“A brilliant teacher and popularizer”: Professor Pavel Nikolaevich Kashkin (1902–1991)

The essay, based on archival materials, reveals the key milestones in the biography, scientific, pedagogical, and public activities of the outstanding scientist, professor, Doctor of Medical Sciences, and candidate of Biological Sciences, P. N. Kashkin, who headed the Department of Microbiology at the Leningrad Chemical-Pharmaceutical Institute. He was not only the founder but also one of the initiators of the reorganization of the Chemical-Pharmaceutical Faculty of the 1st Leningrad Medical Institute in the period 1936–1937, and the establishment of the Leningrad Chemical-Pharmaceutical Institute as an independent higher education institution. P. N. Kashkin was the author of numerous discoveries and a mentor who nurtured and inspired a whole generation of scientists. He initiated and organized the world’s first engineering-microbiological faculty at the Leningrad Chemical-Pharmaceutical Institute, where he served as dean. His main task was to train highly qualified specialists for the emerging antibiotics industry, including antifungal drugs. P. N. Kashkin was a pioneer in the epidemiology of mycoses in our country. Professor P. N. Kashkin’s name became known among mycologists thanks to his work on organizing the fight against fungal skin diseases. The name of the founder of domestic microbiology, P. N. Kashkin, has been given to the St. Petersburg Institute of Medical Mycology, and in 2005, a monument to this remarkable scientist was erected on the institute’s premises.