Project News
Research in Focus
We are delighted to share that, from 1 to 28 August 2026, Olga Smolyak conducted archival and field research in Almaty, Kazakhstan, building on discoveries made during her earlier research trip to Bishkek.
Working in archives in Almaty, Olga identified a rich collection of materials that complement her findings from Kyrgyzstan. These documents illuminate the complex relationships between resort administrations, republican public health authorities, and Communist Party institutions, revealing the multiple layers of governance that shaped the development of sanatoria in Soviet Kazakhstan.
An important part of the research involved work in the National Library and specialist research libraries, where Olga examined periodicals devoted to public health, resort medicine, and physical therapies. These publications provide striking evidence of the so-called 'Pavlovian turn' of the early 1950s. Across a wide range of journals, references to Ivan Pavlov's work became increasingly prominent, with Pavlovian concepts serving as an essential marker of scientific legitimacy in discussions of health, treatment, and healthy living. The materials demonstrate how his ideas came to shape both medical research and public understandings of health throughout the Soviet Union.
Thanks to collaborations with the Ch. Ch. Valikhanov Institute of History and Ethnology, Olga also conducted fieldwork at Kapal-Arasan Sanatorium, the focus of her research in Kazakhstan. Located around 400 kilometres from Almaty, Kapal-Arasan occupies a unique place in the histories of migration, exploration, and empire. The area attracted Russian settlers after 1861 and was visited by prominent figures including Chokan Valikhanov, Pyotr Semenov-Tian-Shansky, and the British traveller Thomas Atkinson.
Although founded in the 1880s, the resort developed slowly and remained largely inactive after the 1917 Revolution. Its fortunes changed in the 1930s when it was incorporated into the Soviet all-Union health resort network. Like Yssyk-Ata in Kyrgyzstan, it operated according to standardised Soviet treatment programmes and administrative models.
Kapal-Arasan reached its peak between the 1960s and 1980s under Dinmukhamed Kunayev, when new facilities reflected contemporary approaches to resort planning and architecture. Today, much of the complex lies abandoned, yet it remains important to local communities. Visitors continue to use its thermal hydrogen sulphide and radon springs, while residents often draw on the mineral-rich waters for everyday tasks such as washing clothes.
The trip also enabled a comparison with Alma-Arasan, a sanatorium established in 1931 just 25 kilometres from Almaty. Unlike the remote Kapal-Arasan, Alma-Arasan has benefited from its proximity to the city and developed into a hub for tourism and outdoor recreation. Together, the two sites illustrate how geography and accessibility have shaped the contrasting post-Soviet trajectories of Kazakhstan's health resorts.
The findings from this research trip will contribute to a forthcoming co-authored article on the administration of resorts in Kazakhstan during the 1930s, a research presentation at the Centre for the History of Medicine, Science and Technology, and a chapter in the project's edited volume.
Research in Focus
We are delighted to share that, from 5 July to 31 July 2026, Olga Smolyak conducted archival research in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, as part of the Traumatised Minds project.
During her research trip, Olga uncovered a remarkable collection of photographs documenting the history of sanatoria in Kyrgyzstan from the late imperial period through the Soviet era and into the post-Soviet decades. The images offer a rare glimpse into the everyday lives of adults and children who attended balneological and climatic sanatoria located in the mountainous regions of the republic. Together, they trace the changing cultures of rest, treatment, and recovery across the twentieth century. Another significant discovery was a collection of archival materials produced by the republican resort administration. These records shed light on the economic, medical, and ideological management of the sanatorium system. The documents reveal the growing pressure placed on sanatoria by Soviet authorities to become economically self-sufficient. They also illustrate increasing expectations that resorts should serve not only as sites of treatment and leisure, but also as centres of scientific research investigating the effects of climatic and natural factors on physical and mental health.
As part of the trip, Olga visited the Yssyk-Ata Sanatorium, the principal focus of her current research. Combining archival work with anthropological observation, she explored how the institution has evolved since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Her observations suggest that Yssyk-Ata has been transformed into a multifunctional space for leisure, recreation, and wellness retreats. While many Soviet therapeutic practices remain in place, parts of the site have been repurposed to meet contemporary demands. The thermal springs now function as a major tourist attraction, while several Soviet-era accommodation blocks have been replaced by smaller cabins equipped with modern amenities for individual visitors and families.
Research Spotlight
We are delighted to share that Anna Toropova recently presented a paper at the European Society for the History of Science (ESHS) / History of Science Society (HSS) Joint Meeting, held in Edinburgh on 14 July 2026.
In her paper, ‘Conceptions of Trauma in Soviet Scientific Film, 1920s–1950s’, Anna explored how film became a crucial battleground for competing scientific understandings of trauma. Rather than pointing to widespread compliance with ‘Pavlovian’ orthodoxy, the scientific film history of this period indicates the presence of lively discussion and debate on the characteristics of a ‘Soviet’ understanding of trauma.
