{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,11]],"date-time":"2026-04-11T09:09:21Z","timestamp":1775898561580,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":106,"publisher":"Journal of Neurosurgery Publishing Group (JNSPG)","issue":"1","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["FOC"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2015,7]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>General Mikhail Kutuzov (circa 1745\u20131813) brilliantly repelled Napoleon\u2019s invasion of Russia. Honored as a national hero and a savior of Russia, Kutuzov has a unique medical story. He was shot in the head twice while fighting the Turks (1774 and 1788) and survived the serious injuries seemingly against all odds. The first bullet \u201cran through the head from one temple to the other behind both eyes.\u201d The second bullet entered the cheek, destroyed upper teeth, traveled through the head, and exited the occiput. Massot, a French surgeon with the Russian army, wrote after treating Kutuzov\u2019s seemingly two mortal wounds: \u201cIt must be believed that fate appoints Kutuzov to something great, because he was still alive after two injuries, a death sentence by all the rules of medical science.\u201d Aided by Massot\u2019s expert surgical technique, Kutuzov lived to become intimately engaged in events that altered world history. His health did, however, suffer significant effects due to the bullet wounds. In 1812, as Napoleon\u2019s Grande Arm\u00e9e approached, Kutuzov realized he could not confront Napoleon and he strategically retreated from Moscow, submitting the French to the harsh winter and Russian cavalry. Napoleon\u2019s devastated army retreated to Paris, and Kutuzov became the personification of Russian spirit and character. Kutuzov\u2019s survival of two nearly mortal head wounds created the legends, additional mystery, and drama surrounding him, not the least astonishing of which was the skilled neurosurgical care that probably saved his life.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3171\/2015.3.focus1596","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2015,7,1]],"date-time":"2015-07-01T03:40:42Z","timestamp":1435722042000},"page":"E3","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Two bullets to the head and an early winter: fate permits Kutuzov to defeat Napoleon at Moscow"],"prefix":"10.3171","volume":"39","author":[{"given":"Sergiy V.","family":"Kushchayev","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Neurological Surgery, Barrow Neurological Institute, St. Joseph\u2019s Hospital and Medical Center, Phoenix, Arizona;"},{"name":"Department of Radiology, Mercy Catholic Medical Center, Darby, Pennsylvania;"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Evgenii","family":"Belykh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Neurological Surgery, Barrow Neurological Institute, St. Joseph\u2019s Hospital and Medical Center, Phoenix, Arizona;"},{"name":"Irkutsk Scientific Center of Surgery and Traumatology, Irkutsk, Russia;"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yakiv","family":"Fishchenko","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Spinal Surgery, State Institute of Orthopedy and Traumatology, Kiev, Ukraine;"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Aliaksei","family":"Salei","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Radiology, Mercy Catholic Medical Center, Darby, Pennsylvania;"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Oleg M.","family":"Teytelboym","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Radiology, Mercy Catholic Medical Center, Darby, Pennsylvania;"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Leonid","family":"Shabaturov","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Thoracic Oncology, Petrov Research Institute of Oncology, St. Petersburg, Russia; and"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Mark","family":"Cruse","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of International Letters and Cultures, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Mark C.","family":"Preul","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Neurological Surgery, Barrow Neurological Institute, St. Joseph\u2019s Hospital and Medical Center, Phoenix, Arizona;"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1754","reference":[{"key":"b1-focus1596","series-title":"Unofficial History of Russia","author":"Balyazin","year":"2007"},{"key":"b2-focus1596","series-title":"Biography of Russian Generalissimus and General-Field Marshals","author":"Bantysh-Kamensky","year":"1840"},{"key":"b3-focus1596","series-title":"Observer","first-page":"121","article-title":"Humanistic ideas in activity of Field Marshal Kutuzov","volume":"1","author":"Belov","year":"2013"},{"key":"b4-focus1596","series-title":"Kutuzov","author":"Bragin","year":"1970"},{"key":"b5-focus1596","series-title":"Russian World","article-title":"He doesn\u2019t need canonization","author":"Bykov"},{"key":"b6-focus1596","series-title":"Dictionnaire de Biographies Roussillonnaises","author":"Capeille","year":"1914"},{"key":"b7-focus1596","series-title":"M\u00e9moires de Langeron, G\u00e9n\u00e9ral d\u2019Infanterie dans l\u2019Arm\u00e9e russe, Campagnes de 1812, 1813, 1814","author":"de Langeron","year":"1902"},{"key":"b8-focus1596","series-title":"Letters and Thoughts of Marshal Prince de Ligne","year":"1809"},{"key":"b9-focus1596","series-title":"Lettres et Pens\u00e9es du Mar\u00e9chal Prince de Ligne","year":"1808"},{"key":"b10-focus1596","series-title":"Taboo Pushkin: Topics, Texts, Interpretations","author":"Dinega","year":"2012"},{"key":"b11-focus1596","series-title":"Russian Generals","article-title":"Communiqu\u00e9 of the Commander in Chief of Crimean Army General in Chief V. 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