The southern warehouse of the exchange is a zoological museum. Moscow State University, Zoological Museum: symbol, exposition, excursion, reviews Exterior of the building
The zoological museum operating at Moscow State University is considered the oldest and largest in the capital. Here you can get acquainted with the huge diversity of all modern animals living on our planet.
History of creation
Today, the zoological museum existing at Moscow State University is not only the largest in terms of the territory it occupies, but also the richest in terms of the volume of funds after a similar institution of a similar profile operating at the Russian Academy of Sciences. Truly unique specimens and rich scientific collections are collected here. The Zoological Museum of Moscow State University on Bolshaya Nikitskaya Street is one of the ten largest in the world.
In 1755, according to the decree of Elizabeth Petrovna, the Moscow Imperial University was founded. Today it is known as Moscow State University. The Zoological Museum was opened thirty-six years later. However, this does not prevent it from being considered one of the oldest Russian natural science centers.
Its history dates back to 1791. It was at this time that the Natural History Cabinet at Moscow State University was founded. A zoological museum was opened later on its base. Initially, the collection was replenished through private donations. The most significant was the collection from the Semiatichesky office and the P. Demidov museum. Very rare specimens of animals and plants, minerals, coins, etc. were collected here. Unfortunately, almost all museum exhibits of the Imperial University were destroyed during the fire of 1812.
Miraculously, only a few rare shells of mollusks and corals were preserved.
Branch
In the twenties, a zoological collection was separated from the partially restored office. It formed the basic basis of the museum of the same name. The latter was housed in the former Pashkov house, which was reconstructed into a classroom building for Moscow State University. The Zoological Museum was organized according to a systematic principle. This, according to the organizers, made it possible to illustrate as comprehensively as possible the entire natural evolution of animals.
Managers
From 1804 to 1832, the organization was headed by G. I. Fisher. He was an outstanding zoologist, a student of K. Linnaeus himself, who wrote the very first scientific works on the Russian fauna. In 1832, the first director of the Zoological Museum of Moscow State University developed a project according to which he proposed organizing the institution entrusted to him according to the model of classical French, English and German analogues. However, his proposal was not accepted.
From 1837 to 1858 The zoological museum was headed by K. F. Roulier. Being the founder of the Russian ecological school, he focused on the domestic fauna and its study. Roulier attached great importance not only to the collection of serial materials on modern animals, but also fossils. Thanks to this concept, by the end of the fifties of the nineteenth century, the museum had accumulated more than sixty-five thousand exhibits.
Professor A.P. Bogdanov, who led it from 1863 to 1896, played an invaluable role in the development of this institution. It was they who divided the existing funds, separated exhibition, scientific and educational ones, and systematized accounting work. In 1866, the exhibition of the Zoological Museum of Moscow State University was open for viewing, and by the end of the nineteenth century, according to statistics, up to eight thousand people visited it annually.
Moving to a new building
At the beginning of the twentieth century, a new building was built especially for the museum, which in those years was headed by Professor A. Tikhomirov. The project was made by academician Bykhovsky. The new building was located on the corner of Dolgorukovsky (formerly Nikitsky) lane and Bolshaya Nikitskaya street. It has remained in its original form to this day, without any structural changes.
In 1911, a new systematic exhibition was opened to the public in the upper hall. In the twenties of the last century, the building on Bolshaya Nikitskaya also housed work premises for employees of the Zoology Research Institute, and since 1930 - some divisions of the Faculty of Biology of Moscow State University. The Zoological Museum was also included in its structure.
War years
In July 1941, the Zoological Museum of Moscow State University on Bolshaya Nikitskaya was closed for obvious reasons. Part of his scientific collections was evacuated to Ashgabat, and the rest were placed in the lower hall. Since March 1942, two halls on the second floor were reopened to the public, and after the end of the war, the lower level was also opened. The evacuated funds returned to their native lands in 1943. The fifties of the last century were marked by the liberation of the museum building from the Faculty of Biology.
Halls of the Zoological Museum of Moscow State University
Today, visitors are presented with more than ten thousand exhibits illustrating the enormous diversity of the animal world of our planet. In the spacious halls of the museum, the exhibitions are built systematically, according to evolutionary criteria and the international zoological classification. This allows visitors to easily navigate through the sections of the rich collection. Miniature life forms, for example single-celled organisms, are represented in the museum by dummies.
The hall on the first floor contains most of the exhibits - from insects and shells to higher beings. Presented in the form of original dioramas, the exhibitions give visitors the opportunity to see representatives of the animal world - reptiles, amphibians, mammals, birds, etc. in their natural habitat. One of the rooms displays deep-sea life forms, as well as ocean floor ecosystems.
Top floor
The Zoological Museum of Moscow State University named after M.V. Lomonosov is a three-story building. Its halls are located on the first two. On the second floor there is the “Bone Hall”. It was given this name because it contains the skeletons of many animals belonging to various zoological orders. The upper hall today is completely dedicated to an exhibition telling about the huge variety of mammals and birds. Almost all the objects in this exhibition are stuffed animals, which were made by the best Russian taxidermists working at the end of the nineteenth and throughout the twentieth century. In both halls, exhibits are mainly placed in strict accordance with their systematic positions.
