Vladimir Trofimov

Vladimir Trofimov (3^rd of August 1872, Pskov governorate, Russian Empire – 10^th of December 1944, Riga, Latvian SSR) – M.D., privatdozent of the University of Latvia. In 1931 was a minister without portfolio.

Vladimir Trofimov was born in the Sorokino farmstead of the Vishgorod volost of the Ostrov uyezd of the Pskov governorate in a wealthy peasant family. In 1889 V. Trofimov graduated from Pskov Classical Gymnasium and in 1899 finished the Medical Faculty of Yuriev (Tartu) University.

From the November of 1899 till the May of 1900 had been a trainee in Saint Petersburg. During his studies and the first years of independent practice he had been improving his knowledge in anatomy by Professor Peter Lesgaft.

From 1900 till 1902 V. Trofimov had been an assistant at Yuriev (Tartu) University Hospital. In 1901 he became an M.D.

From the 1^st of April 1902 till the 1^st of November 1904 he had been working as a surgeon at the Lgov Zemstvo Hospital at Kursk governorate. During the Russian-Japanese War served as a surgeon in various field infirmaries. After returning from the front at the end of 1904 – the beginning of 1905 had been a practitioner in Saint-Petersburg and specialized in the field of operative surgery.

From the May of 1905 till the May of 1913 V. Trofimov had been supervising the surgical department of Penza governorate zemstvo hospital. In 1909 he defended his doctoral thesis on the theme “Regarding the Matter of a Blind Seam of a Bladder with a High Lithotomy”. From 1912 till the November of 1918 he had been the head physician and surgeon of the Red Cross Hospital in Penza and also the director of the Specialized School of Nursing. After the city was taken over by the Bolsheviks, he resigned from the position of the head physician. Worked as a surgeon in Penza until the July of 1923 when he returned to Latvia.

From 1924 till 1931 V. Trofimov had been professing the course of operative surgery at the University of Latvia. In 1931 (from the 27^th of March till the 5^th of December) was a minister without portfolio in K. Ulmanis’s government. During the times of the First Republic this was the only ministerial position, which was occupied by a Russian representative.

There are not many remaining facts about the later activities of V. Trofimov. Until 1940 he had a medical practice in Riga. Afterwards, he moved to his native Augshpils volost where he resumed his medical practice.

During the World War II provided feasible medical aid to Soviet prisoners of war. He also initiated an appeal to the German occupation authorities regarding admission of Russian language in those districts, where Russians constituted the majority of local population, as well as disclosure of Russian schools, which were abolished during Ulmanis’s regime. By his initiative Russian language was introduced as a subject at the Abrene (Pytalovo) Agricultural School. In the spring of 1942 V. Trofimov met Lebedev - the chairman of the “Russian Commitee” of Abrene uyezd. This committee was formed in cooperation with the occupation authorities, as if with the aim to provide help to the local Russian population and the performance of cultural and educational work among it. Similar “commitees” were established in all uyezds of Latvia. Their center was located in Riga. The post of the chairman of the Riga “Commitee” was occupied by an infamous Vladimir Presnyakov. Having understood the “Commitee’s” total incapability, V. Trofimov left it in the beginning of 1943.

In the beginning of October of 1944 V. Trofimov was arrested by the order of the Main Directorate of Counter-Intelligence "SMERSH" of the 3^rd Baltic Front in a small Latvian town of Strenchi.

V. Trofimov died on the 10^th of December 1944. In accordance with the official diagnosis, the death came from “a severe form of sclerosis of all blood vessels”. However, taking into account the protocol of the court, the fact of a severe mental disorder which resulted from psychic and physical impact during the investigation, also cannot be excluded.

Family

V. Trofimov married on the 30^th of April 1916 on a widow Evdokia Andreeva (nee Sergeeeva, born in 1885). The wedding took place at the church of Leonidovka village of the Gorodishe uyezd of Penza governorate.

The wife had two children from her previous marriage: Kyra, born on the 27^th of June 1910 and Aleksey, born on the 16^th of March 1912.

In 1928 the Trofimovs adopted a boy named Vladimir, born on the 6^th of June 1922.  

From the available archive sources: son Aleksey was arrested in 1940 by NKVD. Kyra graduated from the University of Latvia and in 1944 fled to the West. The adopted son Vladimir was conscripted into the Latvian Legion. No further information regarding their fate was found.

Vladimir Trofimov’s nephew – Sergey Trofimov (1894–1941) was a member of the 4^th Saeima of Latvia (1931–1934).

Tatiana Feigmane

Information sources:

LSHA, f. 7427, inv. 13, f. 1798.

LSA, f. 1986, inv. 2, f. R-2732.

Tatiana Feigmane. Certain Facts Regarding the Life of Russian Population of the Former Jaunlatgale Uyezd in the Pre-War Latvia.  Шестые Псковские региональные краеведческие чтения. Печоры 9-11 октября 2015 года. – Книга 1. – Псков-Москва,  стр. 282–301.

Penza – the Home of Talents

Сафронов А.И. Доктора медицины Пензенской губернии /A. Safronov. MDs of Penza Governorate, p. 19.