient chronicler, even the most qualified, could fill out 2-3 sheets in a day, 4-5 sheets was considered a record.
Sanitary-hygienic culture in Kievan Rus and Moscow principality. The development of writing contributed to the strengthening of sanitary propaganda. In the XI-XII centuries. some books appear in Rus' that deal with hygiene issues. Among them are Vladimir Monomakh's Teachings and the work of his granddaughter, Princess Eupraxia, Ointment. Eupraxia lived in Kyiv, then moved to Byzantium. There she became acquainted with the works of Hippocrates and Galen, who had a certain influence on her. These books described the healing effect of many herbs, talked about the importance of clean air, how to maintain health at different times of the year, about movement and rest, nutrition and drink, sleep and wakefulness, about a bath, about pregnancy and choosing a nurse, about leaving for the newborn. The book contains many useful tips that are not outdated today.
The Mongol-Tatar hordes brought many troubles to the Slavic peoples: famine, extermination of people, numerous epidemics. After the battle on the Kulikovo field, where Dmitry Donskoy inflicted a crushing defeat on the Tatar hordes, the Russian principalities began to strengthen, among which Moscow became the most powerful.
The victory over the Tatar horde led to the rise of agriculture and the revival of crafts. The Moscow state becomes the center of Russian culture. The promotion of hygiene knowledge is also intensifying. This is evidenced by the literary monument "Domostroy" that has come down to us, in which, along with others, sanitary-hygienic and pedagogical issues are raised.
Domostroy describes in detail the methods of wet cleaning the premises, it says how to wash and scrub the floors, walls, tables and benches in the hut, how to keep the canopy and porch in order, where to lay matting, and where to pour hay so that you can wipe your feet.
The authors of "Domostroy" demanded that everyone, adults and children, wash their hands before eating, before cooking and before any work. The book contained many recipes for cooking, paid attention to the cleanliness of dishes, it was even reported what to give for breakfast, lunch and dinner to gentlemen, what to servants, what to eat on weekdays, and what on holidays.
The section on the storage of food, in particular fish, is interesting. Salting and freezing of products are recommended here, and many other useful recipes are given.
In "Domostroy" certain attention was paid to the milking of cows. Milkmaids were advised to wash their hands cleanly, rinse with warm water, and then wipe the cow's udder, milk into a clean sump and in a clean place.
Fig.2. Clothing and hats of the boyars of the 17th century: A - fur coat; B - caftan; B - "throated * hat; G - tafya; D - cap.
Fashion XV-XVII centuries. and hygiene problems. The general sanitary culture at that time remained at a rather low level. Considerations of prestige, a tribute to fashion, often turned out to be stronger than hygienic considerations and common sense. The boyars received guests in sable coats and fur hats even in the summer. Moreover, the rich boyar wore three hats at once: at the bottom there was a flat tafya hat, on it was a fur cap, on a cap with sable "throated" hat. The sleeves were made long, to the very floor (Fig. 2). In the mansions they burned hot, in order to show that the owners do not save on firewood.
Discrepancies between hygiene requirements and fashion, unfortunately, still occur today, despite the fact that the level of hygiene propaganda is now very high.
It will not be difficult to understand why the boyars put prestige and fashion above convenience, given that wealth and luxury fenced them off from the common people who lived in extreme poverty. Uncomfortable boyar clothes were canceled by Peter I.
Sanitary and hygienic reforms of Peter I. The growth of sanitary culture in Russia in the 18th century. associated primarily with the reforms of Peter I, in which much attention was paid to sanitary legislation. Under Peter 1, decrees were issued on the protection of troops from diseases, food trade rules, it was forbidden to put fallen cattle on sale, and trade in the meat of sick animals. The pavement was improved.
Under Peter I, steps were also taken to improve hygiene propaganda among students. In 1719, the handbook "An Honest Mirror of Youth, or Indications for Worldly Behavior" was published, where many issues of etiquette were explained and sanitary and hygienic rules of behavior in society were reported.
Problems of hygiene in the works of M.V. Lomonosov. Under Catherine II, the first smallpox vaccine was vaccinated in Russia. The daredevil was no more than 8 years old. The queen granted him the nobility and coat of arms. However, the sanitary and hygienic culture of the common people was at an extremely low level. A threatening situation was created by infant mortality.
