Join the Center for Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies and the Department of History for a lecture with Ohio State alumnus Matt Romaniello.
Abstract: Dr. Matthew Guthrie (1743-1807) enjoyed a decades-long career in the Russian Empire, making him one of the central figures of the British diaspora in Russia, able to facilitate numerous appointments for British physicians, engineers, and officers in Russian service. He also was a prolific author, relying on his appointments as member of Russia's Free Economic Society and the Royal Society of London to act as an interlocutor of scientific and medical knowledge generated in Russia but otherwise unknown in Europe. One of his primary interests was how his knowledge of the Russian Empire allowed him to shed new light on the treatment of "cold" diseases, including scurvy, arthritis, and catarrh. This talk will not only look at Guthrie's contributions to medical knowledge in the eighteenth century but also reveal how Guthrie critiqued his countrymen for their inability to adapt to extreme climates.
Speaker Bio: Matt Romaniello is Associate Professor of History specializing in Russian and World History at Weber State University. He is the author of Enterprising Empires: Russia and Britain in the Eighteenth Century and The Elusive Empire: Kazan and the Creation of Russia, 1552-1671. He is the current editor of The Journal of World History
