Panorama "Defense of Sevastopol", fragment
The glorious city of Sevastopol is a city with a great historical past. The sights of Sevastopol reflect the rich history of this Hero City with a capital letter. Wiped off the face of the earth twice, Sevastopol survived, was restored and now pleases with numerous historical monuments. One of them attracts special attention - the Panorama Museum, dedicated to the first defense of Sevastopol. This place is very significant, because here is one of the most famous and largest panoramas in the world - Panorama " Defense of Sevastopol 1854-1855 - the main object of the State Museum of the Heroic Defense and Liberation of Sevastopol, from which its history began.
This outstanding work of art, created by the founder of Russian panoramic art, Franz Alekseevich Roubaud, can rightfully be called a masterpiece of the 20th century.
The panorama was opened on May 14, 1905 in honor of the 50th anniversary of the defense of the city. The events of one of the episodes of the heroic defense of Sevastopol June 6, 1855, during the Crimean War, is reflected so historically truthfully and vividly that the veterans of those same battles, who became the first visitors to the Panorama, were surprised and moved by the authenticity of the reproduction of events.
On one of the fragments of the panorama, you can see a girl with a yoke on her shoulder, bringing water to the soldiers. The name of this girl is Dasha Sevastopolskaya. She became famous among the people as one of the very first military sisters of mercy. Dasha is a national heroine of the defense of Sevastopol in the Crimean War of 1853-1856.
Despite outstanding victories at sea and on land, in general, Russia lost the war, which is understandable: by this time, both its military and economic power had been shaken. However, we are talking about something else - about what has always been strong in our country. About the amazing heroism of her sons and daughters.
Yes, in the forty years that have passed since the Napoleonic Wars, Europe has significantly outstripped Russia in terms of the technical equipment of the army and navy. And yet, forgetting about the glorious common victories over Bonaparte, the former allied powers managed to be filled with anti-Russian sentiments. Strange hostility towards a country that freed the civilized world from a dictator, saved peoples, dynasties!
But, unlike, for example, the French troops, who were engaged in outright robbery on Russian soil, our soldiers got out of it without causing any damage to the civilian population or the treasures of French culture. And now, after only 40 years, in the clash between Russia and Turkey, the eternal rivals, England and France, reluctantly united to support the Ottomans.
Of course, there were reasons for this: they were terribly afraid of the economic and military strengthening of the Russian Empire. Some inconsistency in foreign policy, the eccentricity of Russian monarchs caused fear among European governments. The fact that Europe had become significantly bourgeois by the 1850s also played a role, and a new powerful force, which subsequently crushed everything that remained in the Old World from the gallant time, further aggravated the hostility of the all-European policy towards monarchist Russia. And it eventually led to the emergence of the current "super-pragmatic superpower" overseas...
brave orphan
Russia was unable to resist the united fleets and troops of England and France, who took the side of the Turks. But, as happened more than once, a common terrible misfortune rallied the country. Soldiers, sailors, generals, fathers, mothers, sons - all in a single organism, ready to stand to death in the face of the enemy. There are countless examples of mass heroism, courage and resilience that the history of our country remembers. And after all, not only men performed feats, but also representatives of the weaker sex! Let's remember one of the heroines - Daria Mikhailova.
Sinop battle. 1853 In the Battle of Sinop, a huge Turkish fleet was defeated within a few hours. Sailor Lavrenty Mikhailov was among the dead. He died a heroic death, leaving his young daughter Dasha an orphan. Dasha's mother left this world, barely having time to give birth to her daughter, so now the girl was left alone. When in 1854 our troops retreated under the pressure of the enemy landing near Evpatoria, 15-year-old orphan Dasha Mikhailova was riding in one of the carts.
By this time, she had sold the poor property left after her father, bought a horse and a cart with the proceeds - the girl intended to bring water and supplies to the soldiers. However, during the retreat, she had more to look after the sick and provide first aid to the wounded. Daria spent days and nights in the hospital, and compensated for her lack of experience and medical knowledge with patience, kindness and diligence in her work. In addition, with her modest funds, she opened the first camp dressing station.