An important contribution to the development of hygienic science in Russia was made by M.V. Lomonosov. In the work "On the reproduction and preservation of the Russian people", published after the death of the author, the causes of diseases of children in orphanages, in the families of peasants and poor townspeople were analyzed. An abridged edition of the book appeared in 1818, a complete edition in 1871.
One of the important causes of infant mortality, according to M.V. Lomonosov, there were church rites. Lomonosov described in detail the most common and dangerous childhood diseases, their symptoms and treatment. He proposed to send this information to all parishes and orphanages so that literate people could provide assistance if necessary, since there were simply no doctors in many regions of Russia.
The sanitary and hygienic state of the army and the civilian population during and after the Patriotic War of 1812. Practical measures that solved many sanitary and hygienic problems in the army were associated with the activities of M.Ya. Mudrova. A long stay in European countries and a good knowledge of Russia allowed him not only to generalize previous experience, but also to come up with a number of original solutions.
The coming to power of Napoleon and the aggravation of relations between Russia and France indicated the approach of the war, which broke out in 1812. All his energy M.Ya. Mudrov directs to improve the sanitary condition of the Russian army. He studied in detail the diseases most common in the troops, and developed a system of rules to prevent them. Life in the conditions of the barracks favored the emergence of many infectious diseases. It was necessary to determine the "number of doctors and paramedics to assist one or another unit, equip them with the necessary knowledge to control the quality of food, water, living conditions, and fight infectious diseases. M. Ya. Mudrov understood that in order to solve these important issues, it is necessary develop hygiene methods using the methods of related sciences: physics, chemistry, biology, medicine.Many of these issues were successfully resolved by him.M.Ya.Mudrov developed measures to prevent a number of dangerous diseases.Under his leadership and with his personal participation, the fight against cholera epidemics was carried out in St. Petersburg and Saratov.In 1831, in St. Petersburg, during the elimination of the cholera epidemic, he died of this disease.
Experimental direction of hygiene in Russia. With the development of capitalism in Russia, new industries are emerging, and with them the problems of labor protection are growing. In the 30-50s. of the last century, they become so acute that many progressive cultural figures draw the attention of the people to them: V.G. Belinsky, D.I. Pisarev, N.G. Chernyshevsky, N.A. Nekrasov, other raznochintsy democrats. To some extent, this was facilitated by successes in the field of military hygiene, which was continued by N.I. Pirogov and A.P. Dobroslavin.
A.P. Dobroslavin was the first in Russia to create a hygienic laboratory, where he conducted a number of experimental studies. He organized an analytical station for the study of the good quality of food products. With the name of A.P. Dobroslavin is associated with the introduction of sanitary examination. Prior to this, there was virtually no systematic sanitary supervision in the country, although attempts were made to introduce it, starting with the decrees of Peter I.A.P. Dobroslavin is the founder of the experimental direction in domestic hygiene.
Development of school, social and communal hygiene in Russia. F.F. approached the solution of hygienic issues from a slightly different position. Erisman (1842-1915). The range of his interests was unusually wide: from the most general issues of social hygiene to school hygiene. Originally from Switzerland, he received an excellent education in European countries and was invited to Russia as an ophthalmologist. Here he studied the effect of tobacco and alcohol consumption on vision, studied eye diseases in high school students. The study of eye diseases and their prevention, the study of skeletal disorders in children resulting from improper sitting, led F.F. Erisman to the idea of the need to create a school desk. Erisman's desks have been preserved in many schools to this day. These are familiar double benches and tables with an inclined top table, under which two niches for portfolios are made.
F.F. Erisman found that when sitting at a desk (of course, provided that the desk is matched to height), a rational posture is provided during reading, writing, lectures, which contributes to the normal development of the skeleton and muscles, prevents violation of posture and myopia in students.
Great merit belongs to F.F. Erisman in the field of social hygiene and occupational health. He studies in detail the working conditions at various enterprises in Moscow and its environs, St. Petersburg and creates the book "Professional Hygiene or Hygiene of Mental and Physical Labor". In addition, he writes a large number of accusatory articles that are used by the revolutionary press. The Academic Council of Moscow State University awards him the title of Doctor of Medicine and invites him to head the Department of Hygiene at the Medical Faculty of Moscow University. He served in this position for 14 years. In 1896, F. F. Erisman, among 42 university professors, demanded a review of the case of students expelled by the police for revolutionary activities. In response to this, the tsarist government demanded the dismissal of these professors and F.F. Erisman was forced to return to his homeland in Switzerland. Place F.F. Erisman was occupied by his student G.V. Khlopin.
