The Academician N. N. Blokhin as the founder, the director and the scientific director of the Gorky Research Institute of Restorative Surgery, Traumatology and Orthopedics in the postwar years

The article is dedicated to contribution of the Academician N. N. Blokhin, his colleagues and students into organization and becoming of the Research Institute of Reconstructive Surgery, Traumatology and Orthopedics in post-war years in city of Gorky. The study was based on materials from archives of mentioned institution, on materials from the Academy of Medical Sciences of the Russian Federation, the Blokhin family archives, on materials provided by his wife Nadezhda Germanovna and on publications. The structure and main directions of activities on rehabilitation of the Red Army soldiers injured during the Great Patriotic War are presented. The examples of innovative solutions (development of the first domestic dermatome) improving methods of plastic surgery under provision of medical care to the wounded are described. The scientific potential of N. N. Blokhin realized in his numerous publications and contributions with reports at international scientific conferences is revealed. The article proves the N. N. Blokhins role in preparation of successor who continued to develop the institute and to support effectiveness of efficient team whose physicians and nurses presented with new life thousands of Red Army fighters returned from battlefront.