Valentin Felixovich Voyno-Yasenetsky (; – 11 June 1961) – now known as Luke of Simferopol, Saint Luke the Blessed Surgeon, or Saint Luke of Crimea – was a Russian

surgeon In medicine, a surgeon is a medical doctor who performs surgery. Even though there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon is a licensed physician and received the same medical training as physicians before spec ...

, spiritual writer, a

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

of the

Russian Orthodox Church The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...

, and archbishop of from May 1946 until his death. He was a laureate of the Stalin Prize in

medicine Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...

in 1946.

Personal life

Valentin Voyno-Yasenetsky was born in 1877 in

Kerch Kerch, also known as Keriç or Kerich, is a city of regional significance on the Kerch Peninsula in the east of Crimea. It has a population of Founded 2,600 years ago as the Colonies in antiquity#Greek colonies, ancient Greek colony Pantik ...

. In 1889, his family moved to

Kiev Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

. In Kiev, he graduated from the gymnasium and art school, then Valentin entered the medical faculty of Kiev University. Then he met the sister of mercy Anna Vasilyevna Lanskaya, whom he married, and they had two children. In 1917, Anna fell ill with tuberculosis, and the family moved to

Tashkent Tashkent (), also known as Toshkent, is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uzbekistan, largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of more than 3 million people as of April 1, 2024. I ...

. But in 1919, Anna Voyno-Yasenetskaya died. In 1921, Voyno-Yasenetsky became a priest, then took the name Luke, later became a bishop. After the war, he was awarded the medal "For Valiant Labour in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945". In 1955, Luke became completely blind.

Medical career

His most important work in

is ''Sketches of Purulent Surgery'' (1934). This is still a reference book and a manual for surgeons. Also, he operated patients who had diseases of the

gall bladder In vertebrates, the gallbladder, also known as the cholecyst, is a small hollow organ where bile is stored and concentrated before it is released into the small intestine. In humans, the pear-shaped gallbladder lies beneath the liver, althoug ...

, stomach, and other organs of the abdominal cavity, and worked in

neurosurgery Neurosurgery or neurological surgery, known in common parlance as brain surgery, is the specialty (medicine), medical specialty that focuses on the surgical treatment or rehabilitation of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system ...

and

orthopedics Orthopedic surgery or orthopedics (American and British English spelling differences, alternative spelling orthopaedics) is the branch of surgery concerned with conditions involving the musculoskeletal system. Orthopedic surgeons use both surgic ...

. Voyno-Yasenetsky made a great contribution to

anesthesiology Anesthesiology, anaesthesiology or anaesthesia is the medical specialty concerned with the total perioperative medicine, perioperative care of patients before, during and after surgery. It encompasses anesthesia, intensive care medicine, critica ...

. His first

monograph A monograph is generally a long-form work on one (usually scholarly) subject, or one aspect of a subject, typically created by a single author or artist (or, sometimes, by two or more authors). Traditionally it is in written form and published a ...

, ''Regional anesthesiology'', was published in 1915 in

Petrograd Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

. In 1916 he defended a thesis ''About regional anesthesiology of the second branch of the trigeminal nerve''. He wrote about the practical importance of the

regional anesthesia Local anesthesia is any technique to induce the absence of sensation in a specific part of the body, generally for the aim of inducing local analgesia, i.e. local insensitivity to pain, although other local senses may be affected as well. It all ...

method in the attachment to the ''Essays of purulent surgery''. "... a great amount of death is due to unskillful or careless use of

chloroform Chloroform, or trichloromethane (often abbreviated as TCM), is an organochloride with the formula and a common solvent. It is a volatile, colorless, sweet-smelling, dense liquid produced on a large scale as a precursor to refrigerants and po ...

and

ether In organic chemistry, ethers are a class of compounds that contain an ether group, a single oxygen atom bonded to two separate carbon atoms, each part of an organyl group (e.g., alkyl or aryl). They have the general formula , where R and R� ...

. ..That's why these methods of local anaesthesia which help doctors pay attention only to the operation have a great importance. In my opinion, one of the most important conditions in the development of the rural surgery is the wide familiarisation of doctors with these methods..." Voyno-Yasenetsky was the first who described the anaesthesia for the

trigeminal nerve In neuroanatomy, the trigeminal nerve (literal translation, lit. ''triplet'' nerve), also known as the fifth cranial nerve, cranial nerve V, or simply CN V, is a cranial nerve responsible for Sense, sensation in the face and motor functions ...

by the use of

ethanol Ethanol (also called ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol, drinking alcohol, or simply alcohol) is an organic compound with the chemical formula . It is an Alcohol (chemistry), alcohol, with its formula also written as , or EtOH, where Et is the ps ...

into the branches of this nerve (orbital, maxillary and mandibular) and into Gasser's, or trigeminal ganglion. He presented four reports in the first scientific meeting of the doctors in

Turkestan Turkestan,; ; ; ; also spelled Turkistan, is a historical region in Central Asia corresponding to the regions of Transoxiana and East Turkestan (Xinjiang). The region is located in the northwest of modern day China and to the northwest of its ...