Using the methods of analysis of environmental factors, G.V. Khlopin continued the research begun by A.P. Dobroslavin, and made a significant contribution to the theoretical foundations of communal hygiene. The methodology he created for studying the suitability for consumption of food products is still used today. He dealt with issues of water supply, fought against pollution of rivers by industrial waste, dealt with occupational health and nutrition problems.
The main stages in the development of hygienic science and sanitation in our country after the great October socialist revolution
Sanitary and hygienic decrees adopted with the participation of V.I. Lenin. The tsarist government left a heavy legacy to the Soviet state. About a million people died every year from epidemics, over 40% of children did not live up to 5 years. The anti-people policy of the autocracy led to a deplorable sanitary condition in many cities and villages. Hunger, devastation, epidemics, homelessness of children and adolescents, civil war and intervention were a heavy burden on the population.
In December 1917, the Decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR was issued signed by V.I. Lenin "On the appointment of a collegium in charge of the Main Military Sanitary Directorate". The task of this body included not only the organization of assistance to the wounded soldiers, but also the provision of anti-epidemic protection of the population and troops. Mass vaccinations were made against typhoid and cholera. In order to reduce child mortality, already on the 6th day of Soviet power, a law was passed on providing women with paid maternity leave and child benefits.
These were the first sanitary laws. In July 1918, the People's Commissariat of Health of the RSFSR was established at the All-Russian Congress of Soviets. N.A. became the first People's Commissar of Health. Semashko. In the same 1918, the Decree on the 8-hour working day was issued.
Of great importance in the history of Soviet hygiene and sanitation was the VIII Congress of the RCP, where a new party program was adopted. It ended with the following resolution: "As a basis for its activities in the field of protecting public health, the RCP proposes, first of all, the implementation of extensive health-improving and sanitary measures aimed at preventing the development of diseases." These measures included: improvement of populated areas (protection of soil, water, air); setting up public catering on a scientific and hygienic basis; organizing measures to prevent the development and spread of contagious diseases; creation of sanitary legislation; fight against social diseases (tuberculosis, alcoholism, etc.); provision of public, free and qualified medical care.
A radical restructuring of the old private medicine and the creation of the Soviet socialist health care system began. First of all, it was necessary to overcome the epidemics that affected the troops, the population of cities and villages. To this end, by the end of 1920, 300 bath-laundry and disinfection units were organized, 30 bath-trains, which could serve 130 thousand people a day. In 1919, the Decree on the Sanitary Protection of Dwellings was issued.
In April 1919 V.I. Lenin signed the Decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR "On Mandatory Smallpox Vaccination". This was the beginning of the immunization of the population. As a result, smallpox in our country was eliminated long before 1980, when the World Health Organization announced the complete deliverance of humanity from this infection. Smallpox is no longer vaccinated. However, many infectious diseases still remained, therefore, in 1958, the vaccination calendar was approved, which is valid on the territory of our country. It specifies at what age and against what diseases every child should be vaccinated in order to protect him from the most dangerous infections.
The state of hygiene and sanitation during the Great Patriotic War and in subsequent years. The Great Patriotic War was a severe test for our state, for the entire Soviet people. At the same time, if during the First World War and the Civil War people died not only from bullets and shells, but also from infections, then during the Great Patriotic War these losses were incomparably smaller. Even in besieged Leningrad, the sanitary service was at such a high level that there were no epidemics. Managed to overcome another danger: beriberi. During the First World War, many soldiers and civilians died from scurvy. During the Great Patriotic War, the army and the civilian population did not suffer from a lack of vitamin C. They boiled nettles, made infusions of needles and ate them. These simple means made it possible to obtain the necessary doses of vitamin C that people could not get from traditional foods.
Sanitary legislation in the USSR. In the post-war period, hygiene becomes a diversified science. In addition to social, communal and personal hygiene, food hygiene, labor hygiene, hygiene of children and adolescents, hygiene of physical culture and sports, and then space and radiation hygiene are being further developed.
At the same time, sanitary legislation is being improved. The first resolution on the establishment of sanitary authorities was adopted in 1927, since 1933 the sanitary inspection begins to operate, and since 1939 sanitary and epidemiological stations (SES) have been created. They operate in all republics, regions, cities, district centers. There are also branch stations, for example, SES of water transport. In 1969, the Fundamentals of the legislation of the USSR and the Union republics on health care were approved. This document states that all enterprises and institutions are obliged to ensure the sanitary and epidemiological well-being of the population, to carry out activities aimed at eliminating and preventing pollution of the natural environment, improving the work and life of the population, and preventing diseases. A special item provides for the expansion of activities that introduce the population to a sanitary culture.