She provided invaluable assistance not only in the rear, but also under enemy fire: she bandaged the wounded on the battlefield, carried them out from under fire. Moreover, Dasha appeared at combat positions dressed in a male military uniform with weapons in her hands and fought side by side with soldiers and sailors. Literally two months later, the fame of her thundered throughout Sevastopol, and, not knowing her last name, people began to call her that - Dasha of Sevastopol.
And so she went down in history. And for a long time she remained Dasha of Sevastopol simply because nothing really was known about her. Only in 1984, documents were found confirming the award of the sister of mercy, the girl Darya Mikhailova, with the medal "For Diligence", from which they learned the full name of the heroine and some of the circumstances of her life. By the way, only those with three silver medals were awarded the gold medal "For Diligence". The order to award in pursuance of the will of His Majesty was announced throughout the Black Sea Fleet.
It is known that in addition to the medal on the Vladimir ribbon, on the personal instructions of Emperor Nicholas I, she was also assigned 500 silver rubles, and after getting married another 1000 rubles - a fair amount of money at that time, but for a rootless girl just huge!
After the war, she married sailor Maxim Khvorostov and changed her last name. And already as Daria Hvorostova was awarded another medal, a veteran one: "For the defense of Sevastopol."
Maxim and Daria opened a tavern in Belbek with a thousand rubles granted by the sovereign. Things, however, did not work out: apparently, heroism and practicality are incompatible things ... The tavern was sold, the family moved to Nikolaev.
Further information about Dasha varies: either she became a widow and returned to Sevastopol, or her husband began to drink a lot, and his wife, leaving him, left ... One way or another, she again ended up in the city of her glory, where she lived until the end of her days.
She died in 1910. There is evidence that Daria Khvorostova (Mikhailova) managed to capture a photo and newsreel in 1901 - then they tried to collect all the surviving veterans of the Crimean War and the heroes of the defense of Sevastopol.
Sits in a white scarf Dasha Sevastopolskaya. Sevastopol, 1901 Of course, it is good that historians have established the identity of the Russian heroine and some details of her fate. But we will continue to call Dasha by a name that has become a legend, has become synonymous with female heroism. After all, there were thousands of such heroines. So, in September 1856, silver medals "For Diligence" for similar services to the fatherland were awarded to the wife of lieutenant of the Arsenal companies Agafya Shestoperova and her fifteen-year-old daughter Daria. History has preserved more names - but few, very few!
Yes, legends and films were not made about everyone, not everyone was gifted by the sovereign, few whose fate will ever be restored by researchers. It's good that we can name at least some... The rest went down in history nameless, "without demanding rewards for a noble feat..."
Today, the name of the Heroine is the 3rd city hospital of Sevastopol.
About the feat of Dasha Sevastopolskaya in 2016, a music video was shot "Dasha Sevastopolskaya, or She Was the First!" performed by Varvara Strizhak. Filming took place on March 25, 2016 near the city of Sevastopol on the Fedyukhin Heights.
Dasha Sevastopolskaya - this was the name of one of the sisters of mercy during the Crimean War. Like the names of other participants, her surname was undeservedly forgotten by our contemporaries. Meanwhile, this woman was one of the first Russian sisters of mercy. Many servicemen who took part in the Crimean War owe their lives to her. Contemporaries highly appreciated her work: she was introduced to the royal family and received several high awards. We will also try to follow the life of this amazing woman, whose name is Dasha Sevastopolskaya.
short biography
The real name of Dasha Sevastopolskaya is Daria Lavrentievna Mikhailova. She was born in 1836 on the outskirts of Sevastopol in the family of a sailor. She lost her mother early and earned her living doing laundry. With the money she earned, she was able to buy a cow, which was her only wealth.
At this time, the combined Anglo-French troops landed on the territory of the Crimea. It happened in which her father died. Dasha was left completely alone. "How can an orphan survive?" neighbors argued. And then Dasha decided on a desperate act. She sold her cow-nurse, her dilapidated house, and with the money raised she bought a horse and cart, vinegar, wine, and dressings. She cut her braid and, dressed in a man's dress, went to the front line, where the most fierce battles were going on.
Defense of Sevastopol
During the formation of the volunteer movement "Sevastopol patriots". Its main participants were the mothers of the soldiers who defended the Crimean border. Dasha Sevastopolskaya, along with other sisters of mercy, helped the wounded on the battlefield, pulled them out of the fire, and provided emergency assistance.
