The article describes the history of the Department of Nervous Diseases, Medical Genetics and Neurosurgery of the Daghestan State Medical University on the basis of literature data and archival sources introduced into scientific circulation for the first time. The department, created in 1936, has gone through a difficult path in its formation and development. The authors reconstruct the history of the formation of this department of the university, dwelling on the problems faced by its first employees. Special attention is paid to the work of the department during the Great Patriotic War, when its staff was reduced to a minimum. The authors describe the appearance, stages of development and successful functioning of the scientific school for the study of thermoregulation under the guidance of Associate Professor V.A. Liechtenstein. The formation of the teaching of neurosurgery, as well as the work of the department in recent years, is described.