Conference Highlight
We are delighted to share that Anna Toropova and Olga Smolyak presented their research at the Society for the Social History of Medicine Biennial Conference, In/Out, held at the University of Leeds from 30 June to 3 July 2026.
On 1 July 2026, they contributed to the panel 'Trauma at the Margins: Understanding the Role of Borders, Place and Space in Psychiatric History', which explored how geographical, political, and institutional settings shaped experiences and understandings of psychological trauma.
Anna Toropova presented the paper ‘Localising Trauma: The Treatment of Neurotic Patients in Soviet Ukraine and Georgia, 1917–1953’. Examining the work of medical specialists in the non-Russian republics of the USSR, she explored how practitioners responded to the psychological consequences of revolution, war, displacement, and famine. Her paper highlighted often overlooked traditions of medical practice and demonstrated the importance of local contexts in shaping approaches to trauma and mental health.
Olga Smolyak presented the paper ‘The Therapeutic Function of Labour in Early-Soviet Sanatoria’. Drawing on theoretical writings by Bolshevik thinkers on physical culture, hygiene, and the scientific organisation of labour, she examined treatment models developed in Moscow and promoted across the Soviet republics. Her paper considered how therapeutic labour was conceptualised as a means of restoring health and productivity, revealing the connections between medicine, ideology, and social engineering in the early Soviet period.
The panel brought together perspectives on the relationship between place, medical practice, and psychiatric knowledge, contributing to broader discussions about the spatial dimensions of trauma in modern history.
Workshop Spotlight
We are delighted to share that Anna Toropova recently took part in the workshop Histories of Child Mental Health, held on 22–23 April 2026 at the University of Southern Denmark in Copenhagen.
At the workshop, she delivered a paper titled 'The Nervous Child: Early Soviet Psychiatry and Childhood Trauma.' Her presentation traced the growing concern about children’s mental health after the October Revolution. Mapping ruptures and continuities between the 1920s and the Stalinist 1930s, she discussed the evolution of understandings of child nervousness through the early Soviet period.
Edited Volume Contribution
We are pleased to share that Anna Toropova has contributed a chapter to the edited volume Psychiatry after Kraepelin: Ambition, Image and Practices, edited by George Ikkos and Thomas Becker. Released in March 2026 and now available online, this open-access volume brings together rich historical and philosophical reflections on Kraepelin’s legacy across disciplines, alongside perspectives informed by the lived experiences of mental health service users.
In her chapter, 'Soviet Psychiatry: The Stalin Years,' Anna explores the complex and evolving reception of Kraepelin in Soviet psychiatry, tracing its trajectory from initial engagement to its eventual rejection under Stalin. Her contribution thinks through the intersections of psychiatric theory, political context, and intellectual change.
Click the link to look at the volume and read Anna's article.Link opens in a new window
New Publication
We are pleased to announce that Anna Toropova has published a new article, ‘From Neurasthenia to “Experimental Neurosis”: Soviet Cinema, Psychiatry and the Problem of Nervousness’, in Isis, the journal of the History of Science Society.
Published in March 2026, the article uses cinematic engagements with the question of neurosis to re-examine the extent to which the Soviet psy-disciplines were subordinated to a biological model of the mind in the Stalin era.
The article is available to read online via the provided linkLink opens in a new window.
Public Engagement
On 6 February 2026, Warwick Institute of Engagement and the Centre for the History of Medicine, Science and Technology are delighted to invite everyone to a film screening and panel discussion of the rare Ukrainian health education film For Women, About Women (directed by Yevheniia Hryhorovych, 1930), on women’s health. Click the link to read the details and book your free ticketLink opens in a new window.
Conference Highlight
We are delighted to share that Anna Toropova, Principal Investigator of the Traumatised Project, recently delivered a paper, 'Children’s Trauma in Late Stalinist Psychiatry and Culture,' at the Imagining the Child’s Mind Conference, held on 29–30 January 2026 at the Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. The paper traced how childhood traumatisation became a thriving topic of research in Soviet psychiatry between 1917 and 1953. Tracing the intersection of psychiatric languages of trauma and vernacular expressions of mental distress, the paper explored how a series of films on children’s wartime experiences, including There Once Lived a Girl (Eisymont, 1943), echoed the medical interest in the impact of war on the child’s mind.
Past Event Report
On 8-9 May 2025, the University of Warwick hosted the workshop titled Cultures of Trauma in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. The workshop marked the start of the Traumatised Minds project. Click the link to read more about the eventLink opens in a new window.
Call for Papers
Centre for the History of Medicine, Science, and Technology is excited to announce the first event of the five-year research initiative: Traumatised Minds: Neurosis and Hysteria in Soviet Medicine and Culture, 1917-1953.
An international workshop, Cultures of Trauma in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, is scheduled to take place at the University of Warwick (UK) on 8-9 May 2025. Click the link to view the call for papers.