The history of the study of bacteriophages by the Soviet microbiologist Zinaida Vissarionovna Ermolyeva in the 1930s

2022 marks the 130^th anniversary of the discovery of the first virus. It was the tobacco mosaic virus, which was described by the Russian botanist D.I. Ivanovsky in 1892. Following the discovery of the plant virus, animal and human viruses were discovered. A little more than two decades later, after the publications of D.I. Ivanovsky, bacterial viruses called bacteriophages were discovered and described. The doctrine of the bacteriophage, which first appeared as a particular problem of microbiology, after several decades acquired great importance in the study of the most important issues of biology and medicine. In recent years, the interest of various specialists in bacterial viruses has not just not weakened, but is gaining strength. In this regard, in our opinion, it is important to turn to the historical analysis of the first decades in the study of bacteriophages. In the USSR one of the prominent scientists involved in this topic in the 1930s was microbiologist Zinaida Vissarionovna Ermolyeva (1898–1974). Based on the material of scientific works on biology and medicine published during the period under review, involving documents from the State Archive of the Russian Federation and the Russian State Archive of Economics, in this publication we analyze the participation of Z.V. Ermolyeva and her laboratory staff in studying the phenomenon of bacteriophagy, conducting clinical trials and establishing the production of various drugs based on phages. Attention is also paid to Zinaida Vissarionovna’s speeches at major scientific forums of the 1930s with reports on the results of the study of bacteriophages.