A victory over the plague in Moscow 1770-1772

The Great Plague in Moscow 1770-1772 was suppressed in four months due to the strict and effective administrative measures and outstanding efforts of the doctors in Moscow. For many decades of the previous century the role of the Russian nobility in this victory was "forgotten". In this paper, based on the original documents published just after the Plague in 1775, a real historical picture of that Great Victory has been reconstructed. Many errors and inaccuracies in our historical-medical literature have been corrected and the forgotten role of the Russian nobility in suppressing this serious epidemic has been resurrected. This includes the role of the Senate, the Empress Catherine the Great and Count Gregory Orlov who had been sent by her to Moscow with unlimited power "to put everything in due order", as well as contribution of the Russian scientists in the worldwide struggle against plague.