Attention to environmental problems is also preserved in the 1987 resolution "On the Main Directions for the Development of Public Health Protection and the Restructuring of Public Health in the USSR in the Twelfth Five-Year Plan and for the Period up to 2000". This is no coincidence. The power of modern industry is such that it can disrupt the ecological balance created by millennia of evolution. The resolution emphasizes that this contradiction can only be resolved by organizing nature management on a scientific basis. Solving departmental tasks without taking into account environmental consequences has led and continues to lead to major mistakes, which are extremely difficult to correct. Even such a harmless, it would seem, technological process, like floating timber with individual logs, causes serious changes in the aquatic environment, which ultimately affect the health of the population. With this method of floating timber, part of the logs sinks. They start to rot. Decay products, including phenols, enter the water. They poison the fish: red spots appear on the skin of the fish, their subcutaneous vessels burst, and the gills turn yellow. Not only the marketable appearance of fish is lost, but also its nutritional value. Cheap timber rafting then requires a lot of money to fish out the sunken logs and somehow clean up the rivers. Valuable species of fish are being lost, which cannot enter polluted rivers to spawn.
Scientific nature management requires the joint work of specialists from many fields, including hygienists, who can determine how certain production processes will affect the health of the population in the future. This is a very difficult task, because you have to foresee the consequences that may come in many years.
It is planned to organize preventive work in a fundamentally different way. Usually a person goes to the doctor when they feel unwell, often when the disease is advanced and it is difficult to treat it. The resolution outlines a plan for the transition to a general medical examination of the population. This means that every year each person will be examined by doctors of various specialties in order to identify diseases as early as possible and, if necessary, provide timely assistance. Clinical examinations are now being carried out by workers in the chemical industry, mines, metallurgical plants, and the population of large cities. Gradually, medical examination is expected to cover all residents of the country. However, the success of this event will depend not only on doctors, but also on the consciousness of the population.
In the resolution, a special paragraph emphasizes the importance of health education, without which it is impossible even to talk about a healthy lifestyle. Is it possible to build stadiums, is it useful to discover if no one visits them?
A lot has been written about the benefits of movement, hardening, proper nutrition, the dangers of smoking and drinking alcohol. Many people know about it, but not everyone follows useful recommendations.
But just knowing is not enough, you must be able to carry out the planned program. Of course, everyone will have their own, but if it is built taking into account sanitary and hygienic recommendations, then success will come. health clubs, purchase expensive exercise equipment.
In the age of scientific and technological progress, the role of hygiene is increasing. She is forced to solve many environmental issues related to the protection of nature throughout the globe. The problem of "Man and the biosphere" turned out to be in the center of her interests. Its essence is to save life on Earth.
Hygiene develops measures that can no longer be useful if carried out in only one country, even in the most powerful. Only through the efforts of many countries, of all mankind, it is possible to preserve and improve the conditions necessary for the existence of life on our planet.
Recently, a bunch of texts and pictures have spread over the Internet on the topic of how dirty, smelly and homeless people were in medieval Europe. Some also with a “patriotic” message, something de but in Rus' once a week they went to the bathhouse and were clean. Well, after that, about the obscurantist churchmen who forbade people to wash themselves and about the streets of cities, flooded knee-deep with sewage.
Let me tell you a little about how it really happened.
Naturally, modern hygiene standards, such as showers twice a day, were not applied then. Note that even now they are not observed by everyone, even residents of civilized countries. In ancient times, most ordinary people, both in Russia and in Europe, washed about once a week.
To begin with, we note that a healthy person who does not have the habit of regularly drunkenly wallowing in his own vomit and urinating in his pants, even with a washing regimen once a week, does not smell particularly terrible and disgusting. Everyone who has ever gone on more or less long hikes knows this very well. There is a slight smell of old sweat, which is only noticeable if you sniff it, because it is almost completely clogged with the smell of smoke that eats into clothes and hair.
