Between Moscow and Berlin: The Russian connections behind Flatau’s “Law of Eccentric Location of Long Pathways in Spinal Cord”

ABSTRACT

The origins of Edward Flatau’s “The Law of Eccentric Location of Long Pathways in Spinal Cord” are discussed, considering newly examined archival documents from Central State Archive of Moscow and Museum of the I. M. Sechenov University (former medical faculty of Imperial Moscow University [IMU]). These documents, together with German and Polish records, illustrate the international character of Flatau’s education and shed light on the bigger question of interactions between Moscow and Berlin fin de siècle neurologists. Flatau’s peregrinations between these two cities are documented, together with difficulties encountered due to his nationality and the changing political environment.

KEYWORDS:

• Alexei Kozhevnikov
• Edward Flatau
• history of neurology
• Imperial Moscow University
• Lazar Minor

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

¹ He suffered from migraine attacks himself.

² We examined files at the Archive of Moscow University (Fond 418) located at Central State Archive of Moscow (TsGA Moskvy). These files include “O prinyatii v chislo studentov Flyatau Eduarda” (acceptance of Edward Flatau as a student of IMU) (opis 300, delo 733); “Delo soveta Imperatorskogo Moskovskogo Universiteta o zastchistchenii lekarem Flyatau dissertatsii na stepen’ doktora meditsyny” (File of the council of Imperial Moscow University on defense of dissertation for a degree of doctor of medicine by Dr. Flatau) (opis’ 67, delo 527); “Delo meditsynskoi ispytatel’noi komissii o Flyatau Edurade” (File on medical examination commission on Edward Flatau) (opis’ 78, delo 347) and “Delo meditsynskogo fakul’teta Imperatorskogo Moskovskogo Universiteta. Flyatau E. Dissertatsiya na stepen’ doctora meditsyny” (File of medical faculty of Imperial Moscow University. Flatau E. Dissertation for a degree of doctor of medicine) (opis’ 405, delo 139). Papers of L.S. Minor at the Museum of the IM Sechenov University were also examined.

³ Curriculum vitae lekarya Eduarda Lyudvikovicha Flyatau (TsGA Moskvy, fond 418, opis’ 67, delo 527, listy 6–9). All dates are given according to the Julian calendar, which was officially used in the Russian Empire until 1918. It was 12 days behind the Gregorian calendar (introduced by that time in most European countries) in the nineteenth century.

⁴ Dmitry Petrovich Dubelir (1848–1912) was a Privatdocent of IMU who taught balneotherapy.

⁵ The quality of education and research at Imperial Warsaw University has been debated by modern historians of science (Schiller 2005a, 2005b). It is beyond the scope of this article to decide on this issue. It is worth mentioning that the quality of Imperial Warsaw University was changing between 1869 and the beginning of the twentieth century.

⁶ The Russian part of Poland consisted of several regions.

⁷ Both Ludwik Flatau and his son, Edward Flatau, were Prussian citizens.

⁸ TsGA Moskvy, fond 418, opis’ 300, delo N.733, list 21.

⁹ TsGA Moskvy, fond 418, opis’ 300, delo N.733, list 22.

¹⁰ TsGA Moskvy, fond 418, opis’ 300, delo N.733, list 42.

¹¹ Bronislav Ippolitovich Krzhimuskiy (1864-?) was a friend of E. Flatau. He graduated from IMU in 1893 and then practiced medicine in Don Region (see http://www.gen-volga.ru/alf/k.htm). In 1917, he lived in Moscow (https://stevemorse.org/russian/phonebookviewer.html?db=1&page=265).

¹² TsGA Moskvy, fond 418, opis’ 300, delo N.733, list 41.

¹³ TsGA Moskvy, fond 418, opis’ 55, delo 96, listy 28–37.

¹⁴ A letter of E. Flatau to L. Minor from Warsaw, dated December 12, 1898. Museum of the IM Sechenov University, L. S. Minor fond.

¹⁵ It was published in 1912 (see Flatau 1912).

¹⁶ “Je n’avais pas eu longtemps à rechercher de la littérature pour la présente petite note: j’ai devant moi la monographie classique, parue en 1913, qui respire toujours la fraîcheur, d’un de plus éminents des jeunes savants, jadis collaborant avec moi — du Docteur Edward Flatau” [French].

¹⁷ TsGA Moskvy, fond 418, opis’ 405, delo 139, list 1.

¹⁸ TsGA Moskvy, fond 418, opis’ 405, delo 139, listy 14–15.

¹⁹ TsGA Moskvy, fond 418, opis’ 405, delo 139, list 2.

²⁰ The full scan of the dissertation with the dedication to Kozhevnikov is available online at https://archive.org/details/zakonekstsentric00flat/mode/2up.

²¹ TsGA Moskvy, fond 418, opis’ 67, delo N.527, list 14.

Additional information

Funding

The authors reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.