Academy, I. E. Diadkovskii came from the national lower 

 classes. He was born in^the yillage Diakove of the Ryasanskii 

 Province, into a poor family. In 180? he finished the Ryasanskii 

 Spiritual Course, where already at his young age he had shown 

 an independence of thought. This apparently caused some worry to 

 the priests giving the course. "In the course, Diadkovskii" 

 succeeded, according to his biographer K. Lebedev, "in all 

 the sciences, and showed a high level in his power of reasoning; 

 frequently his teachers themselves suffered from his fascinating 

 syllogisms. "69 i n 1812 Diadkovskii completed with excellence 

 the course at the Medical -Surgical Academy and, with the 

 financial assistance of Professor E. 0. Mukhin, remained in 

 the Academy to prepare for scientific and teaching activities . 

 After time spent as a physician volunteer in Moscow during 

 the Napoleonic invasion, Diadkovskii returned to the Medical- 

 Surgical Academy, where, as a result of opposition from the 

 foreign professors, he did not at once receive the responsibil- 

 ity of teaching. 



From 1814 Diadkovskii lectured for several years in the 

 Academy's courses in botany and pharmacology, and later in 

 general pathology, general and special therapy, and clinical 

 therapy. As a naturalist, Diadkovskii was always interested 

 in the common questions of natural science, considering them 

 the basis of medicine. "His beloved interest," Lebedev wrote, 

 "was the study of zoology, mineralogy, botany, and the collec- 

 tion of the natural products of all three kingdoms of nature, 

 in particular the plant kingdom. "70 According to the same 

 biographer, Diadkovskii was distinguished by an extraordinary 

 memory, and as an adult he independently studied French, 

 German, English, and Italian. Of the ancient languages, he 

 knew Greek well, and especially Latin, which he could speak 

 fluently. 



In 1816, as a result of being involved in pharmacology 

 and medication, J. E. Diadkovskii wrote his doctoral 



69. "A Discussion on the Effect of Drugs on the Human Body, 

 with a Biography of Professor Iustin Diadkovskii," by 

 Doctor of Medicine Kosmoe Lebedev. Moscow, 1845. 48 pp. 



70. Ibid., p. 3. 



194 



