Provision of urban amenities by the city public administration of Nakhichevan-on-Don: hospitals and the sanitary condition of the city in the second half of 19th century

Abstract

Introduction. The history of the city of Nakhichevan-on-Don is insufficiently studied. Active research of this topic began only at the end of the 20th-beginning of the 21st centuries. There are practically no special studies on the history of medicine in Nakhichevan.Materials and methods. The entire existing complex of scientific research of each period can be divided into two big groups. The first one is represented by general works on the history of the Armenians of the Lower Don, which in one way or another touch upon the issues of settlement; the second group includes works devoted to the history and culture of the Don Armenians. The sources available on the problem under study can be divided into the following groups: office documents, regulatory documents, statistical sources, sources of personal origin, and materials of periodicals.Analysis. The work is devoted to the study of the activities of the Nakhichevan-on-Don city public administration aimed at improvement, the most important aspects of which were public health and the sanitary condition of the city.There was no professional medical care in the city. Yekaterinoslav governor appeals to the Nakhichevan mayor with a demand to open a hospital in Nakhichevan-on-Don. The building for the hospital was donated by the merchant I.M. Popov. Later, thanks to the mayor M.I. Balabanov, special buildings were built for the Mariinsky City Hospital. Part of the activity of the city public administration on the health of the inhabitants of Nakhichevan was the sanitary condition of the city. It included cleaning, disinfecting and disposal of waste in factories, institutions, private courtyards, houses, and bazaars. It was also planned to clean up the banks of the Don River, establish a service of sanitary commissars to maintain cleanliness and sanitary standards.Results. Based on the results of the study, it can be concluded that taking care of the health of citizens and the sanitary condition of the city became possible only after the adoption of the city regulation in 1870, according to which it was the direct responsibility of the city public administration.

Keywords

• city duma
• provision of urban amenities
• hospital
• sanitary condition of the city
• fight against epidemics
• greening of the city