This is how ordinary people in Europe smelled about the same for many hundreds of years. An open fire in the hearth was a constant companion of life, clothes were dried over the fire, people gathered around the fire in the evenings. The hood was imperfect, houses heated "by black" - that is, without a chimney, just with a hole in the ceiling above the hearth, were typical until the 19th century, so the smoke was the main "human" smell and deodorant at the same time.
As for washing itself, ordinary people washed about once a week. Washing technology, I believe, is known to many readers, at times of seasonal shutdown of hot water: pots of hot water, a basin and a ladle. Little has changed here in a thousand years :)
Illustrations:
Medieval miniature:
Engraving:
And a painting by Edgar Degas
Representatives of the wealthier classes could afford to take a bath. In the absence of plumbing, it was a troublesome business and you can’t do without servants - you need to heat the water, drag it into the bath, and then scoop out the bath with the same buckets and pour out the water.
Wiping with a wet cloth was a common routine of daily hygiene. This procedure remained popular even later - until the 18th century (yes, those same "powdered awnings" took care of their hygiene in this way.
Another hygienic procedure that came from antiquity and remained popular in some regions of Europe until the 17th century is the smearing of the body with oil with special additives and the subsequent scraping off of this mass with a scraper. Such an ancient analogue of modern spa treatments :)
in general, there are so many images of washing and bathing in miniatures, paintings and engravings of that time, as well as references to them in ballads and other folklore, that it is possible to think that it was something exceptional and "people washed once in a lifetime" can only be completely ignorance.
Now about the "obscurantist churchmen." One of the most common myths is the story that, at the initiative of the church, public baths in cities were closed, and therefore everyone went dirty. Those who tell this do not take into account that these baths really were, um .. a hotbed of vice, and they did not go there at all to wash themselves. Well, just like now, “sauna with girls” is by no means a hygienic event. And it is unlikely that a person who does not go to the sauna regularly will now be considered “dirty”.
Public bath. German engraving from the 16th century
But there is another aspect, much less obvious to people unfamiliar with history. The case concerns the issues of confrontation between Christianity and Judaism. A fair number of Jews lived in Europe, and many of them, in order to avoid persecution and infringement of their rights, were formally baptized, but continued to secretly practice the religion of their ancestors. From the point of view of Christian theologians, such behavior was classified as heresy and was strongly discouraged and persecuted. One of the rituals of Judaism is ritual washing through immersion in water to cleanse from ritual impurity. - mikveh. It is clear that the encrypted Jews tried to disguise this rite as household hygiene procedures. And that is why washing by immersion, especially of several people in the same water, aroused very strong suspicions about the possible ritual nature of these actions, and the zealots of Christian piety considered it necessary to play it safe just in case.
It is with this that the often quoted (without indicating the source and without understanding the essence) refusals of the Spanish kings and queens from washing in the bath / pool are associated. This is not a hatred of hygiene, but a refusal to commit one specific action - complete immersion in water.
However, public baths have flourished throughout European history.
Another myth concerns the horrendous unsanitary conditions of medieval cities. Like, the streets are knee-deep in sewage, chamber pots pour out directly from the window on the heads of similar people, etc.
This is also a strong exaggeration. Indeed, in medieval cities, the drainage system was open - along the edges of the streets there were gutters designed to drain rainwater. Often they swam and any garbage. Well, it is clear that individual citizens sometimes urinated in them.
Actually the toilets were arranged according to the principle of a village toilet. Cesspools were cleared by sewers, who removed this very thing from the city at night. Occupation, of course, not entirely honorable, but necessary, and in medieval cities, representatives of this profession united in guilds, according to the same principle as representatives of other professions. In some regions, sewers were called quite poetically "night master".
Chamber pots poured directly from the window on the heads of passers-by, as a rule, only when these passers-by got the inhabitants of the house with noise under the windows. In other cases, for such things you could get trouble from the city authorities and a fine. In general, in many cities the homeowner was responsible for the cleanliness of the street in front of his house.
As for the cited descriptions of utter filth and stench, they refer mainly to Paris in the 15th and 16th centuries. Then it really was a huge (by then standards) overpopulated metropolis, and the usual measures to restore order and cleanliness there, apparently, were insufficient. But the mere fact that in the descriptions of the then Paris by contemporaries this detail occurs so often allows us to conclude that Paris was an exception, and in other cities it was much cleaner - otherwise this detail would not deserve special mention.
So the stories about Europeans overgrown with mud, living in the middle of a sea of sewage, are still myths. I wonder why these myths are so popular.
PS: Most of the illustrations are taken from the diary
