How Odessa doctor Khavkin rid the world of cholera and plague: The most unknown person in Russia

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

At the dawn of bacteriological science, in the most difficult working conditions in India, a vaccine against bubonic plague appeared. Rescue ampoules were invented as soon as possible immediately after the epidemic that broke out in Bombay in 1896. In fact, this vaccine was the first to provide effective results in the fight against plague. It has stood the test of time and saved millions of lives in India, North Africa and Western Asia. The developer of the drug is Dr. Khavkin, whom Chekhov called the most unknown person in Russia.

Odessa Jew and a promising scientist

Vladimir Khavkin was born in 1860 in Odessa. From an early age he gravitated towards science, distinguished by perseverance and hard work. At Novorossiysk University, Khavkin was a student of the eminent biologist Mechnikov, specializing under the influence of a mentor in protozoan zoology. As a student, he was a member of a revolutionary circle, which is why he was expelled from the university twice and was even arrested.

University administrators, offering to open the path to an academic career for a talented student, offered Khavkin to become Orthodox, but he refused. Moving away from political games, the promising biologist plunged headlong into science. But at that time, for a Jewish scientist in Russia, regardless of any giftedness, the opportunities to delve into scientific research were too limited. When Ilya Mechnikov was offered a job in Switzerland, his student followed him. A year later, he became an employee of the Pasteur Institute in Paris, where his main focus was on protecting humans from infections through sera and vaccines.

Scientific successes and experience on oneself

Khavkin's contemporaries testify that by nature Vladimir Aronovich was neither an orator nor a rebel. Silent and modest, he was animated when discussing questions of science and philosophy. Only in such cases did he hotly enter into disputes, striking the interlocutors with the broadest knowledge and the volume of re-read literature. In addition to outstanding scientific abilities, Khavkin was distinguished by incredible hard work. He turned 32 when many years of work were crowned with the first successes. A revolutionary cholera vaccine has emerged. In the summer of 1892, Khavkin tested the safety of the vaccine on himself, after which several of his friends agreed to be vaccinated. At that time, such an act was very courageous.

Now Khavkin could save residents of any part of the world from infection during repeated outbreaks of a terrible disease. It was enough just to accept the offer to use the new vaccine. But the conservative society did not dare to experiment, and Khavkin received constant refusals. “It's too good to be true,” said world renowned bacteriologist Robert Koch, commenting on the discovery of the anti-cholera drug.

Indian campaign and mass vaccination

Doubts about the productivity of the new vaccine were expressed by other scientists, including Louis Pasteur. Then Khavkin turned to Russian officials with a proposal to allow him to test the drug on the St. Petersburg periphery. The answer was something like this: "Better our hinterland will become extinct from cholera than we will accept the help of a Jew."

After some time, the scientist received permission from the British rulers to work with the vaccine in the Indian expanses, where at that time cholera was killing hundreds of thousands of people a year. In 1893, Vladimir Khavkin went to Bengal as an official bacteriologist. But there his initiatives were not welcomed with open arms. Even enlightened Europe at the end of the 19th century did not particularly trust the newly-minted salvation from the deadly plague, where could the disposition of ordinary Indians to an unfamiliar white stranger come from? Nevertheless, Khavkin was able to gain prestige among the locals. Having established the production of vaccines in India, the scientist personally engaged in vaccinations, having participated in the vaccination of more than 40 thousand people. The cases of cholera infection among those who agreed to vaccination have decreased significantly. The vaccines invented by Khavkin have since become widespread, being used in a modified form to this day.

Indian government apologies and high British awards

A new test soon followed. Three years later, a general plague raged in Bombay. And again, the fight against the epidemic was initiated by Vladimir Khavkin. The anti-plague mini-laboratory created at that time has turned today into a well-known Asian research center in the field of immunology, named after the founder, Khavkin.

The vaccination process was not easy. In 1902, in a village in the state of Punjab, after being vaccinated, about 20 people died by tragic accident. They were struck by tetanus, but vaccination critics blamed Khavkin for the incident, arguing that he did not sterilize the dishes. The scientist tried in vain to explain that such errors in his laboratory were unrealistic, after which he was forced to leave India. Only five years after the incident, the special commission established that tetanus pathogens were introduced during the autopsy of the vaccine outside the laboratory in the village. The Indian government apologized to the microbiologist and he returned to continue the work. During the same period, cholera broke out in Palestine. And the chief physician of Ishuv Yaffe regularly consulted with Dr. Khavkin on any issues. The epidemic was repaid in a short time.

The British fully appreciated the achievements of Khavkin, honoring him with one of the highest awards. Queen Victoria organized a reception in honor of the scientist with the participation of the best doctors. Among those invited was the legendary progenitor of antiseptics and the outstanding surgeon Joseph Lister. He praised Khavkin's activities with dignity and added that he considered anti-Semitism the most vile antagonism. Khavkin continued to cooperate with the British Empire during the First World War, leading the vaccination center for the military sent to the front.

And on these pre-revolutionary pictures you can see Odessa well at that time.