Leonid Mikhailovich Roshal, eminent Russian medic, was born on April 27, 1933, in the town of Livny (Oryol Region). His father was a military pilot. Despite there were no medics in the family, Leonid wanted to become a doctor since his early childhood. In order to get higher education, Leonid entered Second Moscow State Medical Institute named after Nikolay Pirogov (now Russian State Medical University) and finished it in 1957 as pediatrician. After becoming a certified doctor, Leonid Roshal worked as district pediatrician. Twenty years of his professional life Roshal dedicated to Moscow Region Science and Research Clinical Institute named after M. Vladimirsky.

In 1964 Leonid Mikhailovich Roshal defended his PhD dissertation, and only six years later he became a Doctor of Medical Sciences. In 1981 Leonid Roshal headed the department of emergency surgery and traumatic surgery of children, and remains its head. The department belongs to Research Children Health Centre of Russian Academy of Medical Sciences.

Leonid Roshal holds a professor degree and is an author of over 200 scientific papers and 7 books. The medic is involved in World Health Organization as an expert and World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine (WADEM). Roshal is also a member of Human Rights Commission under the President of Russian Federation. In 1996 mass media entitled doctor Roshal “Child Doctor of the World”.

Medics of international emergency team, established by Leonid Roshal, are ready to help children, who got into trouble in any part of our planet. The crew keeps almost the same since the team’s “birth” in 1988, when a devastating earthquake destroyed Armenian city of Spitak. Since that time the team visited sites of natural disasters, technogenic catastrophes and military activities for over 20 times. Doctors saved lives, when a train crashed near Ufa and when a plant exploded in Ust-Kamenogorsk. Roshal and his team went to combat zones in Romania, Yugoslavia, Abkhazia, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, Israel and Chechnya; to earthquake sites in Egypt, Japan, Georgia and Sakhalin; California, India, Afghanistan and Turkey. On May 9, 2002, team of doctor Roshal arrived to Kaspiysk, where many children were injured during a terrorist attack, several hours after the explosion. Medics saved 27 wounded children.

When a tragedy happened during the “Nord-Ost” musical, Leonid Roshal was the one, who managed to enter the building, occupied with terrorists, and negotiated with criminal on releasing hostages. The doctor took eight children out of the occupied music hall, brought pharmaceuticals to those, who remained inside, and helped injured and sick people. Courage and total dedication of Leonid Roshal, which he showed during hostage release from Theatre at Dubrovka did not remained unnoticed. November 5, 2002 brought the doctor the “Hero of Nation” prize. Eminent medic is sure that all sick people should get medical help for free.

Source: Leonod Roshal's biography

Kizilova Anna