Chekhov and Rossolimo: careers in medicine and neurology in Russia 100 years ago

Neurology as a specialty was established at the close of the 19th century, especially in England, France, Germany, and the United States. It was not uncommon for US physicians to seek postgraduate training in those three Western European countries. However, Russian clinical investigators and scientists, who contributed to neurology and the neurosciences, rarely had their papers cited in Western medical publications. The medical careers of the well-known writer-physician Anton P. Chekhov and his contemporary G.I. Rossolimo, an academic neurologist at the University of Moscow, illustrate their contributions within the constraints of their autocratic society. Their work led to a better understanding of the complexities of human behavior, Chekhov through his enduring writings, and Rossolimo as a founder of neuropsychology and child neurology.