Museum
The first Russians vaccinated against rabies in Paris
Just days after Louis Pasteur presented his research on the discovery of a rabies vaccine to the French Academy of Sciences on February 17, 1886, a dramatic event occurred thousands of kilometers away. In the village of Bely, near Smolensk in Russia, a rabid wolf terrorized the local population, attacking 19 people, including a woman, and leaving them facing certain death. This episode, a key milestone in the Institut Pasteur's history, not only created a long-lasting scientific bond between France and Russia; it also forced Louis Pasteur to change his vaccination method.
On the morning of February 28, 1886, a wolf suddenly emerged from a wooded mountain and attacked a farmer, then the priest, Erschoff,[1] as he was on his way to morning prayers. The villagers, with no weapons other than sticks and stones, merely stirred up the wolf's fury. A farmer, Ivan Khansky, described as a "brave and fine fellow," ultimately managed to kill the animal with an axe after a heroic struggle to save his wife.
Given the urgency of the situation, Dr. Davidov from Smolensk sent a telegram to Paris on March 4, for the attention of Louis Pasteur: "Nineteen Russian peasants bitten by a rabid wolf. Should we send them?" Louis Pasteur responded immediately: “Bring my friends from Smolensk.”
Nine days later, on March 13, 1886, the 19 muzhiks arrived in Paris, wearing their tulups (sheepskin coats) and high boots. The people of Paris were shocked to see these travelers, their faces drawn with suffering and fatigue, their wounds from the savage predator only too visible.
At that time, wolf bites were feared much more than dog bites. One person in ten survived being bitten by a rabid dog, but wolf bites were almost always fatal. The incubation period for rabies transmitted by wolves was also often much shorter.
The story of the Russians from Smolensk was a crucial early medical lesson for Pasteur. Despite giving them the usual treatment, three of the patients died from rabies at the Hôtel-Dieu hospital in Paris. Louis Pasteur and Dr. Grancher were deeply concerned, fearing that their method was no match for the virulence of this rabies virus.
In an attempt to save the 16 survivors, Pasteur decided to radically change his vaccination protocol, adopting a much more intensive treatment strategy. Rather than one daily dose, the patients were given repeated inoculations, even using the freshest and most virulent strains from rabbit spinal cords that were just two or three days old, several times a day. They received the final inoculations on April 9 and left on April 12. Pasteur's audacity paid off: a dispatch sent by the mayor of Bely later confirmed that the 16 remaining peasants were safe and sound.
News of this successful treatment traveled the world, providing ample justification for a permanent vaccine center to be set up – the Institut Pasteur. Of the 2,490 people treated in Paris by the end of 1886, 191 were Russian.
The episode also paved the way for long-lasting collaboration with Russian scientists, including Ilya Mechnikov (1845-1916) and Nikolay Gamaleya (1859-1949), who came to study in Paris and then founded the first bacteriological laboratory in Odessa, Russia. As Louis Pasteur himself explained: "You don't ask someone who is suffering, "What country are you from?" [...] You are suffering – that is enough; I will help you and relieve your pain."
Sources:
Correspondance de Pasteur, 1840-1895, by Pasteur Vallery-Radot
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[1]https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k64732407/f122.image.r=Beloi