“I screamed, ‘What are you doing, I’m going to raise the men’”: midwives-medical practitioners in the Russian province at the turn of the 19th–20th centuries
Gabdrafikova L.R., Mironova E.V.
576-591 p.
doi.org: https://doi.org/10.22378/he.2025-10-4.576-591
EDN: https://elibrary.ru/LTEMEO
Abstract. The article examines the processes of formation of the profession of midwives and the nature of medical activity of women in the Kazan province in the late 19th – early 20th century. Based on archival, periodical and statistical materials, as well as published records of the county zemstvos of the Kazan province in the 1870s – 1900s, the paper presents the training of obstetric and medical practitioner personnel in various educational institutions of the country and the province. The motives that encouraged women to choose medical specialties has been analyzed, as well as the reasons for the relocation of metropolitan residents to the province to practice medicine. The authors studied the working conditions of midwives, in particular, the size of salaries, job responsibilities, relationships with colleagues, county and provincial administrations, as well as with the peasant population. Social barriers on the way of women who aspired to practice medicine are shown. It is concluded that medical professions are of interest to them as a way to ensure economic independence, despite the difficulties they had to face in their work. In addition, it is emphasized that medical specialties were chosen by young ladies from wealthy families, since only they could afford to pay tuition fees, or alternatively zemstvos sent their scholarship holders to educational institutions. The focus is on the ethno-confessional specifics of the Kazan province. Examples of obstetric practice among Muslim women are given.
Keywords: Kazan province, obstetrics, female doctor, zemstvo’s medicine, obstetric courses, emancipation, Tatar Muslim women
For citation: Gabdrafikova L.R., Mironova E.V. (2025) “I screamed, ‘What are you doing, I’m going to raise the men’”: midwives-medical practitioners in the Russian province at the turn of the 19th–20th centuries. Istoricheskaya etnologiya [Historical Ethnology]. Vol. 10. No. 4: 576–591. https://doi.org/10.22378/he.2025-10-4.576-591 (In Russ.)
Financial support. The study was carried out using a grant provided in 2024 by the Tatarstan Academy of Sciences for the implementation of fundamental and applied scientific work in scientific and educational organizations, enterprises and organizations of the real sector of the economy of the Republic of Tatarstan.
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About the authors: Liliya R. Gabdrafikova, Doctor Sc. (History), Chief Research Fellow of the Department of Modern History, Marjani Institute of History of the Tatarstan Academy of Sciences (7 Baturin St., Kazan 420111, Russian Federation); https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9940-9097; e-mail: bahetem@mail.ru
Elena V. Mironova, Cand. Sc. (History), Senior Research Fellow of the Department of Modern History, Marjani Institute of History of the Tatarstan Academy of Sciences (7 Baturin St., Kazan 420111, Russian Federation); https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2818-8490; e-mail: Yelena.Mironova@yandex.ru
Received 1.06.2025 Revised 15.08.2025 Accepted for publication 24.10.2025
Published Online 01.12.2025
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