The symbol of the Zoological Museum of Moscow State University is a small animal, the muskrat. It is he who is depicted on the emblem. There is so much interesting in the museum that it is impossible to see everything in one day. One of the most recent exhibits is the hydrothermal vent community. Compared to other sections of the museum, it looks very unusual. The main object of this exhibition is not a specific systematic group, but different animals that together make up a common ecosystem that is “immersed” in the ocean. This is the only earthly system of its kind, which directly owes its existence on a planetary scale to processes occurring in the bowels of the earth.
Exhibits
A small number of stuffed animals are mounted along the central line of the upper hall. There are also thematic displays dedicated to birds - “Hunting with Birds of Falcon”, “Bird Bazaar”, “Birds of the Moscow Region”.
The Zoological Museum of Moscow State University carries out serious work, studying and systematizing knowledge about animals. Of the ten million exhibits available, only eighty percent are on display. Among them there are also unique representatives of the fauna, for example, the heaviest goliath beetle, etc.
The largest and most interesting exhibits of the museum, due to their substantial size, are presented in the lobby. One of them is a stuffed elephant, which lived in the Moscow Zoo in the post-war years. The second exhibit is the skeleton of a rare woolly mammoth - the last species to live on the planet. It has an interesting feature - a trace of a serious fracture of the skull bone. In addition to biological exhibits, the Zoological Museum of Moscow State University has a good collection of paintings by animal artists.
Additional Information
The institution carries out active scientific work. Many famous scientists, including foreign ones, collaborate with the museum. He has a good library, which contains more than two hundred thousand volumes of literature and research related to biological topics. The museum organizes not only excursions for visitors of different ages, but also interactive classes for children from four to fifteen years old. Lessons are conducted according to the type of active communication. The museum constantly hosts themed children's parties: “Bird Day”, “Russian Muskrat”, etc. By the way, the last animal is, as already mentioned, a symbol of the Zoological Museum of Moscow State University.
On weekends there is a scientific terrarium here. The museum contains numerous living reptiles. Visitors are allowed to feed the chameleons, hold an agama, and the terrarium staff will talk about the habits of their charges in a fascinating manner. The cost of a ticket to visit the museum for adults is two hundred, and schoolchildren, students and pensioners need to pay fifty rubles.
Zoological Museum The Zoological Museum was founded on the basis of the collections of the Zoological Cabinet of the Kunstkamera in 1832 and until the end of the 19th century was located in a building adjacent to the academic center. Then he moved to a new building provided to him on the Spit of Vasilyevsky Island in 1901, where he remains to this day. In 1896, it was transferred to the southern warehouse of the Exchange (built in the years under the direction of the architect I.F. Luchini), where the “exhibition hall” was located - the first room in Russia specially equipped for exhibitions. The museum is still located here today. In 1930, the museum was transformed into the Zoological Institute of the USSR Academy of Sciences, which still exists today on the basis of the museum’s huge zoological collections. The museum itself is the exhibition department of the institute and at the same time it is one of the largest zoological museums in the world (animals, stuffed animals and skeletons of many rare and extinct animals, blue corals, etc.). Exhibition area sq.m., where exhibits are displayed. The collections of animals of the Palaearctic, especially Central Asia, and the mammoth fauna (including the mammoths themselves) are unique. Skeletons and fragments of bodies preserved in permafrost are on display. The exhibitions include many dioramas representing animals in natural conditions.
In particular, here you can see the skeleton of Steller's cow. The size of the animal is amazing: 10 meters in length and about 2 meters in volume. The animal was first discovered in 1740 by the expedition of Vitus Bering off the coast of the Commander Islands. An amazing marine mammal was sketched and described by a member of the expedition, scientist Georg Steller, after whom the sea cow was named. Thirty years after the discovery of Steller's cow, it was completely destroyed and disappeared as a species. Mammoths are also on display. These extinct animals were very similar to modern elephants with some exceptions: they lived in a cold climate and were covered with hair. In addition, mammoth tusks were more massive and heavier than those of elephants, and had a more complex shape and structure. Mammoths lived during the Ice Age and not just somewhere in Africa, but in Europe, including in Russia. In August 1900, the first mammoth corpse was discovered near the Berezovka River. And in 1977, the corpse of a baby mammoth was found near the Kirgilyakh stream, which was given the name Dima. It was found that the baby mammoth had eaten well before his death. In his stomach, scientists found grass and tree branches - the remains of his last meal. Dima was successfully transported to the Zoological Museum of St. Petersburg, where he is now kept. In particular, here you can see the skeleton of Steller's cow. The size of the animal is amazing: 10 meters in length and about 2 meters in volume. The animal was first discovered in 1740 by the expedition of Vitus Bering off the coast of the Commander Islands. An amazing marine mammal was sketched and described by a member of the expedition, scientist Georg Steller, after whom the sea cow was named. Thirty years after the discovery of Steller's cow, it was completely destroyed and disappeared as a species. Mammoths are also on display. These extinct animals were very similar to modern elephants with some exceptions: they lived in a cold climate and were covered with hair. In addition, mammoth tusks were more massive and heavier than those of elephants, and had a more complex shape and structure. Mammoths lived during the Ice Age and not just somewhere in Africa, but in Europe, including in Russia. In August 1900, the first mammoth corpse was discovered near the Berezovka River. And in 1977, the corpse of a baby mammoth was found near the Kirgilyakh stream, which was given the name Dima. It was found that the baby mammoth had eaten well before his death. In his stomach, scientists found grass and tree branches - the remains of his last meal. Dima was successfully transported to the Zoological Museum of St. Petersburg, where he is now kept.
