{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,26]],"date-time":"2026-07-26T15:00:59Z","timestamp":1785078059194,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":40,"publisher":"SAGE Publications","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,21]],"date-time":"2025-11-21T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1763683200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,21]],"date-time":"2025-11-21T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1763683200000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/page\/policies\/text-and-data-mining-license"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.sagepub.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["J Med Biogr"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,8]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>Tikhon Efimovich Boldyrev was a prominent Soviet epidemiologist. During the Sino-Soviet collaboration of the 1950s, he played a key advisory role in shaping health policies in the newly established People's Republic of China. This article explores Boldyrev's life and his journey to China, where he served as Group Leader of the Soviet Experts and Chief Expert at the Chinese Ministry of Health from 1954 to 1956. During his tenure, Boldyrev authored twenty reports and proposals that influenced China's public health policy. His notable contributions included introducing and adapting the Soviet healthcare model to Chinese conditions; endorsing traditional Chinese medicine and advocating for its integration with modern medical science; and providing critical expertise in epidemic prevention, particularly in combating diseases such as schistosomiasis and plague. Drawing on Boldyrev's work completed in China, along with Chinese-language government reports, press coverage, and professional journals, this article brings renewed attention to his important yet often overlooked contributions to public health in 1950s China.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1177\/09677720251398961","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,21]],"date-time":"2025-11-21T18:27:32Z","timestamp":1763749652000},"page":"273-281","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/sage-journals-update-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Tikhon Efimovich Boldyrev (1900\u20131984): A Soviet epidemiologist's contributions to public health in 1950s China"],"prefix":"10.1177","volume":"34","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9756-7158","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Shanshan","family":"Gao","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Cambridge"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,21]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_3_3_2_2","unstructured":"Names worthy of the Fatherland. Boldyrev Tikhon Efimovich (1900\u20131984). http:\/\/person.lib48.ru\/boldyrev-tikhon-efimovich (accessed 13 January 2025)."},{"key":"e_1_3_3_3_2","unstructured":"The Generals of WWII. Biography of Major-General of Medical Services Tikhon Efimovich Boldyrev - (\u0422\u0438\u0445\u043e\u043d\u0430 \u0415\u0444\u0438\u043c\u043e\u0432\u0438\u0447\u0430 \u0411\u043e\u043b\u0434\u044b\u0440\u0435\u0432\u0430) (1900\u20131984) Soviet Union. https:\/\/generals.dk\/general\/Boldyrev\/Tikhon_Efimovich\/Soviet_Union.html (accessed 13 January 2025)."},{"key":"e_1_3_3_4_2","unstructured":"Federal Service for Supervision of Consumer Rights Protection and Human Welfare. Boldyrev Tikhon Efimovich (1900\u20131984 \u0433\u0433.). https:\/\/www.rospotrebnadzor.ru\/region\/Rukovoditeli\/boldyrev.php (accessed 13 January 2025)."