Rachil Meitina

This is me while on vacation at the seashore in Yurmala in summer 1954. I was photographed by my husband Isaac Verkhovski. I met my future husband, in 1934. In 1943 his mother, two aunts, Anna and Sophia junior, and he moved to Moscow. They lived in a room in a communal apartment. We met again on his mother's birthday in 1948. We dated until we decided to get married in October 1950. We had a civil ceremony. Isaac was a designer and he was surprised at the dull interior design of this registry office. There were only dusty palm plants decorating the room. At home we had a small dinner. We settled down in my apartment on Kropotkinskaya Street. My mother, my father, my sister Vera and her son also lived there. There wasn't much space. Our son Gleb was born in 1958. In two months after he was born I went back to work. My mother and mother-in-law looked after him. I worked a lot before and after my son was born. I specialized in pathological physiology. In the laboratory I worked on the issues of breathing, gaseous metabolism and gaseous content of blood. We examined hearts and often surveyed blood from various parts of the heart. I worked with patients with heart and lung problems that were later operated. My dissertation was entitled 'Gaseous exchange and gaseous content of blood in patients with congenital heart diseases'. This was the first dissertation on this subject in the Soviet Union. I'm satisfied with my scientific accomplishments since we were the first to do it and I provided assistance in establishing similar laboratories in a number of leading clinics of the country. In 1953 I became a junior and then a senior scientific employee. Then I became head of laboratory. When I was promoted life became easier. A senior scientific employee received 400 rubles per month. This was enough at that time. I couldn't afford to buy expensive things, but we were doing all right. We went to theaters, art exhibitions and concerts at the Conservatory. My husband was fond of ballet and we attended all ballet contests. We often had guests over at birthdays and on Soviet holidays. Isaac was a sociable man. His colleagues liked him. His friends were producers and artists of the Maly Theater. We liked to spend our summer vacation at the seashore in Riga, Latvia.