After the Crimean war

Despite the heroic defense, Sevastopol was partially taken by the besiegers and the Crimean War was lost by the Russian Empire.

Returning to St. Petersburg, Pirogov, at a reception with Alexander II, told the emperor about the problems in the troops, as well as about the general backwardness of the Russian imperial army and its weapons. The emperor did not want to listen to Pirogov. After this meeting, the subject of Pirogov’s activity changed - he was sent to Odessa as a trustee of the Odessa educational district. Such a decision of the emperor can be seen as a manifestation of his disfavor, but Pirogov was previously assigned a life pension of 1849 rubles and 32 kopecks per year.

On January 1, 1858, Pirogov was promoted to Privy Councilor, then transferred to the post of trustee of the Kiev school district, and in 1860 he was awarded the Order of St. Anna of the 1st degree. Pirogov tried to reform the existing education system, but his actions and independence led to a conflict with the authorities, and he had to leave the post of trustee of the Kiev school district. March 13, 1861 Pirogov was appointed a member of the Main Board of the schools, and after its liquidation in 1863, was for life part of the Ministry of Education of the Russian Empire.

Pirogov was sent to lead Russian professors studying abroad. "For labor when he was a member of the Main Board of the schools," Pirogov was saved up to 5 thousand rubles a year.

Heidelberg chose Pirogov as his residence, where he arrived in May 1862. Candidates gratefully recalled their leader. For example, the Nobel laureate I.I. Mechnikov emphasized that Pirogov not only fulfilled his duties, often traveling to other cities where the candidates studied, but also provided them and their family members and friends with any help, including medical assistance, moreover, one of the candidates, the head of the Russian community of Heidelberg, collected funds for the treatment of Giuseppe Garibaldi and persuaded Pirogov to examine the wounded Garibaldi. Pirogov refused money, but went to Garibaldi and found a bullet that was not noticed by other world famous doctors and insisted that Garibaldi leave the climate harmful to his wound, as a result of which the Italian government freed Garibaldi from captivity. According to the general opinion, it was NI Pirogov who saved the leg, and, most likely, the life of Garibaldi, the “convict” by other doctors. In his Memoirs, Garibaldi recalls: “Outstanding professors Petridge, Nelaton and Pirogov, who showed generous attention to me when I was in a dangerous state, proved that for good deeds, for true science there are no borders in the family of mankind...”. After this incident, which caused a furor in St. Petersburg, there was an attempt on Alexander II by the nihilists who admired Garibaldi, and, most importantly, Garibaldi’s participation in the war of Prussia and Italy against Austria, which displeased the Austrian government. The “Red” Pirogov was released from official duties, but at the same time retained the status of an official and his previously appointed pension.

In the prime of his life Pirogov secluded himself in his small estate "Cherry" near Vinnitsa, where he organized a free hospital. He briefly traveled from there only abroad, and also at the invitation of the Imperial St. Petersburg University to give lectures. By this time, Pirogov was already a member of several foreign academies. For a relatively long time Pirogov only left the estate twice: for the first time - in 1870 during the Franco-Prussian war, being invited to the front on behalf of the International Red Cross, and the second time in 1877-1878 - already at a very advanced age - he worked for several months front during the Russian-Turkish war. In 1873 Pirogov was awarded the Order of St. Vladimir of the 2nd degree.

Russian-Turkish war (1877-1878)

When Emperor Alexander II visited Bulgaria in August 1877, during the Russo-Turkish War, he remembered Pirogov as an incomparable surgeon and the best organizer of medical services at the front. Despite his old age (then Pirogov was already 67 years old), Nikolai Ivanovich agreed to go to Bulgaria, provided that he would be given complete freedom of action. His desire was granted, and on October 10, 1877 Pirogov arrived in Bulgaria, in the village of Gorna Studena, not far from Plevna, where the main apartment of the Russian command was located.

Pirogov organized the treatment of soldiers, the care of the wounded and sick in military hospitals in Svishtov, Zgalev, Bulgarin, Gorna Studena, Veliko Tarnovo, Bohot, Byala, Plevne. From October 10 to December 17, 1877 Pirogov drove over 700 km on a chaise and sleigh, over an area of ​​12,000 square meters. km occupied by the Russians between the rivers Vit and Yantra. Nikolai Ivanovich visited 11 Russian military temporary hospitals, 10 divisional infirmaries and 3 pharmacy warehouses deployed in 22 different settlements. During this time he was engaged in treatment and operated on both Russian soldiers and many Bulgarians. In 1877, Pirogov was awarded the Order of the White Eagle and a golden snuff box decorated with diamonds with a portrait of Alexander II.

In 1881, Pirogov became the fifth honorary citizen of Moscow "in connection with fifty years of work in the field of education, science and citizenship." Corresponding member of the Imperial St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences (IAN) (1846), the Imperial Medical and Surgical Academy (1847, honorary member since 1857) and the German Academy of Naturalists Leopoldin (1856).

Last days

At the beginning of 1881, Pirogov drew attention to pain and irritation on the mucosa of the hard palate. May 24, 1881 N.V. Sklifosovsky established the presence of Pirogov cancer of the upper jaw. N.I. Pirogov died on November 23, 1881 at 20.25 in the village of Vishnya (now part of the city of Vinnitsa). According to the memoirs of his son, before the start of the agony of N. I. Pirogov, "a lunar eclipse began, which ended immediately after the denouement."

Pirogov, less than a month before his death (October 27, 1881), himself made a disappointing diagnosis. After his death, a note was found in the papers: “Neither Sklefasofsky (as it is written in the original), Val and Grube, nor Billroth recognized ulcus oris men from me. mus. cancrosum serpeginosum (lat. - creeping webbed mucous cancer of the mouth), otherwise the first three would not recommend surgery, and the second would not recognize the disease as benign. ”