BULLETIN FOR THE HISTORY OF CHEMISTRY
Volume 50, 2025
Lewis, David E., “Poisons and Poisoning: Sergei Alekseevich Gromov (1774-1856) and the First Textbook of Forensic Medicine in Russia,”Bull. Hist. Chem., 2025, 50, 6-20.
https://doi.org/10.70359/bhc2025v050p006
Abstract/Description: Sergei Alekseevich Gromov was the author of the first Russian textbook on forensic medicine, but there is
relatively little information about the man himself. In 1802 he graduated from the Imperial Medical-Surgical Academy in St. Petersburg. From 1803 he worked at the St. Petersburg military hospital, and then was sent on a three-year komandirovka (paid study leave) abroad. Returning to Russia, he headed the department of midwifery and forensic medicine at the academy from 1806. In 1808 he was approved as an extraordinary professor, and in 1809 as an ordinary professor. In 1819, he was elected Academician in the Medical-Surgical Academy, and in 1834 he became Emeritus Professor of the Academy. He was elected vice-president of the Medical-Surgical Academy, was a member of the Medical Council, a member of the committee for the transformation of civil medical administration in Russia, a member of the committee for the publication of the General Journal of Medical Sciences, and more. Among his students were many outstanding doctors in Russia. This paper focuses on the chapters on forensic chemistry in the 1838 edition of his book.