Her "carriage of grief" - as her acquaintances called Dasha's convoy - became the first sanitary combat mobile station in history, and Dasha Sevastopolskaya herself rightfully earned the title of the first Russian sister of mercy. According to the memoirs of the great surgeon Nikolai Pirogov, the sanitary situation and medical care were extremely unsatisfactory, the wounded often lay on the battlefield for several days, and many of them died not so much from wounds as from medical care not provided on time. To them, lying on the bare ground, Dasha Sevastopolskaya sent her convoy. Like an angel of mercy, she found wounded soldiers, disinfected their wounds, comforted them with warm words. She had no medical education, she was helped by natural ingenuity and folk experience. She extended her mercy to all the wounded - both her own and strangers: she did not deprive her of her participation of either the British, or the Turks, or the French. Few people knew her patronymic and surname - among the wounded she was known as Dasha Sevastopolskaya. The sister of mercy not only performed her immediate duties, but also proved to be an excellent scout: dressed in a men's suit, she went to reconnaissance and took part in battles.
After the war
Various sources claim that after the Crimean events, Dasha Sevastopolskaya was able to buy a tavern on the Black Sea coast, in the village of Belbek. From archival documents it became known that in 1855 she married the sailor Maxim Khvorostov and became known as Daria Khvorostova. After the end of hostilities, the couple left the Crimea and lived in Nikolaev for some time. The names of the children of this married couple have not been preserved in history. Soon Daria Sevastopolskaya left her husband and, having left the mainland, returned to Sevastopol again. According to one version, the reason for the separation was Hvorostov's unrestrained drunkenness, according to another, his death.
end of life
In Sevastopol, the life of the great ascetic, sister of mercy, ended, here she died in 1910 and was buried in the cemetery in the Dock ravine. Unfortunately, the wars of the 20th century did not save the place where Dasha of Sevastopolskaya was buried. The biography of this woman in the twentieth century did not interest anyone, and a city park was laid out on the site of an ancient cemetery.
Awards
The feat of Dasha of Sevastopol was highly appreciated by contemporaries. Seeing the diligence and humanism of the young sister of mercy, Nikolai Pirogov took her into his submission. At this time, the emperor's brothers came to the Crimea to strengthen the spirit of the Russian army. They personally wrote about Dasha to the emperor, praising her courage and mercy. On the personal initiative of the emperor, she was the only one from her estate to be awarded a gold medal on the Vladimir ribbon "For Zeal".
You should know that only those who already had similar three could receive such an award. But an exception was made for Dasha of Sevastopol. In addition to this medal, she received another - "For the Defense of Sevastopol", which was issued to active participants in the hostilities. By the highest order of the king himself, she was granted 500 silver rubles and promised another 1000 rubles - after Dasha of Sevastopol, sister of mercy, gets married. The award was presented to her by representatives of the Romanov family - Grand Dukes Mikhail and Konstantin. For her selfless work, she was revered by representatives of various social strata, she was remembered and respected by all those whom she saved.
monuments
In the panorama building dedicated to the defense of Sevastopol, the bust of Dasha occupies one of the central places. The third city hospital of this city bears her name, and a memorial created in her honor was opened in the village of Shelanga.
Very little is known about her biography. Daria Mikhailova (Dasha Sevastopolskaya) was born in 1836 in the village of Klyuchishchi (near Kazan) in the family of a sailor Lavrenty Mikhailov. By the beginning of the Crimean War, she and her father were in Sevastopol. Nothing is known about Darya Mikhailova's mother: apparently, she died when Dasha was still a child.
On November 30, 1853, the sailor of the Black Sea Fleet Lavrenty Mikhailov died during the victorious battle for Sinop with the Turkish fleet. 17-year-old Dasha was left an orphan. On September 2, 1854, the Anglo-French corps landed in the Evpatoria region. After an unsuccessful battle for the Russians on the Alma River, the enemy approached the very walls of Sevastopol. The legendary Sevastopol epic has begun...
Angel in the flesh
Young orphan Dasha quickly made her life choice. She cut her braids, sold all the property left from her father. With the proceeds, she bought a wagon, many blankets and white linen, bottles of vinegar and wine. The neighbors thought that she was crazy from grief, but no - Dasha was in her mind. Her wagon with sanitary equipment became the first dressing station in Sevastopol, and Dasha herself became the first Russian sister of mercy.
