Mikhail Mashkovsky

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Mikhail Davydovich Mashkovsky (1908–2002) was a Soviet and Russian pharmacologist and an Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences. He wrote the famous pharmacopoeia “Medical Compounds,” which had 15 editions; the 15th edition appeared after his death in 2005 in Russia.

He was born in Pinsk and graduated in 1934 from the Second Moscow Medical Institute named after Nikolay Pirogov. In 1938 he joined the National Research Institute for Chemistry and Pharmacy, and in 1939 earned a PhD in pharmacology, focusing on respiratory stimulants and the synthesis of the Soviet drug Cytiton. In 1941 he joined the army and served at the front as chief toxicologist of the 3rd Ukrainian Front, continuing to publish research during the war. He was awarded the Order of the Red Star and two Orders of the Patriotic War (1st and 2nd class).

After the war he remained at the same institute and eventually became its director, a position he held until his death. In 1948 he completed his habilitation on the pharmacology of alkaloids. His lab tested many classical Soviet drugs, evaluating more than 8,000 compounds. He also served as Head of the Pharmacopoeial Committee of the Soviet Union, worked as a WHO expert on drug quality, and was a member of the United States Pharmacopeia Convention.

The first edition of the Soviet pharmacopoeia appeared in 1954 with Mashkovsky as the sole author. He led the 9th and 10th editions of the National Soviet pharmacopoeia and, from 1998, headed the editorial board of the Registry of Medical Compounds, a successor to the Pharmacopoeial Committee. After retirement in 1992, he continued as a consultant and advisor.