Genrikh Turner
Turner, Genrikh Ivanovich
Born Sept. 17 (29), 1858, in St. Petersburg; died July 20, 1941, in Leningrad. Soviet physician; one of the founders of Soviet orthopedics. Honored Scientist of the RSFSR (1927).
Turner graduated from the St. Petersburg Medical-Surgical Academy in 1881. In 1895 he was appointed a professor there, and in 1900 he founded the first orthopedic department and clinic in Russia, which he headed until his death. Turner was primarily concerned with diseases and congenital developmental defects of the spine, the role of the nervous system in traumas, and diseases of the musculoskeletal system. He was also interested in the study of various types of bandages, the disinfection of dressings, the treatment of wounds, and the immobilization of fractures. Turner was the first in Russia to call attention to the need for the planned state care of crippled children; his work in this area culminated in the founding in 1931 of the Leningrad Children’s Orthopedic Institute (now named after him).