Until the last days of the defense of the city, the girl did not leave the battlefield, bandaging the wounded, comforting them with warm words: “Be patient, my dear, everything will be fine, dear ....” She had no medical education, so she acted based on people's experience: treated wounds, bandaged.
As an angel of salvation, Dasha appeared next to the wounded and crippled soldiers. That is how the soldiers and sailors perceived her - as an angel of God, almost like a saint. Not knowing her last name, the soldiers and sailors called her Dasha of Sevastopol.
Dasha's example was followed by many other girls and women of Sevastopol, who became sisters of mercy. Even in distant St. Petersburg, the initiative of Daria Mikhailova found a response.
On the initiative of Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna, on November 5, 1854, the Exaltation of the Cross Community of Sisters of Mercy was founded - the world's first female medical unit to provide assistance to the wounded during the war.
The next day, thirty-two sisters of the community and a group of doctors headed by the famous surgeon Nikolai Pirogov left for Sevastopol. And in total, during the war, one hundred and twenty "exaltation of the Cross sisters" went to Sevastopol, seventeen of them died there. Later, the famous lawyer Koni will say about this event as follows: “Russia has every right to be proud of its initiative. There was no usual borrowing from the West - on the contrary, it began to imitate us ... "
In total, hundreds of "weak" women, both local and those who arrived from other regions of Russia, saved the lives of soldiers in Sevastopol. But the people of Sevastopol always remembered that Dasha Sevastopolskaya was the very first.
Dasha and other sisters of mercy enjoyed great respect and love in Sevastopol.
Sailors and soldiers simply idolized them. And this is not surprising, given the most difficult conditions they had to work in, saving the health and lives of the city's defenders. At the same time, the main misfortune of the Sevastopol infirmaries was not even shelling by French and English artillery, but their own “native” Russian embezzlement.
Feast of Predators
The sisters of mercy worked diligently and selflessly. But what could they do when the amounts allocated for hospitals were ruthlessly embezzled at all levels of the “power vertical”? The commissaries, the heads of the medical units, and the modest caretakers of the hospitals also stole.
The commander-in-chief of the Russian troops in the Crimea, Prince Alexander Menshikov, saw how monstrously his subordinates robbed not only hospitals, but also the army treasury in general, but he recognized his complete helplessness. After all, it was worth replacing one stealing official, as he was replaced by the same "predator". The entire system of power in Russia (including the military system) was rotten, but Menshikov was unable to realize this. Therefore, the commander-in-chief hoped only for a miracle.
When General Gorchakov, the commander of the Russian troops on the Danube, agreed to send a quartermaster to Menshikov, about whom there was an amazing rumor that he did not steal, Menshikov was simply overjoyed. Here are the expressions in which this usually arrogant dignitary thanked Gorchakov: “I throw myself at your feet, dear and excellent friend, for sending your glorious quartermaster, whom I await as a messiah!” How deplorable was the situation in the Russian military department, if an honest (relatively) quartermaster was perceived there as an unprecedented miracle!
Needless to say, the arrival of the “messiah” quartermaster did not make any changes either in the supply of the Crimean army or in the life of hospitals - rumors about his incorruptibility turned out to be greatly exaggerated.
In the line of fire
In striking contrast to this feast during the plague, which was organized by the quartermasters on the bones of Russian soldiers and sailors, was the behavior of simple paramedics and nurses. All of them did not spare themselves, saving the lives of Sevastopol residents. Here is one of the completely “ordinary” Sevastopol paintings: “A skillful and experienced nurse showed her young employee the practical methods of bandaging. The young woman listened attentively to the instructions given to her; a wounded soldier looked at them with gratitude, whose suffering was alleviated by a clever dressing. His leg was still in the hands of his sister, but an ominous cry was heard: a bomb! And before those present had time to look back, she fell in the middle of them, and from both sisters and from a wounded soldier, corpses torn to shreds remained.
In the last months of the siege, when the enemy batteries were already close to the very heart of Sevastopol, there was not a single safe place left in the city. And even under these conditions, the sisters of mercy meekly continued to do what their duty and conscience told them to do. Some of them remained in Sevastopol forever. But the most desperate of them, Dasha of Sevastopol, was lucky - she survived.
