Anatoly Mikhailovich Ignashov — Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor, was born on January 15, 1934 in the village of Leshutino, Chagodoshchensky District, Vologda Region, into a family of hereditary peasants. After he graduated from primary rural school and secondary school in 1951, he entered the 1st Leningrad Medical Institute named after academician I.P. Pavlov and successfully completed his studies in 1957.  The primary incentive for becoming a doctor was the premature death of his newborn brother at the beginning of the war. As a graduate student, for 4 years he combined his studies at the institute with the work as an orderly in the admissions department of the K. Marx Hospital, which was the clinical base of the Department of General Surgery. This determined his choice of profession to become a surgeon and gave the opportunity to gain important medical experience. After receiving a short training in surgery at the Vologda City Hospital under the guidance of the famous surgeon A.P. Tsvetkov, in 1958 he immediately began independent work as a surgeon at the Borisovо-Sudsky district Hospital in the Vologda region. In 1960, he completed his primary specialization in endocrine surgery at the Belarusian Institute for Advanced Medical Studies and began performing operations on the thyroid gland. In 1961–1964, he completed clinical residency at the Department of General Surgery at the 1st Leningrad Medical Institute named after academician I.P. Pavlov under the supervision of Professor S.M. Kurbangaleev and assistant A.I. Goshkina. At their suggestion and support, he began scientific work, completed and in 1965 successfully defending his candidate's dissertation on the topic: “Lateral plastic surgery of peripheral arteries with a peritoneal-aponeurotic flap in an experiment.” In 1964, he studied for several months at the hospital surgery clinic, headed by academician F.G. Uglov, an outstanding surgeon. During the period 1965 to 1966 he worked as an abdominal and vascular surgeon at the Vologda Regional Hospital under the supervision of the experienced surgeon G.F. Shelkovsky, previously an employee of the P.A. Kupriyanov clinic.

At this time, after completing training in the vascular surgery department of the current “Russian Scientific Centre of Surgery named after academician B.V. Petrovsky”, he began performing operations for trauma and occlusive lesions, mainly on the vessels of the iliofemoral and popliteal segments. In the regional hospital, A.M. Ignashov was one of the first in our country to perform the Palm operation and thrombectomy for post-thrombotic occlusion of the venous iliofemoral segment, respectively, and arterial subclavian-femoral-popliteal bypass for Leriche syndrome. At 1966, A.M. Ignashov, who already had considerable experience in independent surgical work, was invited to the position of head of the surgical department of the general surgery clinic of the 1st Leningrad Medical Institute named after academician I.P. Pavlov. A year later he became an assistant and in 1977 an associate professor of this department. From 1979 to 1983 he was the deputy secretary of the party committee for organizational work of the 1st Leningrad Medical Institute, named after academician I.P. Pavlov. A.M. Ignashov, under the supervision of prof. S.M. Kurbangaleev, academician B.V. Petrovsky and prof. M.D. Knyazev, prepared and in 1981 defended his doctoral diploma work on the topic: “Clinic, diagnostics and surgical treatment of stenosis of the celiac trunk”, in which he presented the results of a study on this topical, practically new problem for the first time in our country.

Even at present, it remains insufficiently mastered, including in some specialized angio-surgical clinics. At 1983, A.M. Ignashov was accepted and then assigned by competition to the position of professor of the Department of Hospital Surgery No. 1 of the 1st Leningrad Medical Institute, named after academician I.P. Pavlov. The head of the department was Corresponding Member of the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences N.V. Putov, a remarkable person, doctor, teacher, scientist, and versatile surgeon. From 1993 to September 2004, A.M. Ignashov headed this department with a course in pediatric surgery with a clinic, and worked as a professor until 2011. Then he was transferred to the position of professor of the faculty surgery department. Together with a number of fellow employees of the institute, he worked in the Mission Control Center for 10 years until 1991. For more than 20 years he was the scientific secretary of the dissertation council of the 1st Leningrad Medical Institute named after academician I.P. Pavlov, specializing in surgery, cardiovascular surgery and urology. A.M. Ignashov is an experienced general surgeon, who has mastered the main sections of abdominal surgery and in particular occlusive-aneurysmal lesions of the abdominal aorta and mesenteric arteries, including celiac trunk compression syndrome. Over a 50-year period, starting in 1970, more than 1,500 adults and 140 children and adolescents with celiac trunk compression syndrome were successfully operated on personally by pediatric surgeons. The data on open decompressions of the celiac trunk in young people for celiac trunk compression syndrome, published by him and his co-authors in 2004, are presented in detail in the journal Vasa. Recently, A.M. Ignashov has been actively taking part in an unresolved clinical problem: celiac trunk compression syndrome in combination with other diseases. These include aneurysms of the mesenteric arteries, reflux esophagitis, chronic low duodenal obstruction, thoracic outlet syndrome, pectoralis minor muscle, and others. For the first time in our country, a sapheno-cavernous anastomosis for priapism and combined operations were independently performed: decompression of the celiac trunk and resection of an aneurysm of the inferior pancreatic-duodenal artery and scalenotomy, severally.  In February 2024, A.M. Ignashov was the first to describe three clinical observations concerning personally accomplished successful resection of a true aneurysm of the inferior phrenic artery in celiac trunk compression syndrome. Anatoly Mikhailovich summarized the positive outcomes of his scientific research and many years of clinical experience in more than 150 publications and the monograph “Ischemic Disease of the Digestive Organs” (co-authors M.D. Knyazev, L.V. Potashov). Under his supervision, two doctoral and 19 candidate dissertations were defended, two of which were recently presented by graduate students of the People's Republic of China. As an experienced clinician and teacher, A.M. Ignashov skillfully transfers his knowledge to students and young surgeons at a modern level. For students and doctors, a practical guide, “Hospital Surgery,” was prepared and published under the editorship of A.M. Ignashov and N.V. Putov in 2003, 792 pages.

Prof. A.M. Ignashov was awarded the honorary title "Honored Worker of Higher Education of the Russian Federation," and a letter of gratitude was issued by the decision of the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg dated June 30, 2010, No. R-427 for significant personal contribution to the development of medical science in St. Petersburg; and a letter of gratitude from the Committee on Science and Higher Education dated 2025 for many years of conscientious work, great personal contribution to the development of the higher education system, and scientific potential of St. Petersburg. In 2024, Anatoly Mikhailovich Ignashov was awarded the medal named after academician F.G. Uglov "for significant contribution to the development of surgery." Currently, he is an operating surgeon at the Research Institute of Surgery and Emergency Medicine of the First Saint Petersburg State Medical University, named after academician I.P. Pavlov. He is also a cardiovascular surgeon at the clinic division of the Almazov National Medical Research Center.