Professor hygienist from Odessa Aron Iosyfovych Burshtein (1890–1965)

Abstract

The study was conducted for the first time in detail to study the life and work of a prominent representative of preventive science in Ukraine, Professor Burshtein A.I., who in 1933–1941 & 1944–1962 headed the Department of Food Hygiene at the Odessa Medical Institute (now Odessa National Medical University). For this purpose, Odessa archives were examined and the search was crowned with success. The discovered documents, which are being introduced into scientific circulation for the first time, made it possible to highlight the main milestones of his biography: doctor (1918), associate professor (1930), professor (1934), doctor of medical sciences without defending a dissertation (1935), honored worker of science of the Kazakh SSR (1945). It was shown that he was a student of Professor Kostyamin M.M. In addition, searches were conducted for published works by Burshtein A.I. were conducted. The main body of his works was identified, which made it possible to determine the main directions of his scientific work – the problems of occupational hygiene and food hygiene. In addition, it was found that throughout his scientific career, he paid considerable attention to the compilation of manuals on methods of sanitary and hygienic research. In 1916 in Odessa, he published a short guide on methods of hygienic research; in 1918 he republished the book there. In 1934, in Kyiv, he published a manual on methods for studying aerosols; in 1954, he also published a manual on methods for studying dust and smoke levels in the air, which was actually the second supplemented and expanded book edition 1934 book. In 1950, in Kyiv, he published a manual on methods of sanitary and hygienic research. And finally, in 1963, in the same Kyiv publishing house, where all his previous manuals, saw the light of the day the state medical publishing house published a manual on food research methods. Keywords: hygiene, public health, 20th century, Ukraine.