Professor I.E. Esaulenko: Contribution to the Development of the Voronezh Morphological School and the Spiritual-Moral Traditions of Medical Education

This article is dedicated to the memory of Professor Igor Eduardovich Esaulenko (18.03.1956 – 19.08.2025), Rector of the Voronezh State Medical University named after N.N. Burdenko (2000–2025), Doctor of Medical Sciences, and a prominent organizer of medical education and science. Based on archival materials and documentary evidence, the article analyzes the multifaceted activities of the scientist aimed at the development of the morphological school at the Voronezh State Medical University named after N.N. Burdenko. Key initiatives of I.E. Esaulenko are examined: the creation of university research infrastructure (Research Institute of Experimental Biology and Medicine), the modernization of the educational process at the Department of Normal Human Anatomy, and the support of scientific and historical-medical research dedicated to outstanding representatives of the Voronezh school of morphologists. A separate section of the article reveals I.E. Esaulenko's contribution to establishing a systematic dialogue between medical education and the Russian Orthodox Church. The professor's work is viewed as an integrated system that unites the academic understanding of the human being with the cultivation of the moral foundations of the medical profession. This article is intended for historians of medicine, medical university educators, researchers in the field of morphology, and anyone interested in the development of medical education and its spiritual and moral foundations.

1. Dzen NV, Gabbasova NV, Esaulenko IE, Mamchik NP, Popov VI. Sravnitel’naya otsenka rezul’tatov antropometricheskikh pokazatelei i izmerenii komponentnogo sostava tela metodom bioimpedansometrii. [Comparative evaluation of the results of anthropometric indicators and measurements of body composition by bioimpedancemetry]. Kazan medical journal. 2023; 104(1):54–61. (In Russ.). doi: 10.17816/KMJ104940.

2. Esaulenko IE. Obrashchenie rektora Voronezhskogo gosudarstvennogo meditsinskogo universiteta im. N.N. Burdenko [Message from the Rector of Voronezh State Medical University named after N.N. Burdenko]. Morfologiya. 2019;155(2):6. (In Russ.).

3. Esaulenko IE, Alexeeva NT, Karpova AV, Rozhkova EA, Klochkova SV, Nikityuk DB. Myshechnyi komponent tela u devushek: konstitutsional’nye i individual’nye aspekty [Muscular Component of the Body in Girls: Constitutional and Individual Features]. Journal of Anatomy and Histopathology. 2020; 9(1):94–7. (In Russ.). doi: 10.18499/2225-7357-2020-9-1-94-97.

4. Esaulenko IE, Alexeeva NT, Shevchenko AA, Klochkova SV, Mnikhovich MV, Sokolov DA, et al. Akademik Dmitriy Arkad’evich Zhdanov: lichnost’ i vremya [Academician Dmitrii Arkad’evich Zhdanov: Personality and Time]. Journal of Anatomy and Histopathology. 2024;13(3):9–21. (In Russ.). doi: 10.18499/2225-7357-2024-13-3-9-21.

5. Esaulenko IE, Alexeeva NT, Shevchenko AA, Klochkova SV, Sokolov DA, Nikityuk DB. G.M. Voronezhskii period zhizni i tvorchestva G.M. Iosifova [Iosifov’s Life and Creative Work During his Voronezh Years]. Journal of Anatomy and Histopathology. 2025 Jul 22;14(2):9–22. (In Russ.). doi: 10.18499/2225-7357-2025-14-2-9-22.

6. Esaulenko IE, Atyakshin DA, Burtseva AS. Praktiki dobrovol’chestva v sisteme dukhovno-nravstvennogo vospitaniya v vysshei meditsinskoi shkole [Volunteer practices in the system of spiritual and moral education in higher medical school]. In: Dukhovno-nravstvennaya kul’tura v vysshei shkole: nravstvennye tsennosti i budushchee studencheskoi molodezhi: Materialy V Mezhdunarodnoi nauchno-prakticheskoi konferentsii v ramkakh XXVI Mezhdunarodnykh Rozhdestvenskikh obrazovatel’nykh chtenii, Moskva, 23 yanvarya 2018 goda. Moscow: Rossiiskii universitet druzhby narodov (RUDN); 2018:255–269. (In Russ.).

7. Esaulenko IE, Dorokhov EV, Semiletova VA. K stoletiyu so dnya rozhdeniya Voronezhskogo fiziologa, blestyashchego uchitelya i pedagoga professora I.D. Boenko [On the centenary of the birth of Voronezh physiologist, outstanding teacher and educator Professor I.D. Boenko]. Vestnik Voronezhskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Seriya: Problemy vysshego obrazovaniya. 2021;(2):128-31. (In Russ.).

8. Esaulenko IE, Nikityuk DB, Alexeeva NT, Shevchenko AA, Sokolov DA, Klochkova SV, et al. Patomorfologicheskie i molekulyarno-biologicheskie aspekty povrezhdeniya krovenosnykh sosudov pri COVID-19. [Pathomorphological and Molecular Biological Aspects of Blood Vessel Injury in COVID-19]. Journal of Anatomy and Histopathology. 2021; 9(4):9–18. (In Russ.). doi: 10.18499/2225-7357-2020-9-4-9-18.

