A. Bergman graduated from the First Moscow Medical Institute in 1953, specializing in obstetrics and gynecology. She worked as a resident physician at the Moscow Regional Research Institute of Obstetrics and Gynecology (1953–1956), and later in the German Democratic Republic as a surgical resident in Potsdam and at a gynecological clinic in Berlin (1956–1961).

From 1961, she had lived in Riga, where she completed her postgraduate studies and in 1967 defended her Candidate of Medical Sciences (PhD equivalent) dissertation. She worked at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of the Riga Medical Institute (from 1990 – the Latvian Medical Academy) as a resident physician, associate professor, and professor, and from 1974 to 1992 had been serving as the head of the department.

In 1977, Antonina Bergman defended her doctoral dissertation titled “Vascular Dystonia and Pregnancy” (nostrified in 1992 in accordance with the academic degree system of the Republic of Latvia).

The scientific research of A. Bergman was devoted to problems of obstetrics and gynecology and to the development of scientific foundations for the protection of the health of women and newborns. She had extensive experience as a clinical physician, working in the gynecological department of the 1st Riga Clinical Hospital and at Bikur Cholim Hospital, and participated in complex surgical cases in various hospitals across Latvia.

Antonina Bergman was the author of more than 200 scientific works, including 3 monographs and 2 textbooks, and held 7 patents. Under her supervision, 5 dissertations were prepared and successfully defended. For the first obstetrics textbooks in Latvian, which was published in 1982 and 1987, she was awarded the State Prize of the Latvian SSR (1989). She was honored as a Distinguished Physician of the Republic (1978).

Bergman was a member of various scientific societies and organizations, including the European Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (1988) and the Latvian Scientific Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (chairperson from 1977 to 1994).

She was awarded the Order of the Badge of Honour (1986) and was named an Emeritus Scientist of the Republic of Latvia (2000). She was fond of collecting Latvian ceramics and works by Latvian artists, and in her later years collected miniature art editions from various countries.

Antonina Bergman passed away in Riga on October 13, 2017.

Eryka Tjunina

Sources of information:

„Populārā medicīnas  enciklopēdija”. Rīga:Galvenā enciklopēdiju redakcija, 1985.;

LZA arhīvs