This is a well-known paradox of war: fate often spares "dashing little heads." Suffice it to recall another hero of the Sevastopol epic - sailor Pyotr Koshka. For the bravado that Cat arranged, it would seem that he couldn’t be blown off his head! But no - both bullets and cannonballs, by some whim of fate, bypassed him. Fate was just as merciful to Dasha of Sevastopol.
The feat of a young girl did not leave indifferent even the highest official spheres. The emperor awarded her the gold medal "For Diligence". In addition, she was granted five hundred rubles in silver and stated that "upon her marriage, the Sovereign will grant another 1000 rubles for the arrangement." The award order was announced throughout the Black Sea Fleet. This was a unique case - after all, Daria formally had nothing to do with the Black Sea Fleet. But even the emperor understood that sometimes you can turn a blind eye to formalities.
RIA Novosti observer" Tatyana Sinitsyna
Perhaps today she could take the “vacant” place of Mother Teresa ... True, the soldiers of the Crimean War could not call her “mother”: Dasha was then 18 years old. Someone called her "daughter", and more often - "sister" or - "sister". Bleeding soldiers believed in the miraculous power of these girlish hands, on a whim, healing their wounds. Dasha saved people not as a doctor, but at the behest of her heart, driven by the luminary of mercy. It was from here that the stable phrase “sister of mercy” appeared in Russian speech, filled with moral and philosophical meaning, embodying the image of an exalted sacrificial soul.
... In early September 1854, the girl Dasha from the Ship side of Sevastopol suddenly cut off her braids, changed into a sailor's uniform, sold the house left by her parents, all her orphan property. In exchange, she bought a horse and cart, many blankets and white linen, bottles of vinegar and wine. Neighbors thought that she was "moved" by her mind after hard feelings for her dead father and decided to go to all four directions. But a horse with a wagon loaded with personal belongings and "sanitary equipment" moved to the banks of the Alma, where one of the most difficult battles of the Crimean War, Alma, was fought. This "carriage of grief", as the inhabitants of the Ship Side called the cart of the "crazy orphan", became the first dressing station in the history on the battlefield, and Dasha herself became the first nurse of mercy. Suffering for her father, the last native creature on earth, melted in her soul into great compassion for her neighbor.
According to the memoirs of the remarkable Russian surgeon Nikolai Pirogov, the situation of the wounded during the defense of Sevastopol was extremely difficult. "Bitter want and medical ignorance combined in fabulous proportions," he wrote. There were not enough doctors, there were no vehicles to take the wounded to hospitals, and they often lay on the bare ground without any help. It was to them that Dasha appeared, like a bright angel, as the last hope. Until the end of the war, the girl did not leave the battlefield, bandaging the wounded, comforting them with warm words: “Be patient, my dear, everything will be fine, dear ...” She did not have any medical education, so she acted, relying on common people's experience, knowing, for example, that it is better to disinfect wounds with water and vinegar. And so she fussed, not depriving attention of the "strangers" - the British, French, Italians, Turks. The dedication of Dasha of Sevastopol was called "a feat of humanism."
Dasha's real name remained unknown for a long time, her personality began to acquire fantasies and myths. And, if not for the occasion, perhaps no one would have known either her real name or the details of her life. 128 years after the end of the Crimean War, in 1984, in the Central State Military Historical Archive of the USSR (now the Russian State Military Historical Archive), under random circumstances, it was possible to find documents that shed some light on the biography of the legendary sister of mercy.
Dasha was born in 1836, she lost her mother early. From the report of Adjutant General A.I. Filosofov (cousin uncle of the poet Mikhail Lermontov) it became known that she was the daughter of a sailor of the 10th flipper crew, Lavrenty Mikhailov, who was killed during the Battle of Sinop. The civil feat of the sailor's daughter was shocked by Emperor Nicholas I himself, who “graciously deigned to grant her a gold medal with the inscription “For Diligence” on the Vladimir ribbon to wear on her chest. At the direction of the king, the sister of mercy was given 500 silver rubles. It was also stated that upon her marriage, His Majesty would grant her another thousand rubles in silver for the improvement of her life.
