Fokht, Aleksandr

Born Sept. 16 (28), 1848, in Moscow; died there Aug. 23, 1930. Soviet pathologist and internist; a founder of experimental cardiology and of the clinical and experimental school of pathology.

In 1870, Fokht graduated from the medical school of Moscow University, where he became a professor in the subdepartment of general pathology in 1880. In 1891 he founded and became the director of the Institute of General and Experimental Pathology at Moscow University. Beginning in 1906 he was also an instructor in general pathology at the Moscow Advanced Courses for Women. In 1911 he resigned his positions in protest against the reactionary policies of the minister of education, L. A. Kasso.

In 1912, Fokht founded the Institute of General Pathology at the Second Municipal Hospital (since 1930 the subdepartment of pathophysiology of the Second Moscow Medical Institute). In 1917 he again became a professor at Moscow University. From 1920 to 1923 he gave courses in the pathology of organs at the Higher Medical School.

Fokht’s major works dealt with the body’s adaptive and compensatory reactions to disease and with the role of the neural and humoral mechanisms in regulating bodily functions during cardiovascular, endocrine, lymphatic, and urinary diseases. Fokht studied artificially induced heart disease and demonstrated the importance of collateral blood circulation during the obstruction of branches of the coronary arteries. He discovered the depressor effect of stimulating the central terminals of the hepatic branches of the vagus nerves. Fokht also discovered the reflex disruption of cardiac activity during pulmonary embolism. He established new approaches to cardiology and pathology.