The formation of transfusiology in our country, in particular the foundation by Alexander A. Malinovsky (Bogdanov) the world first special Institute of blood transfusion, could not have happened without a “strong foundation” accumulated over centuries of trial and error. The article chronologically reconstructs the pathway of the development of the use of blood for medicinal purposes, starting from ancient times and the Middle Ages, when there were mentions of the use of drinks from human blood, until October 1, 1926 (the beginning of the real clinical and research work of the Institute of Blood Transfusion), which directly became the “foundation” for the emergence and development of transfusion blood in Russia already in modern times. The most “saturated” period in the development of transfusiology is considered — the New Time, at the beginning of which the prejudices of past eras about the benefits of drinking drinks from human blood were still preserved. W. Harvey discovered blood circulation, published an Anatomical study of the movement of the heart and blood in animals, which refuted the then dominant teaching of Galen. The English theologian Potter, who was present at the experience of W. Harvey, expressed the idea of blood transfusion. There have been critical statements questioning the benefits of blood transfusion. D. Blundell together with G. Klein began to study the effect of transfusion from person to person, which allowed D. Blundell to be considered the founder of modern transfusiology. The period of the late XIX–early XX centuries is analyzed, including the discovery of K. Landsteiner and the experiences of our compatriots — V.A. Yurevich, N.K. Rosenberg, V.N. Shamov and others. After the discovering blood circulation by W. Harvey, there is a gradual transition first to experiments on blood transfusion from one animal to another, then from animal to human and from human to human, and further use of blood for medicinal purposes, naturally, with “varying success”.

Contribution of the authors:Serebryany R.S. — concept and design of research, editing, approval of the final version of the article, responsibility for the integrity of all parts of the article;Kamelskikh D.V. — idea of the study, collection and processing of material, writing text, compiling a list of literature.