G.E. Sukhareva: a course of life and scientific/pedagogical heritage

Abstract

В 2016 г. кафедра детской психиатрии и психотерапии Российской медицинской академии последипломного образования (в прошлом-ЦИУВ-Центральный институт усовершенствования врачей) отметила свое 80-летие. Основателем этой кафедры являлась Груня Ефимовна Сухарева, которой в 2016 г. исполнилось бы 125 лет со дня рождения. Она по праву считается основоположником детской психиатрии в нашей стране. За многие годы руководства кафедрой Г.Е. Сухарева с сотрудниками подготовила несколько поколений детских психиатров, создала собственную научную школу и внесла существенный вклад в науку и практику важнейшей медицинской специальности. Родилась Груня Ефимовна Сухарева 11 ноября 1891 г. в Киеве. В 1915 г. она окончила медицинское отделение Киевских высших женских курсов (с 1916 г.-Женский медицинский институт), после чего в течение 2 лет работала врачом эпидемиологического отряда. В 1917 г. она стала ординатором в Киевской психиатрической больнице, а затем там же работала врачом, одновременно исполняя обязанности ассистента и заведующей секцией дефектологии во врачебно-педагогическом институте. С этого периода началась научная деятельность Г.Е. Сухаревой. Одной из первых ее работ было выполненное в 1920 г.

Pioneering, prodigious and perspicacious: Grunya Efimovna Sukhareva’s life and contribution to conceptualising autism and schizophrenia

“…Sukhareva also referred to the child's parents and other relatives, a nod to a belief, current even then [5], in the heritability of autism [31]. Basing herself on histopathological research, Sukhareva indicated her belief in an anatomical substrate of autism; an 'inborn abnormality' of the cerebellum, basal ganglia and frontal lobes [14] Sukhareva's assertions are now backed by modern neuroimaging research which has linked these brain areas to autism [6,[32][33][34]].…”

“…She then served as a psychiatrist at the Kiev Psychiatric Hospital from 1917 to 1921. During this period, in 1919, Sukhareva was also appointed head of the Defectology Department at the Institute of Mental Health of Children and Adolescents [ 14 ]. Sukhareva often held several prominent positions concurrently.…”

“…Sukhareva also served as consultant and director at the Kashchenko Moscow Psychiatric Hospital from 1931 to 1951. Her work during this time laid the groundwork for the network of sanatoria and neuropsychiatric institutions across the USSR that Sukhareva would eventually create [ 14 ]. In 1935, Sukhareva successfully defended her doctoral dissertation and established the Child Psychiatry Department at the Central Institute for Postgraduate Medical Education, where she served as head, until 1965.…”

“…During this time, several generations of child psychiatrists trained under Sukhareva and her colleagues. In 2017, Goryunov, Lazareva and Shevchenko wrote of Sukhareva, “It is difficult to overestimate her contribution to the training of personnel for scientific and medical institutions of the country” [ 14 ] . Apart from supervising several generations of clinical trainees, over 30 doctoral dissertations were completed under Sukhareva’s supervision.…”

“…Edinburgh-based psychiatrist Sula Wolff, [ 5 ] who published an English translation of Sukhareva’s 1926, declared that Sukhareva summarised the children’s characteristics ‘admirably’ and that her description was ‘marvellous’ [ 23 ]. Russian psychiatrists at the Mental Health Research Centre, and the Russian Medical Academy of Postgraduate Education, both in Moscow, wrote that Sukhareva’s works “were distinguished by simplicity, clarity, consistency and systematic presentation of the material” [ 14 ]. Manouilenko and Bejerot [ 6 ] affirmed Sukhareva’s descriptions were ‘structured, elegant, detailed’ and ‘vivid’ and Sukhareva’s conception of ways of helping autistic children were strikingly ‘modern’.…”