DOI 10.51255/2311–603X_2025_2_228

R. A. Davydov. Instruction of the Arkhangelsk Medical Board of 1837 on the Prevention and
Treatment of Scurvy on Novaya Zemlya and Spitsbergen // Petersburg Historical Journal, no. 2,
2025, pp. 228–237

Abstract:

This work is a publication of the document “Instruction for the prevention of mortality occurring
on Novaya Zemlya and Spitsbergen from scurvy”. The document was prepared at the suggestion of the military governor of Arkhangelsk after a number of deaths from scurvy among Russians engaged in hunting on Spitsbergen in the mid-1830s.

The text of the document was drafted at the Arkhangelsk Medical Board in 1837 and printed as a pamphlet at the provincial printing house in the same year. The pamphlets were sent to the local police departments of the province to supply shipowners involved in organizing hunting expeditions to the Arctic archipelagos of Novaya Zemlya and Spitsbergen. One of the copies of the pamphlet is currently kept in the State Archives of the Arkhangelsk region.

This document is interesting because it describes the main symptoms and the course of the disease in a laconic form, in a language understandable to a non-specialist. In particular, to prevent scurvy, those who hunted in the Arctic archipelagoes were advised to use sour products, i. e. sauerkraut, horseradish, cloudberries, cranberries and lingonberries. These products were easily available to the provincial population and could be stored for long periods during hunting expeditions. For the treatment of scurvy, it was recommended to “drink with the juice of cranberries or cloudberries” and a decoction of conifers, more precisely a decoction of pine
cones.

Thus, in 1837 — almost a century before vitamin C was officially discovered, artificially synthesised and the dependence of scurvy on a deficiency of this vitamin in the body was proven — doctors in Arkhangelsk gave recommendations for the prevention and treatment of scurvy patients, focusing on providing people with foods rich in vitamin C.

Key words: scurvy, Spitsbergen (Svalbard), Novaya Zemlya, Arkhangelsk province, medical board.

Author:

Davydov, Ruslan Aleksandrovich — PhD in History, Leading Researcher, N. Laverov Federal
Center for Integrated Arctic Research of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Arkhangelsk, Russia).
E-mail: nordhistory@mail.ru

References:

Dadykina, M. M., Kraikovskii, A. V., Laius, Yu. A. Pomorskie promysly na Shpitsbergene v XVIII — nachale XIX v. Issledovanie. Dokumenty [Pomor Hunting on Spitsbergen in 18th — Beginning 19th Centuries. Research. Documents. In Russ.]. Moscow; St. Petersburg, Al’yans-Arkheo, 2017. 504 p.

Gorter, A. A. Ratsion pomorskikh promyshlennikov na arkhipelage Sval’bard (Shpitsbergene) po
pis’mennym istochnikam XVIII–XIX vekov [The Diet of the Pomor Marine Mammal Hunters at Svalbard (Spitsbergen) According to Written Sources of the 18 th –19th Centuries. In Russ.]. In Kul’tura russkikh v arkheologicheskikh issledovaniyakh: arkheologiya Severa Rossii. Vol. 1. Omsk; Surgut, Institut arkheologii Severa, 2021. P. 192–197.

Minaeva, T. S. Pomorskie promysly na Shpitsbergene v kontse XVIII — pervoi polovine XIX veka [Pomor Trapping on Svalbard in the End of 18 th — First Half of 19 th Century. In Russ.]. In Ehkonomicheskaya istoriya. 2013. No. 1, pp. 6–13.

Nikonov, S. A. Nauka vyzhivat’: sposoby adaptatsii i smertnost’ russkikh promyshlennikov na Shpitsbergene i Novoi Zemle vo vtoroi polovine XVIII — nachale XIX v. [The Ability to Survive: Methods of Adaptation and Morality of Russian Hunters in Svalbord and Novaya Zemlya in the Second Half of the 18 th — Early 19th Century. In Russ.]. In Peterburgskii istoricheskii zhurnal. 2022. No. 2, pp. 48–69.

Vlasova, M. N. Russkii fol’klor Grumanta (Shpitsbergena) [Russian Folklore of Grumant (Spitsbergen). In Russ.]. In Yakubovskaya, E. I. (ed.). Russkii fol’klor: Materialy i issledovaniya. Vol. 35. St. Petersburg, Dmitrii Bulanin, 2012. P. 385–412.

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