The search for Samojloff: a Russian physiologist in times of change.

The names ofRussian physicians do not often spring to mind when recalling the advances of the past century, though a quick glance discloses many contributions, including those ofAnitschkow in the pathogenesis of arteriosclerosis, Korotkoff in the measurement of blood pressure, and Elie Metchnikoff, the bacteriologist. Few, however, realise that James Herrick's diagnosis of coronary occlusion in the living patient' had been anticipated by two years by two physicians from Kiev, Obrastzow and Straschesko. Their original description in Russki Vrach was republished almost simultaneously in German and was cited by Herrick.' Even before this, however, a Russian physiologist, Alexander Filipovich Samojloff, had written the first book on electrocardiography, which should have been easily accessible to Western physicians because it was written in German and had been issued by a leading German publisher.' The book is not, however, listed in two important English bibliographies,45 though it and several other publications by Samojloff were cited by Western contemporaries, and his contributions are proudly acknowledged in the Soviet Union.Who was Samojloff and what was his role in Russian and indeed international physiology?