During the defense of Sevastopol, Dasha lived in a dilapidated house on the northern side of the city, in Sukhaya Balka, near Battery No. 4. As a result of the Eastern War, which began so brilliantly for the Russian fleet and ended so sadly for the empire, Sevastopol was surrendered. However, under the terms of the Paris Treaty of 1856, Russia regained this city, ceding the southern part of Bessarabia and the Kars fortress to Turkey, renouncing the protectorate over the Orthodox subjects of the Ottoman Empire in Serbia and Wallachia. Russia even lost the right to have a fleet on the Black Sea, but retained Sevastopol, a port founded by Catherine the Great.
It also became known from archival documents that in the summer of 1855 Daria Mikhailova married Maxim Khvorostov, an ordinary 4th flipper crew. The planted father at the wedding was Colonel P.K. Menkov. Presenting to Prince M.D. Gorchakov received a marriage certificate and an award, Dasha received the 1,000 silver rubles promised by the emperor.
After the war, Sevastopol lay in ruins for almost two decades. It was difficult for residents to exist in such conditions, and they left the city. Dasha bought a tavern in the village of Belbek, but the role of the hostess of the tavern was not to the liking of the born sister of mercy. Having sold the property, she and her husband went to Nikolaev, to the sea. But soon the sailor began to drink heavily, and Dasha returned alone to Sevastopol. Here, on her native Ship side, she lived quietly and modestly until the end of her days. According to the memoirs of old-timers, Daria Lavrentievna Khvorostova died in 1910 and was buried in the cemetery in the Dock Ravine. Nobody looked after the grave, and over time it was lost.
Today, a few “material” reminders of Dasha of Sevastopol are an old picture depicting her bandaging the head of a wounded man, a cast bust in the Panorama of the Defense of Sevastopol, as well as the plot reflected in it: a girl under bullets carries water for wounded soldiers.
Dasha's humanistic example ignited many women's souls. Following her, other Sevastopol patriots - wives, sisters and daughters of the participants in the defense - took care of the wounded. Like Dasha, the Kryzhanovsky sisters - Ekaterina, Vassa and eleven-year-old Alexandra - were awarded gold medals "For Diligence" on the Vladimir ribbon. But all of them were not doctors, which the surgeon Nikolai Pirogov really needed. And then he urged the nurses of the Exaltation of the Cross community of St. Petersburg, created on the initiative and at the expense of Princess Elena Pavlovna Romanova, the widow of the younger brother of Emperor Nicholas I, to “use all their strength and knowledge for the benefit of the army on the battlefield.” Already in November 1854, from the capital to Sevastopol three detachments of sisters of mercy arrived. And with their help, Pirogov was able to restore order in hospitals in 12 days.
It should be noted that the sisters of mercy of those years are by no means the same as modern nurses. These were girls and widows of "noble birth", i.e. aristocrats. Among those who, according to Pirogov, “meekly endured all the hardships and dangers, selflessly sacrificing themselves with heroism that would do honor to any soldier,” were the noblewomen Ekaterina Griboedova, the sister of the writer and diplomat Alexander Griboyedov, Ekaterina Bakunina, the daughter of a senator, granddaughter niece of Field Marshal M.I. Kutuzov, Baroness E. Lode and others.
But it so happened that the first nurse in the world was named Englishwoman Florence Nightingale, and Britain will never refuse this, despite the facts. On November 5, 1854, Nightingale arrived with 38 women from Great Britain to the Turkish hospital of Scutari, after which the death rate of the wounded decreased significantly. In Crimea, the "lady with a lamp", as the Englishwoman was called, appeared on April 25-26, 1855. By this time, the Russian sisters of mercy had already been working in the places of military operations for 4 months. And Dasha Sevastopolskaya started this noble cause even earlier.
Now, at the site of the battles of the Eastern (Crimean) War, there are monuments to all the dead - Russians, Turks, Italians, French, British. There is also a "Monument of Reconciliation" - a symbol of the last "point" in the history of this war. The British said they wanted to erect a monument to Florence Nightingale in Balaklava, they have a grateful memory. The memory of Russians, unfortunately, is shorter and more careless: no one is in a hurry to build a monument to Dasha of Sevastopol. The city of Russian sailors, Sevastopol, became Ukrainian territory 13 years ago, and now they are more busy looking for “Ukrainian roots” from the Russian sister of mercy. However, the monument to Dasha has been standing for a long time and firmly, it is not made by hands, it has the best place in the memory of the people.