},{"key":"e_1_3_3_5_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Belyaev EN Podunova LG. Heads of the Sanitary and Epidemiological Service of the Country F. G. Krotkov and T. E. Boldyrev: Participants in the Great Patriotic War. Sanitary Doctor 2020; 3. DOI: 10.33920\/med-08-2003-09. Podunova L.G. On the Occasion of the 115th Birth Anniversary of Tikhon Efimovich Boldyrev USSR Principal Sanitary Inspector. Epidemiology and Infectious Diseases: Current Items 2015; 5: 77\u201379.","DOI":"10.33920\/med-08-2003-09"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_6_2","first-page":"34","volume-title":"Sulian zhuanjia zai zhongguo (1948\u20131960) [Soviet Experts in China (1948\u20131960)]","author":"Zhihua S","year":"2015","unstructured":"Zhihua S. Sulian zhuanjia zai zhongguo (1948\u20131960) [Soviet Experts in China (1948\u20131960)]. Beijing: Shehui kexue wenxian chubanshe, 2015. p. 34."},{"key":"e_1_3_3_7_2","first-page":"452","volume-title":"Gao Gang zhuan [Legend of Gao Gang]","author":"Maolin D","year":"2011","unstructured":"Maolin D, Xiaoguang Z. Gao Gang zhuan [Legend of Gao Gang]. Xian: Shanxi renmin chubanshe, 2011, p. 452. Shen Zhihua. Sulian zhuanjia zai zhongguo (1948\u20131960), p. 63."},{"key":"e_1_3_3_8_2","first-page":"58","volume-title":"Soviet-Chinese relations, 1945\u20131970","author":"Borisov OB","year":"1975","unstructured":"Borisov OB, Koloskov BT. Soviet-Chinese relations, 1945\u20131970. Bloomington, London: Indiana University Press, 1975, pp. 58\u2013 59."},{"key":"e_1_3_3_9_2","first-page":"28","volume-title":"Zhongguo yike daxue xiaoshi (1931\u20131991) [The History of China Medical University (1931\u20131991)]","author":"Minan Liu","year":"1991","unstructured":"Minan Liu, Zhenhuan Zhong (eds). Zhongguo yike daxue xiaoshi (1931\u20131991) [The History of China Medical University (1931\u20131991)]. Shenyang: Liaoning kexue jishu chubanshe, 1991, p. 28."},{"key":"e_1_3_3_10_2","first-page":"385","volume-title":"Zhonge wenhua jiaoliu shi [The history of Sino-Russian cultural exchange]","author":"Wei Y","year":"2016","unstructured":"Wei Y. Zhonghua renmin gongheguo juan [volume on the people\u2019s republic of China]. In: Yuqiu X (ed) Zhonge wenhua jiaoliu shi [The history of Sino-Russian cultural exchange]. Tianjin: Tianjin renmin chubanshe, 2016, pp. 385\u2013 386."},{"key":"e_1_3_3_11_2","unstructured":"Ying X. Xiezhu woguo zhansheng chabei shuyi su fangyi renyuan fanjing zhongyang fangyi weiyuanhui jiangjuxing huiyi [Assisting our Oountry in Overcoming the Northern Manchurian Plague Soviet Epidemic Prevention Personnel will Return to Beijing and the Central Epidemic Prevention Committee will hold a Meeting]. Renmin ribao [People\u2019s Daily] 19 November 1949."},{"key":"e_1_3_3_12_2","unstructured":"Zhihua S. Sulian zhuanjia zai zhongguo (1948\u20131960) p. 4."},{"key":"e_1_3_3_13_2","unstructured":"Lian Z. Xuexi sulian zhongshi yixue wenhua de kexue jingshen [Learn from the Soviet Union\u2019s Emphasis on the Scientific Spirit of Medical Culture]. Renmin ribao 11 November 1957."},{"key":"e_1_3_3_14_2","first-page":"77","article-title":"On the occasion of the 115th Birth Anniversary of Tikhon Efimovich Boldyrev, USSR principal sanitary inspector","volume":"5","author":"Podunova LG","year":"2015","unstructured":"Podunova LG. On the occasion of the 115th Birth Anniversary of Tikhon Efimovich Boldyrev, USSR principal sanitary inspector. Epidemiology and Infectious Diseases: Current Items 2015; 5: 77\u2013 79. Federal Service for Supervision of Consumer Rights Protection and Human Welfare. Boldyrev Tikhon Efimovich (1900\u20131984 \u0433\u0433.). https:\/\/www.rospotrebnadzor.ru\/region\/Rukovoditeli\/boldyrev.php (accessed 13 January 2025).","journal-title":"Epidemiology and Infectious Diseases: Current Items"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_15_2","volume-title":"Sulian zhuanjia T.E. Boerdeliefu jianyi he baogao huiji [The Collected Suggestions and Reports by the Soviet Expert T.E. Boldyrev]","author":"Boldyrev TE","year":"1956","unstructured":"Boldyrev TE. Sulian zhuanjia T.E. Boerdeliefu jianyi he baogao huiji [The Collected Suggestions and Reports by the Soviet Expert T.E. Boldyrev]. Beijing: Zhonghua renmin gongheguo weishengbu bangongting, 1956."},{"key":"e_1_3_3_16_2","first-page":"393","article-title":"Guanyu xiaomie xuexichongbing de jidian yijian [Recommendations for the elimination of schistosomiasis]","volume":"42","author":"Boldyrev TE","year":"1955","unstructured":"Boldyrev TE. Guanyu xiaomie xuexichongbing de jidian yijian [Recommendations for the elimination of schistosomiasis]. Zhonghua yixue zazhi [National Medical Journal of China 1955; 42: 393\u2013 405. T. E. Boldyrev. Guanyu xiaomie xuexichongbing cuoshi fangmian de jidian yijian [Some Suggestions on Measures for Eliminating Schistosomiasis]. Beijing: Weishengbu, 1955. Liu Ying. Wei woguo weisheng shiye fuwu de sulian zhuanjia [Soviet Experts in Service of China\u2019s Health Sector]. Renmin ribao, 15 February, 1956. Sulian zhuanjia fuyou weisheng gongzuo jiangyanji [A Collection of Lectures on Maternal and Child Health Work by Soviet Experts]. Beijing: Renmin weisheng chubanshe, 1959.","journal-title":"Zhonghua yixue zazhi [National Medical Journal of China"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_17_2","first-page":"309","volume-title":"Gei junshi gongcheng xueyuan de xunci (1953.8.26). Jianguo yilai Mao Zedong wengao [Mao\u2019s writings since the establishment of the People\u2019s Republic of China], vol. 4","author":"Zedong M","year":"1990","unstructured":"Zedong M. Gei junshi gongcheng xueyuan de xunci (1953.8.26). Jianguo yilai Mao Zedong wengao [Mao\u2019s writings since the establishment of the People\u2019s Republic of China], vol. 4. Beijing: Zhongyang wenxian chubanshe, 1990, p. 309."},{"key":"e_1_3_3_18_2","unstructured":"Bainzhe. Daiyou. Renmin ribao 8 May 1950. Chen Jingbo. Chongqing zhongyi xuexiao xiaozhi. Chongqing: Chongqing zhongyi xuexiao 1991 p. 16."},{"key":"e_1_3_3_19_2","unstructured":"Boldyrev TE. Sulian baojian shiye zai zuzhi dui gongren yiliao weisheng fuwu fangmian de jingyan hezai zhongguo tiaojianxia yunyong zhexie jingyan de kenengxing [The USSR\u2019s Experience in Organizing Medical and Health Services for Workers and the Possibility of Applying this Experience under China\u2019s Conditions] (1954.5.18). Sulian zhuanjia T.E. Boerdeliefu jianyi he baogao huiji p. 76."},{"key":"e_1_3_3_20_2","unstructured":"Boldyrev TE. Sulian baojian shiye zai zuzhi dui gongren yiliao weisheng fuwu fangmian de jingyan hezai zhongguo tiaojianxia yunyong zhexie jingyan de kenengxing (1954.5.18). Sulian zhuanjia T.E. Boerdeliefu jianyi he baogao huiji p. 82."},{"key":"e_1_3_3_21_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"For research on barefoot doctors in China see Fang Xiaoping. From Union Clinics to Barefoot Doctors: Healers Medical Pluralism and State Medicine in Chinese Villages 1950\u20131970. Journal of Modern Chinese History 2.2 (2010): 221\u2013237. Fang Xiaoping. Barefoot Doctors and Western Medicine in China. New York: University of Rochester Press 2012.","DOI":"10.1080\/17535650802489518"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_22_2","unstructured":"Shanshan G. Forging a Basic Theory of Chinese Medicine in the Early People\u2019s Republic of China: An Examination of Wuxing. Ph.D. diss. City University of Hong Kong 2024."