Poletyka, Ivan

Poletyka, Ivan [Полетика, Іван], b 29 August 1726 in Romny, Lubny regiment, d 3 May 1783 in Vasylkiv, Kyiv gubernia. Physician; brother of Hryhorii A. Poletyka and Andrii Poletyka; father of Mykhailo Poletyka and Petro Poletyka. A graduate of the Kyivan Mohyla Academy (1746), he studied at the Kiel Medical Academy in Germany (1746–52) and wrote his doctoral dissertation at Leiden University on hereditary diseases (1754). He taught at the Kiel Academy (1754–6) and then went to Russia to direct the Saint Petersburg Military Hospital and teach at its medical school (1756–9). His quarrelsome character led to his demotion, and he was transferred to Ukraine and placed in charge of the Border Quarantine Service in Vasylkiv (1763–83). His publications dealt with infectious diseases.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 4 (1993).]