November 26, 2021

Catherine the Great Wants You to Get Vaccinated


Catherine the Great Wants You to Get Vaccinated
See, if we all rode horses, we'd almost always be six feet apart. The RussianLife files.

A very timely letter has just been unveiled in Moscow in which Catherine the Great tries to convince people to get vaccinated against smallpox. She was the first person in Russia to get the vaccine; given her power and resources, she asked a doctor to come from England and give her the jab.

Catherine called it "barbarism" to die of smallpox in the modern eighteenth century with all of its science.

She addressed the letter to authorities in Ukraine on April 20, 1787. It will be for sale at MacDougall's auction in London on December 1. Its value is estimated at $1.6 million (along with a portrait of Catherine).

The letter emphasizes how dangerous smallpox is to "ordinary people" and outlines how to establish a vaccination campaign. It recommends setting up beds in monasteries for those who feel sick after getting the vaccine.

Catherine was careful not to mandate the vaccine, feeling that the Russian people would resist a mandate. In the twenty-first century's COVID-19 pandemic, not much has changed as the majority of the population is yet to be vaccinated. Although now we have QR codes.

You Might Also Like

The Tsarina's Pen
  • January 01, 2019

The Tsarina's Pen

Catherine the Great was a prolific letter writer and her missives offer a uniquely intimate view of her personal life and political development (to say nothing of her humor and passion).
Russian Art Boom
  • September 01, 2008

Russian Art Boom

It may seem like the latest fad, yet the explosion of interest in Russian art has been 20 years in the making. And has far from peaked...
Debunking a Myth
  • November 01, 2021

Debunking a Myth

The salacious and derogatory myth surrounding the death of Catherine the Great has its roots in her detractors and successors, both at home and abroad.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

A Taste of Russia

A Taste of Russia

The definitive modern cookbook on Russian cuisine has been totally updated and redesigned in a 30th Anniversary Edition. Layering superbly researched recipes with informative essays on the dishes' rich historical and cultural context, A Taste of Russia includes over 200 recipes on everything from borshch to blini, from Salmon Coulibiac to Beef Stew with Rum, from Marinated Mushrooms to Walnut-honey Filled Pies. A Taste of Russia shows off the best that Russian cooking has to offer. Full of great quotes from Russian literature about Russian food and designed in a convenient wide format that stays open during use.
Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

This astonishingly gripping autobiography by the founder of the Russian Women’s Death Battallion in World War I is an eye-opening documentary of life before, during and after the Bolshevik Revolution.
The Moscow Eccentric

The Moscow Eccentric

Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.
Chekhov Bilingual

Chekhov Bilingual

Some of Chekhov's most beloved stories, with English and accented Russian on facing pages throughout. 
White Magic

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.
Moscow and Muscovites

Moscow and Muscovites

Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin. 
At the Circus (bilingual)

At the Circus (bilingual)

This wonderful novella by Alexander Kuprin tells the story of the wrestler Arbuzov and his battle against a renowned American wrestler. Rich in detail and characterization, At the Circus brims with excitement and life. You can smell the sawdust in the big top, see the vivid and colorful characters, sense the tension build as Arbuzov readies to face off against the American.
The Samovar Murders

The Samovar Murders

The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.
The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar (bilingual)

The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar (bilingual)

The fables of Ivan Krylov are rich fonts of Russian cultural wisdom and experience – reading and understanding them is vital to grasping the Russian worldview. This new edition of 62 of Krylov’s tales presents them side-by-side in English and Russian. The wonderfully lyrical translations by Lydia Razran Stone are accompanied by original, whimsical color illustrations by Katya Korobkina.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955