Vladimir Mintz

(16.09.1872, Dinaburg, Vitebsk province ( Daugavpils) - 02.1945, concentration camp Buchenwald)

 A surgeon, a founder of anesthesiology, neurosurgery and thorax surgery in Latvia. Vladimir Mintz came from ancient rabbi stock that originated in the fifteenth century. He was born into the family of a merchant and was brought up in the spirit of German culture. In 1883- 1889 Vladimir Mintz studied at Riga City gymnasium; from 1890 to 1895 he was a student of medicine at the University of Yurjev (now Tartu). In 1896 Vladimir Mintz was awarded the degree of PhD. in medicine after defending the thesis "Drehungshindernisse nach Vorderarmbruechen."  In 1896-1897 he worked on probation at the clinic of James Izrael, who was a prominent German urologist and surgeon. In 1902 Vladimir Mintz was a doctor at an outpatient clinic at Staro-Yekateriniskaya Hospital in Moscow. In 1903 he was elected secretary of the Moscow Surgical Society. In 1906 Vladimir Mintz was an adjunct lecturer (an unestablished university lecturer) and an editor (together with Professor Sokolov ) of the magazine Vestnik Hirurgii (Surgery Bulletin). From 1904 to 1916 he was the secretary of the All-Russian Surgical Society. From 1917 to 1920 Vladimir Mintz was a professor at the University of Moscow, the head of the Department of Topographical Anatomy and Operative Surgery, the head of the Department of Surgery at Moscow Central Hospital. He studied issues on mastopathy, conducted research on pathology and treatment of diseases of the urino-genital system. Vladimir Mintz worked in the field of oncology and diseases of the ear, nose and throat, and contributed to development of surgery of bile passages. He was the first to perform the surgical closing of perforated stomach ulcer in Russia (in 1908). From August to September 1918 he was in charge of the treatment of V.I. Lenin after F. Kaplan's attempt upon his life. In April 1920 Vladimir Mintz returned to Riga. From 1925 to 1940 he was the Head of the Department of Surgery of the Jewish hospital "Bikur- Holim." In 1938 he was the first in Latvia to perform reparation of an arterial blood vessel, a forehead ectonomy, a resection of purulent pericardium, and brain surgery. Beginning October 22, 1940 Vladimir Mintz was a professor at the University of Latvia, heading the Department of Hospital Surgery. After the beginning of the Nazi occupation Vladimir Mintz was struck off the list of the teaching staff according to the decision of the university council on July 25, 1941.  He worked in a hospital for prisoners of war. Then Vladimir Mintz was imprisoned in the Riga ghetto, escaping from shooting in Rumbula by a miracle. He set up an outpatient clinic in the ghetto, performed surgical operations, and gave prisoners medical help and support for their morale under extremely difficult conditions. Vladimir Mintz was a prisoner of the concentration camps Kaiserwald (Riga), Stutthof, and Buchenwald, where he died of starvation and disease in February 1945.

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V.Mintz is the author of more than 100 publications a full list of which can be found in the book: Альтшулер Б., Черфас Д. Профессор Минц. Рига, 1970. 70 с.

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Outstanding Jewish personalities in Latvia / Text aut. G. Smirin. Riga, 2003. P. 23.

Альтшулер Б., Черфас Д. Профессор Минц. Рига, 1970. 70 с.

Левенштейн М. На краю нигде // Книга спасения / Авт.-сост. и лит. зап. Л. Коваль. Юрмала, 1993. Ч. 1. С. 108110.