Nikolai Kulchitsky

Nikolai Konstantinovich Kulchitsky (Russian: Николай Константинович Кульчицкий; 16 January 1856, Kronstadt – 30 January 1925, Oxford) was a Russian anatomist and histologist, the last Minister of Education of the Russian Empire.

Nikolai Konstantinovich Kulchitsky
Николай Константинович Кульчицкий
Born	16 January 1856 Kronstadt, Russian Empire
Died	30 January 1925 Oxford, England, Great Britain
Nationality	Russian
Alma mater	Imperial University of Kharkov
Awards	Order of Saint Vladimir Order of Saint Anna Order of Saint Stanislaus Legion of Honour
Scientific career
Fields	Histology
Institutions	Imperial University of Kharkiv University of London

Born into an old untitled noble family of Polish origin, he was the second son of Konstantin Petrovich Kulchitsky (b. 1827), a naval officer, and his wife, Elizaveta Prokofyevna Pavlova, daughter of a Colonel in Russian Imperial army. In 1874–1879 he studied at the Medical Faculty of Kharkiv Imperial University. In 1882 he became a doctor of medicine. In 1893 he became professor of histology at the university of Kharkiv, and was later appointed director of education in Kazan School District. In 1897 he described the endocrine cells of the small intestine which now bear his name (Kulchitsky cells).

In 1906 Kulchitsky was a member of council of Kharkiv branch of The Union of Russian People. In 1916 he was appointed Minister of Education of the Russian Empire, a post he held until the February Revolution. In 1918, he was arrested by the Bolsheviks, but was soon released, and then went to Kharkiv, then arrived at Sevastopol. In 1921 he emigrated to England. He worked in the Anatomy Department at University College London. He died in 1925 after an accidental fall in the University College.

He is known for discovering the Kulchitsky cells, which are named after him.

Honours

National honours

• Russian Empire:
  • Order of Saint Vladimir, 3rd and 4th class
  • Order of Saint Anna, 2nd and 3rd class
  • Order of Saint Stanislaus, 1st, 2nd and 3rd class

Foreign honours

• France
  • Chevalier of the Legion of Honour

References

• Drozdov I, Modlin IM, Kidd M, Goloubinov VV (February 2009). "Nikolai Konstantinovich Kulchitsky (1856-1925)". Journal of Medical Biography. 17 (1): 47–54. doi:10.1258/jmb.2008.008038. PMID 19190200. S2CID 25289790.
• Drozdov I, Modlin IM, Kidd M, Goloubinov VV (2009). "From Leningrad to London: the saga of Kulchitsky and the legacy of the enterochromaffin cell". Neuroendocrinology. 89 (1): 1–12. doi:10.1159/000140663. PMID 18562785. S2CID 1667632.