Danilo S. Samoilovič e Charles de Mertens, un esempio di rivalità medica sullo sfondo dell’epidemia di peste a Mosca (1770-1772)

Abstract

The article aims to highlight the personal and social rivalries that arose within the Russian medical community, in the context of management of the Moscow plague epidemic in the years 1770-1772. The analysis of the dispute between Danilo S. Samoilovič and Charles de Mertens in the years 1778-1784, allows us to trace the personal tensions and envy between the two colleagues, where elements of nationalism and chauvinism intersect, reflecting the complex relationship between indigenous and foreign elements, typical of the Russian medical class and social élite during the Eighteenth Century.