The first of the Russian female nurses was Daria Lavrentievna Mikhailova, the daughter of a sailor, famous for her selfless, selfless service to the sick and wounded. For many years, the true name of this legendary woman remained unknown. N. I. Pirogov in his letters called her simply Daria. The chief physician of the combined military-temporary hospital in Sevastopol, S. Ulrikhson, called her either Daria Alexandrovna or Daria Alexandrova. In the publications of the documents of the TsGVMF of the USSR about Daria Sevastopolskaya, an assumption is made that her real name is Daria Lvovna Shestoperova. Only in 1986, N. A. Ternova, the chief curator of the funds of the Museum of the Soviet Red Cross, established the true name of the heroine - Daria Lavrentievna Mikhailova.
They are also proud of her in Tatarstan - after all, Daria Mikhailova was born in the village of Klyuchishchi near Kazan. Left an orphan at the age of fifteen (father Lavrenty Mikhailov, a sailor of the 10th last crew, died during the Battle of Sinop in 1853), she earned a living by washing clothes. Seeing the plight of the wounded, she decided on an unusual act: cutting off her braids, selling her house and dressing in an old sailor suit, on a purchased cart with drinking water and rags, she went after the Russian troops to the Alma River.
After a long struggle on September 8, exhausted physically and morally, with many wounded and mutilated, bleeding troops retreated to Sevastopol. The soldiers did not know where to carry their wounded comrades, where the infirmary trucks were, and when they found them, there was not enough medicine or means to bandage all the wounds, there was not enough transport. During the battle, she remained in a small hollow, soon the wounded began to come here, and she helped them in any way she could. For this, she used the stocks of rags, lint and vinegar she brought, turning into a sister of mercy. The teams passing by her came to her as if to a dressing station for help, and only then the dressings stopped when the prepared supplies ran out. Such an act of a simple girl on the very next day became known both in Sevastopol and in the capital itself.
After the Battle of Alma, Dasha worked as a nurse in the building of the Nobility Assembly in Sevastopol and even assisted N.I. Pirogov. Pirogov called her Russian Magdalene, he heard about her in mid-November 1854, when he voluntarily arrived in Sevastopol to provide prompt assistance to the wounded. Busy with work, he even forgot his birthday. Yes, it was a birthday! The Commander-in-Chief Prince Menshikov had no time to introduce himself. Finally, having chosen the time, Nikolai Ivanovich went to an audience with His Excellency.
Here is how Pirogov told about this meeting: “at 6 pm I dragged myself to a small house with a dirty yard, where the commander-in-chief was sitting ... In a kennel, three arshins in length and the same width, the fate of Sevastopol stood hunched in some greasy archilook ".
Pirogov, in a conversation with the commander-in-chief, was indignant at the plight of the wounded soldiers and the lack of proper assistance, and also reported on the arrival in Sevastopol of a group of sisters of mercy of the Exaltation of the Cross community. Recall that Elena Pavlovna insisted before Nicholas I on the permission of Academician Pirogov to go to the Crimea, which was prevented by officials of the military medical department and quartermasters, who feared exposure of theft and troubles in hospitals. The commander-in-chief of the southern army, Menshikov, shared the same sentiments, about whom contemporaries said: “He is brave in defending serfdom and shy with the enemy.” women's personalities. It was then that the prince said: “Yes, sir, it’s true, we now have some kind of Daria, they say, she helped a lot, sir, and even bandaged the wounded herself near Alma.”
In a letter to his “dear wife Alexandra Antonovna,” N. I. Pirogov said (and he wrote to her daily) about Dasha of Sevastopol the following: “There is a local woman ... driven by the mercy of her nature, like Magdalene, here on the battlefields and in hospitals with such self-sacrifice helped the wounded, which drew the attention of the higher authorities ... ". Under the "higher authorities" Pirogov meant Emperor Nicholas himself, who took a direct part in the fate of the girl.
Dasha's popularity among the soldiers was exceptional, they called her "sister". “She is ours, Sevastopolskaya,” the participants in the Crimean War proudly spoke of her. That's how she became Sevastopol.
