Kupriianov, Petr

Born Jan. 27 (Feb. 8), 1893, in St. Petersburg; died Mar. 13, 1963, in Leningrad. Soviet surgeon; academician (1944) and vice-president (1944–50) of the Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR; Honored Scientist of the RSFSR (1942); Hero of Socialist Labor (1963); lieutenant general in the medical service.

In 1915, Kupriianov graduated from the Military Medical Academy. He worked under the guidance of S. P. Fedorov and V. A. Oppel’. From 1930 to 1949 he was head of the subdepartment of operative surgery of the First Leningrad Medical Institute; in addition to this, in 1944 he was made head of the subdepartment of surgical medical sciences of the S. M. Kirov Military Medical Academy. During the Great Patriotic War of 1941–45 he was chief surgeon on the Northern and Leningrad fronts. His principal works were devoted to operative, restricted, and military field surgery. He was the first in the USSR to operate by opening the cavities of the heart (operation on a “dry” heart). For his works on cardiovascular surgery he was awarded the Lenin Prize in 1960. He inspired a school of surgeons. He was chairman of the All-Union Society of Surgeons in 1952. He was awarded three Orders of Lenin, five other orders, and various medals.