Princess Vera Ignatievna Giedroyc (Russian: Вера Игнатьевна Гедройц, 1870 - 1932) was a Lithuanian princess, a doctor of medicine, a professor, the first female surgeon in Russia, one of the first female professors of surgery in the world, and a writer of poetry and prose.

Giedroyc belonged to a Lithuanian princely clan which shared its origins with the more famous Radziwill

Radziwill

The Radziwiłł family is an noble family of Lithuanian origin. The descendants of Kristinas Astikas, a close associate of the 14th century Lithuanian ruler Vytautas, were highly prominent for centuries, first in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, later in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the...

 family. She was born in Slobodishe (Oryol guberniya

Oryol Oblast

Oryol Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . Its administrative center is the city of Oryol. Population: -Geography:It is located in the southwestern part of the Central Federal District, in the Mid-Russian Highlands. Kaluga and Tula Oblasts border it in the north, Bryansk Oblast is located to...

) into the Russian-speaking milieu and was trained to be a surgeon at the University of Lausanne

University of Lausanne

The University of Lausanne in Lausanne, Switzerland was founded in 1537 as a school of theology, before being made a university in 1890. Today about 12,000 students and 2200 researchers study and work at the university...

, in clinic of professor César Roux. Illness of parents and death of sister have compelled Giedroyc to come back in 1900 to Russia.

Her work in laparotomies

Laparotomy

A laparotomy is a surgical procedure involving a large incision through the abdominal wall to gain access into the abdominal cavity. It is also known as coeliotomy.- Terminology :...

 during the Russo-Japanese War

Russo-Japanese War

The Russo-Japanese War was "the first great war of the 20th century." It grew out of rival imperial ambitions of the Russian Empire and Japanese Empire over Manchuria and Korea...

 was among the first to achieve a high success rate. This led the Russian army to adopt the procedure, and caused the notions the correct treatment of penetrating abdominal wounds to change.

In 1909 Giedroyc was transferred to the court hospital in Tsarskoe Selo, where she worked as a surgeon to the imperial family. At that time she joined the Poets' Guild, publishing her poems under the pen name "Sergei Giedroyc".

After the February Revolution

February Revolution

The February Revolution of 1917 was the first of two revolutions in Russia in 1917. Centered around the then capital Petrograd in March . Its immediate result was the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II, the end of the Romanov dynasty, and the end of the Russian Empire...

 she did not flee the Tsarskoe Selo (as many her relatives did). She went to work on the World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 front, but settled in Kiev

Kiev

Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....

with her lover, Countess Maria Nierodt.

Giedroyc actively worked and wrote scientific works on oncology, children's surgery, and endocrinology. In 1921 she started to teach at the Kiev medical institute. In 1923 she was selected for a post of the professor, and in 1930 she headed chair of faculty surgery.

She died of cancer and was buried in her native city.