},{"key":"e_1_3_3_23_2","unstructured":"Boldyrev TE. Youguan zai zhonghua renmin gongheguo guojia weisheng xitong zhong liyong siren yiwu renyuan ji saying yiliao jigou liliang de yijian [Opinions on Leveraging the Expertise of Private Medical Professionals and Private Healthcare Institutions within the National Healthcare System of the People's Republic of China] (1955.2.23). Sulian zhuanjia T.E. Boerdeliefu jianyi he baogao huiji pp. 28\u201330."},{"key":"e_1_3_3_24_2","unstructured":"Boldyrev TE. Dui zhongyi wenti de kanfa [Thoughts on Issues Related to Traditional Chinese Medicine] (1954.9.2). Sulian zhuanjia T.E. Boerdeliefu jianyi he baogao huiji pp. 6\u20137."},{"key":"e_1_3_3_25_2","unstructured":"Boldyrev TE. Dui zhongyi wenti de kanfa (1954.9.2). Sulian zhuanjia T.E. Boerdeliefu jianyi he baogao huiji p. 7."},{"key":"e_1_3_3_26_2","unstructured":"Lian Z. Xuexi sulian zhongshi wenhua de kexue jingshen [Learning from the Soviet Union\u2019s Scientific Spirit of Valuing Medical Knowledge and Culture.] Renmin ribao 11 November 1957."},{"key":"e_1_3_3_27_2","unstructured":"Sulian zhuanjia lai kaocha yanjiu woguo zhenjiu liaofa [Soviet Experts Came to Investigate and Study Acupuncture Therapy in China.] Renmin ribao 21 April 1956. Zhang Lijian. Zhulian yu zhenjiu [Zhu Lian and Acupuncture]. Beijing: Renmin weisheng chubanshe 2019 p. 69."},{"key":"e_1_3_3_28_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/978-981-4021-78-4_8"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_29_2","volume-title":"Mao Zedong zai 1958 [Mao Zedong in 1958]","author":"Yang M","year":"2008","unstructured":"Yang M, Peng L. Mao Zedong zai 1958 [Mao Zedong in 1958]. Beijing: Zhongguo qingnian chubanshe, 2008."},{"key":"e_1_3_3_30_2","unstructured":"Boldyrev TE. Dui zhongyi wenti de kanfa (1954.9.2). Sulian zhuanjia T.E. Boerdeliefu jianyi he baogao huiji p. 9."},{"key":"e_1_3_3_31_2","first-page":"36","volume-title":"Zhongyi gongzuo wenjian huibian (1949\u20131983) [compilation of documents on traditional Chinese medicine work (1949\u20131983)]","author":"Zhonggong zhongyang","year":"1985","unstructured":"Zhonggong zhongyang. Zhongyi gongzuo wenjian huibian (1949\u20131983) [compilation of documents on traditional Chinese medicine work (1949\u20131983)]. Beijing: Zhonghua renmin gongheguo weishengbu zhongyisi, 1985, p. 36."},{"key":"e_1_3_3_32_2","first-page":"287","volume-title":"Handbook of disease outbreaks: prevention, detection and control","author":"Fan K-w","year":"2010","unstructured":"Fan K-w. Mass mobilization and the anti-schistosomiasis campaign in Maoist China (1955\u20131960). In: Holmgren A, Borg G (eds) Handbook of disease outbreaks: prevention, detection and control. New York: Nova Science Publishers, 2010, pp. 287\u2013 289."},{"key":"e_1_3_3_33_2","unstructured":"Boldyrev\u2019s contributions have been largely overlooked in previous research for example Kawai Fan and Honkei Lai. Mao Zedong\u2019s Fight Against Schistosomiasis. Perspectives in Biology and Medicine 51.2 (2008): 176\u2013187. Liping Bu. Anti-malaria Campaigns and the Socialist Reconstruction of China 1950\u201380. East Asian History 39 (2014): 117\u2013130. Miriam Gross. Farewell to the God of Plague: Chairman Mao\u2019s Campaign to Deworm China. Berkeley: University of California Press 2016. Jianhai Yin. Malaria Epidemiology in China: A Historical Review. In: Heinz Mehlhorn Jian Li and Kai Wu (eds) Malaria Control and Elimination in China: A Successful Guide from Bench to Bedside. Switzerland: Springer 2023 pp. 1\u201318. Yan Yiwei\u2019s research offers an important exception by acknowledging Boldyrev\u2019s authority in schistosomiasis control see Yan Yiwei. Riben fangzhi xuexichongbing yixue daibiaotuan laihua shimo [The Arrival and Activities of the Japanese Schistosomiasis Control Delegation in China] in Yao Jianhong ed. East Meets West and the Birth of Modern Medicine. Beijing: Shehui kexue wenxian chubanshe 2023 pp. 270\u2013300. Yan Yiwei. 