Named in memory of Nikolaj Alekseevich Semashko (1874–1949), organizer of the health-service system in the U.S.S.R. in the 1920s. He took the lead in the organization of mother-and-child health institutions, developed the network of medical research establishments and initiated the formation of the Central Medical Library and the House of Scientists in Moscow. During 1927–1936 he was editor-in-chief of the Large Medical Encyclopedia. (M 34620) _ _.