Ivan Mikhailovich Balinskii

Born May 23 (June 4), 1827, on the estate of Iashuna, Vilno Province; died Mar. 11 (24), 1902, In St. Petersburg. Russian Psychiatrist.

Balinskii graduated from the Medical-Surgical Academy in 1846 and in 1857 began to teach psychiatry there—this was the first time it was taught as an independent discipline in Russia. He Was a professor at the academy from 1860 to 1884. In 1859 he founded at the academy the first psychiatric clinic in Russia—a model for its time. He was the organizer of the Society of St. Petersburg Doctors for the Insane (1861). On his initiative specialized district hospitals were organized in a number of cities beginning in 1869. For the next 25 years he was a mandatory consultant on the construction of psychiatric institutions for various departments.