Classmates. Zinaida Ermol’eva and Nina Klyueva: the way to the profession

The names of Zinaida Eimol’eva and Nina (Antonina) Klyueva are among the most prominent names in the history of USSR medical research. Both of them gained significant international attention at a time when due to the iron curtain on eastern Europe many talented Soviet scientists remained unknown outside the USSR. Unfortunately, little has been written about their parallel and overlapping paths during early stages of their scientific careers. Both Nina and Zinaidia studied in the same course, chose the same research specialization, had the same tutors, worked in the same institutions, and were part of the same research activities. By using central (State Archives of the Russian Federation, Russian State Archives of Economy) and regional archives (mainly State Archives of Rostov region), press data and medical publications, as well as correspondence with collaborators of Z. Ermol’eva, in this paper we reconstruct the family background, childhood and early school years of Ermol’eva and Klyueva. Our study focuses in particular on how the university education became a formative period in their careers as researchers and university teachers before they both left Rostov-on-Don for Moscow. Discrepancies in the early biography of Z. Ermol’eva are noted; the reasons for their appearance are explained by the Soviet tradition when individuals literally constructed their autobiographies. The period of education for Zinaida and Nina coincided with the First World War, the Russian Revolution, and subsequent Civil War. During this period of their education in the Rostov-on-Don Women’s Medical Institute, we analyse how the presence of Professors of the University of Warsaw recently relocated (in 1915) to Rostov-on-Don enabled Zinaida and Nina to engage in experimental bacteriological research and epidemic elimination, as a result of political upheaval and breakdown of the public health system. These practical activities, at the forefront of research and public health, at a time of political instability in the city, had a remarkable influence on their subsequent careers. The Department of bacteriology of the Rostov-on-Don Women’s Medical Institute played a special role in the professional careers of Z. Ermol’eva and N. Klyueva. Under the influence of V. A. Barykin, who was actively engaged in choleric and cholera-like vibrions, the students became interested in the biochemistry of microbes that, in many respects, predetermined their future research directions. We discuss the professional activities of Zinaida Ermol’eva and Nina Klyueva in the first half of the 1920s, within the context of the urgent tasks of the time, including establishing the educational process in the Don University, overcoming everyday challenges and the epidemiological situation in the region. We review the circle of professional communication and the process of gradual entry of young scientists into the scientific community of the region and the country while providing a review of the first scientific publications of Z. Ermol’eva and N. Klyueva. In summary, we note that personality traits, support and mentorship from teachers including V. A. Barykin and the opportunity to work at the forefront of research and public health had a remarkable influence on the parallel careers of Ermol’eva and Klyueva.

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