For her exploits, she was awarded a “gold medal” with the inscription “For diligence” on the Vladimir ribbon, she was awarded by status to those who already had three silver medals, and money in the amount of five hundred rubles in silver, the emperor praised the feat of a simple girl so highly. The award was presented on November 16, 1854 by the Grand Dukes Nikolai and Mikhail Nikolaevich, she was also promised a thousand rubles in silver upon her marriage to the establishment. About the dedication of Daria, her awards, it was proposed to bring to the attention of everyone who serves on the Black Sea Front. The Empress gave her a golden cross with the inscription "Sevastopol".
Dasha was 17 and she was pretty, Nikolai Ivanovich Pirogov saw her like this during his first meeting with the heroine of Sevastopol. She, with a medal on her chest received from the sovereign, came to Pirogov to find out if she could join the Community of Sisters of Mercy. As you know, the community had the right to choose sisters from different walks of life who were ready to serve the “great cause of philanthropy,” but they had to take an oath to fulfill the conditions not only from a professional point of view, but also morally, while maintaining chastity. To which Daria's answer was pure and naive: "why, this is also possible."
The Central State Military Historical Archive has preserved a document entitled “On the presentation of the maiden Daria for the award, for exemplary diligence and care for the sick and wounded in Sevastopol”, dated November 7, 1854. Then Daria was the only representative of the lowest rank "from among sisters of mercy who distinguished themselves in Sevastopol, who was awarded not a silver, but a gold medal.
At the end of the military campaign, the doctors of the hospital presented Dasha with a welcome address with the words: “In every respect, you showed yourself worthy of the name of a Russian warrior. We, the doctors, for whom you were the most trustworthy and most experienced assistant, have and will forever preserve for you a feeling of boundless gratitude, sincere respect and the deepest respect. Your name will not be erased from our memory just as it will not be erased from the memory of the sick, to whom you so completely sacrificed yourself.
After the war, Daria Alexandrova married a retired sailor of the 4th flipper crew M.V. Khvorostov and settled in the city of Nikolaev, which follows from the relations between the Commander-in-Chief of the Southern Army and the military land and sea forces in the Crimea, Adjutant General M.D. Gorchakova to the Minister of War, Lieutenant-General V. A. Dolgoruky dated June 24, 1955. She bought a tavern on Belbek with the 1000 rubles promised by the emperor and settled on the Ship side. In 1892, she returned to her native village, but none of her relatives were left there. She donated to the local temple the icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, which was with her in Sevastopol during the years of defense. She died in 1910 and was buried in the old city cemetery in the Dock ravine in Sevastopol (the grave has not been preserved). In memory of her, a bust of the heroine was erected near the panorama "Defense of Sevastopol" and a monument near the 3rd city hospital in Sevastopol.
Her photograph is captured in a group photograph of veterans of the Crimean War from 1901 in the Museum of the Red Banner Black Sea Fleet, which has been functioning since 1869, where N.I. Sopronovskaya, a portrait of a sister of mercy K. K. Vedyukova and others.
In 1986, at the initiative of the command of the medical service of the Red Banner Black Sea Fleet, the Red Banner Naval Hospital named after. N. I. Pirogov and the Council of the Museum of the Medical Service of the Fleet, a medal named after Dasha Sevastopolskaya was established. On the front side, 6 cm in diameter, of a gilded color of the medal, there is a bas-relief of a famous sister of mercy and the inscription: "To the 150th anniversary of the birth." Selflessness, fearlessness, kindness and attention to people, the ability to sympathize have inscribed her name in the history of our country.
In general, in the first chapter we tried to trace the history of the birth of the institute of nurses in Russia at the beginning of the 19th century, to consider the features of the development of communities of nurses in Russia in comparison with European countries: the rise of public thought in the 40-50s. XIX century, the military situation, the influence of the West ... We tried to identify the motives for involving female labor in the treatment of the sick and wounded during the Crimean War of 1853-1856, the forms of women's participation in the war and their contribution to the development of medicine and healthcare in the period under review.
Suffice it to say that the Institute of Nurses, which was born during the Crimean War, is still operating to this day in order to understand the significance of this event for the development of medicine as a whole.
