Amosov and Kavaleridze

May 28 saw the unveiling of the bust of Mykola Amosov in the lobby of the Research Institute of Cardiovascular Surgery named in his honor. The unveiling ceremony was held in a businesslike atmosphere, perhaps created by the institute staff that assembled in the lobby in their scrubs and white coats. Borys Paton, Oleksandr Shalimov, Mykola Polishchuk, and other famous scientists and physicians were among the many guests present for the ceremony, which, being held at the peak of the working day, lasted less than half an hour. This was in spirit of Amosov himself, who could tolerate neither adulation nor wasting time.

The bust is the work of the celebrated Ukrainian sculptor Ivan Kavaleridze. Made in the 1970s of gypsum, it was preserved by the Amosov family. After Mykola Amosov died, his relatives turned to sculptor Oleksandr Skoblykov, who cast a bronze likeness of Mykola Amosov and presented it to the institute, long popularly known as the Mykola Amosov Institute and now officially renamed in his honor.