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Catherine the Great: inoculation pioneer

Lucy Ward recounts the story of a Quaker doctor who took up the risky challenge of inoculating an empress against smallpox

Published: April 21, 2022 at 12:01 PM

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Lucy Ward speaks to Elinor Evans about the story of English Quaker doctor Thomas Dimsdale, who took up the risky challenge of inoculating Empress Catherine II – Catherine the Great – against smallpox, as a powerful statement at a time when the disease was ravaging Russia and superstition held sway.

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Lucy Ward is the author of The Empress and the English Doctor: How Catherine the Great defied a deadly virus (Oneworld Publications, 2022)

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Authors

Elinor EvansHead of digital (web and video)

Elinor Evans is head of digital (web and video)

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