Manassein, Viacheslav

Born Mar. 3 (15), 1841, in the village of Verkhnie Devlizeri, in present-day Pestretsy Raion, Tatar ASSR; died Feb. 13 (26), 1901; in St. Petersburg. Russian internist and public figure.

In 1866, Manassein graduated from the St. Petersburg Medical and Surgical Academy. From 1876 to 1892 he was a professor in the academy’s department of special pathology and therapy of internal diseases. In his dissertation “Materials for the Problem of Starvation” (1869) and in several other works, Manassein described a number of previously unknown clinical facts (for example, febrile episodes against a background of pronounced hypothermia) and contributed much to the understanding of starvation as a complex disturbance of tissue metabolism.

Manassein was one of the first to indicate the importance of psychotherapeutic measures in the treatment of illness. He was the first to devise and introduce a method of examining the population for the early detection of tuberculosis. He advanced and substantiated the role of statistics in clinical medicine. Manassein advocated individualization of treatment and emphasized the role of hydrotherapy, massage, aerotherapeutics, and other types of physical treatment. He also indicated the importance of dietotherapy.

Manassein was the founding editor of the journal Vrach (Physician; 1880). He helped arrange and conduct many congresses of physicians. He was an advocate of medical education for women.