Anna V. Tonkikh: 58 years serving science

Abstract

15 February 2022 is the 136^th anniversary of the birth of Professor Anna V. Tonkikh, a Doctor of Sciences (Biology), a renowned scholar and the first Russian female military doctor. A. V. Tonkikh worked at the Pavlov Institute of Physiology for more than thirty years: as Deputy Director for Science from 1936 to 1950, as the head of the Laboratory of the Vegetative Nervous System and Nervous Trophic from 1950 to 1966 and as institute scientific consultant from 1966 to 1973. A. V. Tonkikh was the author of a number of foundational studies that received world recognition. Indeed, she made a significant impact on physiology. Many of her works have become part of the heritage of Russian and global physiology, particularly her research on the influence of the sympathetic vegetative nervous system on the central nervous system, as well as research on sleep and sleep-like states, the role of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and experimental hyperthyroidism. A. V. Tonkikh was a student of L. A. Orbeli, but then focused on her original area of research—the study of the role of higher vegetative centres in chain neurohormonal reactions. The article provides a brief overview of A. V. Tonkikh’s research and makes the first report of some archival materials about Tonkikh family origin and life. The article also includes materials about A. V. Tonkikh’s brothers and sisters.