(23-28 October 1922). There were conclusions about surgical treatment of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

, purulent processes of knee joints, hand tendons and

costal cartilage Costal cartilage, also known as rib cartilage, are bars of hyaline cartilage that serve to prolong the ribs forward and contribute to the elasticity of the walls of the thorax. Costal cartilage is only found at the anterior ends of the ribs, pr ...

s. Voyno-Yasenetsky made an experiment with the

bacteriologist A bacteriologist is a microbiologist, or similarly trained professional, in bacteriology— a subdivision of microbiology that studies bacteria, typically Pathogenic bacteria, pathogenic ones. Bacteriologists are interested in studying and learnin ...

Guselnikov in which they were studying the mechanism of the purulent processes in the costal cartilages after

typhus Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposu ...

. While working in the military hospital in

Krasnoyarsk Krasnoyarsk is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and administrative center of Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia. It is situated along the Yenisey, Yenisey River, and is the second-largest city in Siberia after Novosibirsk, with a p ...

, he invented new operations, such as joints rejection. This operation was used to treat

osteomyelitis Osteomyelitis (OM) is the infectious inflammation of bone marrow. Symptoms may include pain in a specific bone with overlying redness, fever, and weakness. The feet, spine, and hips are the most commonly involved bones in adults. The cause is ...

of big joints.

Religious life

As a noticeable religious figure, he was subjected to political repressions and spent 11 years in internal exile. Luke's mother was

Russian Orthodox The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...

and his father was

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

, and according to his memoirs, he did not receive a religious upbringing from his family. When he left school the principal gave him a copy of the

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

, and it was by a careful study of this that he came to know the teachings of

Christ Jesus ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Christianity, central figure of Christianity, the M ...

. In 1958, writing after

Stalin's death Joseph Stalin, second leader of the Soviet Union, died on 5 March 1953 at his Kuntsevo Dacha after suffering a stroke, at age 74. He was given a state funeral in Moscow on 9 March, with four days of national mourning declared. On the day of t ...

, and under

Nikita Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and the Premier of the Soviet Union, Chai ...

's new wave of anti-religious persecution, Saint Luke stated "how arduous it has been to swim against the stormy current of antireligious propaganda, and how many sufferings it caused me, and continues to cause me to this day."

Veneration

Canonization

He was

canonized Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon catalogue of sa ...

by the

on May 25, 1996. His feast day is commemorated on May 29 (according to the

Julian calendar The Julian calendar is a solar calendar of 365 days in every year with an additional leap day every fourth year (without exception). The Julian calendar is still used as a religious calendar in parts of the Eastern Orthodox Church and in parts ...

) or June 11 (according to the

Revised Julian Calendar The Revised Julian calendar, or less formally the new calendar and also known as the Milanković calendar, is a calendar proposed in 1923 by the Serbian scientist Milutin Milanković as a more accurate alternative to both Julian calendar, Julian ...

). On March 17, 1996, Luke's remains were disinterred, with many thousands of people attending the ceremony. It is said that an indescribable aroma arose from his

relic In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains or personal effects of a saint or other person preserved for the purpose of veneration as a tangible memorial. Reli ...

s, while his heart was discovered

incorrupt Incorruptibility is a Catholic and Orthodox belief that divine intervention allows some human bodies (specifically saints and beati) to completely or partially avoid the normal process of decomposition after death as a sign of their holiness. I ...

. Three days later, on 20 March 1996, his relics were transferred to the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in Simferopol.

Relics

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

, portions of his relics are found in the Sagmata Monastery (in

Boeotia Boeotia ( ), sometimes Latinisation of names, Latinized as Boiotia or Beotia (; modern Greek, modern: ; ancient Greek, ancient: ), is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the modern regions of Greece, region of Central Greece (adm ...

, near Thebes and

Ypato Ypato () is a village in Thebes Municipality, Boeotia, Greece. It is located east of Thebes, in the slopes of Mount Ypatio. According to the 2021 Census, it has 316 residents. There's a church that is located from the village, called Church of Tr ...

), Dovra Monastery and a few other churches.

Gallery

File:Свято-Троицкий собор в Симферополе 003.jpg, Holy Trinity cathedral in

Simferopol Simferopol ( ), also known as Aqmescit, is the second-largest city on the Crimea, Crimean Peninsula. The city, along with the rest of Crimea, is internationally recognised as part of Ukraine, but controlled by Russia. It is considered the cap ...

, where the relics of St. Luke are held. File:Церковь Луки, архиепископа Крымского, при Медицинском радиологическом научном центре.jpg, Church of Luke, Archbishop of Crimea, at the Medical Radiological Research Center (Obninsk)

References

Notes

Citations

Sources

*Archdeacon Vasiliy Marushchak, ''The Blessed Surgeon: The Life of Saint Luke of Simferopol'', Divine Ascent Press, 2002 *Archmandrite Nektarios Antonopoulos, ''Saint Luke of Simferopol and Crimea I Embraced Martyrdom: An Autobiography'', Porphyra Publications, 2013 (in Greek)

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Luka Voyno-Yasnetsky 1877 births 1961 deaths People from Kerch People from Taurida Governorate 20th-century Christian saints Converts to Eastern Orthodoxy Russian saints of the Eastern Orthodox Church Holy Unmercenaries Incorrupt saints 20th-century Eastern Orthodox bishops Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Surgeons from the Russian Empire Inventors from the Russian Empire Recipients of the Stalin Prize Soviet surgeons Russian scientists