Nicolaas Bidloo
Nicolaas Bidloo (c. 1673/74 – 23 March 1735) was a Dutch physician who served as the personal physician of Tsar Peter I of Russia (Peter the Great). Bidloo was the director of the first hospital in Russia as well as the first medical school in Russia, and is considered one of the founders of Russian medicine. Biography Early years Bidloo was born in Amsterdam and came from a Mennonite family of scientific repute. His father Lambert Bidloo (1638–1724) was an apothecary and wrote a treatise on botany and his uncle Govert Bidloo was the personal physician of King William III of England. In 1690 he confirmed his belief and became a member of the Mennonites in Amsterdam. Bidloo studied medicine at Leiden University, where his uncle Govert was a professor, and in January 1697 received a doctorate in the medical sciences. In 1701 the 27-year-old Nicolaas married Clasina Claes in Amsterdam. Personal physician of Peter the Great In 1702, Bidloo signed a contract with the Russian ambassador to serve as Tsar Peter the Great's personal physician for a period of six years, at an annual salary of 2500 Dutch guilders (an extraordinarily high pay for a physician at that time).