9. Esaulenko IE, Nikityuk DB, Karpova AV. Funktsional’nyi podkhod v otsenke somatotipov lits razlichnykh etnicheskikh grupp [Functional approach in the assessment of somatotypes of individuals from various ethnic groups]. Morfologiya. 2020;157(2-3):74-5. (In Russ.).

10. Esaulenko IE, Popov VI. Kul’turno-gumanitarnaya i dukhovno-nravstvennaya sostavlyayushchie meditsinskogo obrazovaniya v usloviyakh sovremennogo obshchestva. [Culturalhumanitarian and spiritual-moral components of medical education in modern society]. In: The Orthodox scholar in the modern world [conference proceedings]; 2015 Nov 12-13; Orel, Russia. Vol. 3. Orel: Istochniki Publishing; 2015:246-247. (In Russ.).

11. Esaulenko IE, Popov VI. Pravoslavie v sisteme formirovaniya spetsialista meditsinskogo profilya [Orthodoxy in the system of training medical professionals]. In: The Orthodox scholar in the modern world [conference proceedings]; 2015 Nov 12-13; Orel, Russia. Vol. 3. Orel: Istochniki Publishing; 2015:249–252. (In Russ.).

12. Esaulenko IE, Popov VI. Sistema dukhovno-nravstvennogo vospitaniya v ramkakh meditsinskogo obrazovatelnogo protsessa [System of spiritual and moral education within the medical educational process]. In: «Lyubov’yu i edineniem spasemsya» (Prepodobnyi Sergii Radonezhskii): Materialy X Mezhdunarodnogo foruma «Zadonskie Svyato-Tikhonovskie obrazovatel’nye chteniya», Lipetsk — Zadonsk, 06 dekabrya 2014 goda. Ed. by N.Ya. Bezborodova, N.V. Styuflyaeva. Lipetsk — Zadonsk: OOO «Tipografiya Lipetsk-Plyus». 2015:230–232. (In Russ.).

13. Esaulenko IE, Popov VI, Atyakshin DA. O neobkhodimosti dukhovno-nravstvennoi sostavlyayushchei v sovremennom obrazovanii [On the necessity of the spiritual and moral component in modern education]. In: Novoi shkole — zdorovye deti [conference proceedings]; 2014 Oct 23-25; Voronezh: Voronezhskii gosudarstvennyi pedagogicheskii universitet. 2014:54–56. (In Russ.).

14. Esaulenko IE, Rozhkova EA, Klochkova SV, Alexeeva NT, Nikityuk DB, Karpova AV. Makroanatomicheskie i topograficheskie osobennosti soderzhaniya zhirovogo komponenta tela u devushek [Macroanatomical and Topographical Features of Body’s Adipose Component Content in Girls]. Journal of Anatomy and Histopathology. 2019; 8(3):40–5. (In Russ.). doi: 10.18499/2225-7357-2019-8-3-40-45.

15. Esaulenko IE, Semenov SN, Vorontsova ZA, et al. Drobyshev Vladimir Ivanovich (k 85-letiyu so dnya rozhdeniya) [Drobyshev Vladimir Ivanovich (on the occasion of his 85th birthday)]. Morfologicheskie vedomosti. 2011;(2):144-5. (In Russ.).

16. Esaulenko IE, Chernykh AV, Maleev YuV. Ivan Vasil’evich Georgievskii: osnovnye etapy zhiznennogo puti. 150 let so dnya rozhdeniya [Ivan Vasil’evich Georgievskiy: Main Stages of Life. 150th Anniversary of the Birth]. Journal of Anatomy and Histopathology. 2017;6(3):129–38. (In Russ.). doi: 10.18499/2225-7357-2017-6-3-129-138.

17. Esaulenko IE, Shishkin AA. “Seminariya — priznannyi lider dukhovno-nravstvennogo vospitaniya…”: interv’yu s Esaulenko Igorem Eduardovichem, rektorom Voronezhskogo gosudarstvennogo meditsinskogo universiteta imeni N.N. Burdenko [“The Seminary is a recognized leader in spiritual and moral education…”: interview with Igor Eduardovich Esaulenko, Rector of Voronezh State Medical University named after N.N. Burdenko]. Trudy Voronezhskoi dukhovnoi seminarii. 2018;(S10):69–73. (In Russ.).

18. Meien SV. Printsip sochuvstviya: razmyshleniya ob etike i nauchnom poznanii [The principle of empathy: reflections on ethics and scientific cognition]. Moscow: GEOS; 2006. 210.

19. Faustov AS, Esaulenko IE, Popov VI. Gumanizm bez granits (zhiznennyi podvig Alberta Shveitsera) [Humanism without borders (the life achievement of Albert Schweitzer)]. Voronezh: Istoki; 2001. 206. (In Russ.)