Russian stamp in honor of Nikolay Pirogov

The Russian Post has issued a stamp marking 200 years since the birth of Nikolai Pirogov, the eminent figure of the Russian medicine.

Nikolay Ivanovich Pirogov (25 November 1810 - 5 December 1881) was a prominent Russian scientist, doctor, pedagogue, public figure, and corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences (1847). He is considered to be the founder of field surgery, and was one of the first surgeons in Europe to use ether as an anesthetic. He was the first surgeon to use anesthesia in a field operation (1847), invented various kinds of surgical operations, and developed his own technique of using plaster casts to treat fractured bones. His name is one of the most widely recognized in Russian medical history, and he is considered a Russian national hero.