20 shiji 50 niandai zhongguo xuexichongbing fangzhi gongzuo zhongde guoji hezuo: riben fangzhi xuexichongbing yixue daibiaotuan laihua shimo [International Collaboration During China\u2019s Anti-Schistosomiasis Movement in the 1950s: Visit of the Japanese Schistosomiasis Delegation] Ziran kexueshi yanjiu [Studies in the History of Natural Sciences] 38.3 (2019): 257\u2013277."},{"key":"e_1_3_3_34_2","unstructured":"Boldyrev TE. Guanyu xiaomie duirenmin weihai zuida de jibing de cuoshi [On Measures to Eliminate Diseases that Pose the Greatest Harm to the People] (1956.1.28). Sulian zhuanjia T.E. Boerdeliefu jianyi he baogao huiji pp. 146\u2013147."},{"key":"e_1_3_3_35_2","unstructured":"Ying L. Wei woguo weisheng shiye fuwu de sulian zhuanjia [Soviet Experts Supporting the Advancement of China\u2019s Healthcare] Renmin ribao 15 February 1956."},{"key":"e_1_3_3_36_2","unstructured":"Boldyrev TE. Guanyu xiaomie xuexichong bing cuoshi fangmian de jidian yijian [Several Opinions on Strategies for Eliminating Schistosomiasis] (1955.12.24). Sulian zhuanjia T.E. Boerdeliefu jianyi he baogao huiji p. 49."},{"key":"e_1_3_3_37_2","unstructured":"Boldyrev TE. Guanyu xiaomie xuexichong bing cuoshi fangmian de jidian yijian (1955.12.24). Sulian zhuanjia T.E. Boerdeliefu jianyi he baogao huiji p. 48."},{"key":"e_1_3_3_38_2","unstructured":"Compressed discs or cakes made from the residue left after oil is extracted from seeds of the Camellia oleifera or Camellia sinensis plant."},{"key":"e_1_3_3_39_2","unstructured":"Boldyrev TE. Guanyu xiaomie xuexichong bing cuoshi fangmian de jidian yijian (1955.12.24). Sulian zhuanjia T.E. Boerdeliefu jianyi he baogao huiji pp. 51\u201364."},{"key":"e_1_3_3_40_2","unstructured":"Boldyrev TE. Guanyu nueji he naoyan de fangzhi gongzou de jianyi [Recommendations for the Prevention of Malaria and Encephalitis] (1956.1.13). Sulian zhuanjia T.E. Boerdeliefu jianyi he baogao huiji pp. 69\u201370."},{"key":"e_1_3_3_41_2","unstructured":"Gongshao Y. Jin Baoshan ganxie shenme goudang? [What is Jin Baoshan up to?] Renmin ribao 24 August 1957."}],"container-title":["Journal of Medical Biography"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1177\/09677720251398961","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/full-xml\/10.1177\/09677720251398961","content-type":"application\/xml","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1177\/09677720251398961","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,26]],"date-time":"2026-07-26T14:17:08Z","timestamp":1785075428000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1177\/09677720251398961"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,21]]},"references-count":40,"journal-issue":{"issue":"3","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,8]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1177\/09677720251398961"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/09677720251398961","relation":{},"ISSN":["0967-7720","1758-1087"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0967-7720","type":"print"},{"value":"1758-1087","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,21]]}}}