A short description of the life of Nikolai Ivanovich Pirogoff and some of his accomplishments are given. His book on administration of ether for anaesthesia (analgesia) by inhalation and by rectum is of special interest. In this book he also describes his experiments, mainly on dogs, with all kinds of administration. He was one of the first to write a book on ether and also to utilise anaesthesia under war conditions. Later he tended to favour chloroform, which he considered to be better. He accomplished a lot in life and was highly regarded at home and abroad.