History of the Zoological Museum The Zoological Museum of the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences is one of the oldest museums in Russia. The history of the museum is connected with the Kunstkamera - the first museum in Russia, created by Peter I in 1714. The Zoological Museum of the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences is one of the oldest museums in Russia. The history of the museum is connected with the Kunstkamera - the first museum in Russia, created by Peter I in 1714. In 1832, on the basis of the zoological collections of the Kunstkamera, the independent Zoological Museum of the Imperial Academy of Sciences arose. This year is considered the year of its foundation. Later, in 1930, the Museum was transformed into the Zoological Institute of the USSR Academy of Sciences, now the Russian Academy of Sciences.
The Zoological Museum of the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences is one of the largest zoological museums in the world and in our country. Currently, the museum exhibition occupies most of the second floor of the vast building of the Zoological Institute, as well as the choir room in the first hall. About 30 thousand specimens of animals from all regions of the globe are exhibited here, and the total exhibition area is 6 thousand square meters. m. The museum is the exhibition department of the Institute. The Zoological Museum of the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences is one of the largest zoological museums in the world and in our country. Currently, the museum exhibition occupies most of the second floor of the vast building of the Zoological Institute, as well as the choir room in the first hall. About 30 thousand specimens of animals from all regions of the globe are exhibited here, and the total exhibition area is 6 thousand square meters. m. The museum is the exhibition department of the Institute.
The modern Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences and its museum are one of the world's largest repositories of animals. The institute's scientific funds total about 50 million units. storage The division of the Museum’s collections, and then the Institute’s, into exhibition and stock collections was made more than a hundred years ago and continues to this day. The modern Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences and its museum are one of the world's largest repositories of animals. The institute's scientific funds total about 50 million units. storage The division of the Museum’s collections, and then the Institute’s, into exhibition and stock collections was made more than a hundred years ago and continues to this day.
At first, the Museum occupied premises in the Museum wing of the academy. The rapid growth of the Museum's collections required new spacious premises. It was granted in 1893. The Museum, and subsequently the Institute, is still located in this building near the Palace Bridge.
The history of the building has many interesting pages that preceded the appearance of the Museum here. Remodeling it for the needs of the Museum, moving collections and creating a new exhibition required a lot of money and effort. Only 7 years later, on February 6/19, 1901, in the presence of the Russian Emperor Nicholas II, numerous members of the reigning family and government officials, the Museum was reopened to visitors.
New collections were constantly arriving at the Museum. Replenishment came from three main sources - expeditions of Russian scientists, gifts from individuals from all over Russia and from abroad, and through purchases and exchanges. When placing the exhibition in the new building, much attention was paid to the creation of so-called biological groups - showcases where animals were shown in their natural environment. This museum innovation significantly increased the educational value of the exhibitions.
From the very first days of the Museum's existence to the present, a significant part of the incoming materials was made in the form of stuffed animals for the purpose of exhibiting them in the Museum. Wonderful masters of their craft worked on this, creating the St. Petersburg school of taxidermy, the leading one in Russia. Currently, the museum has its own taxidermy workshop.
The Zoological Museum is the largest center of zoological and environmental education in the North-West region of Russia. The excursions conducted by the Museum's staff of guides cover all modern problems of zoology and are designed for visitors of almost any age and background, from kindergarten children to students of specialized biological and medical institutes. About 500 thousand people visit the museum annually.
Museum exhibition Currently, the museum exhibition occupies most of the second floor of the vast building of the Zoological Institute, as well as the choirs in the first hall. The number of exhibits on display exceeds, and the total exhibition area is sq. m. Currently, the museum exhibition occupies most of the second floor of the vast building of the Zoological Institute, as well as the choir in the first hall. The number of exhibits on display exceeds, and the total exhibition area is sq. m. The main principle of building the exhibition is the demonstration of animals in accordance with a modern scientifically based system. It is complemented by displaying animals in a natural setting. The main principle of building the exhibition is to demonstrate animals in accordance with a modern scientifically based system. It is complemented by displaying animals in a natural setting. Biological groups and dioramas in the birds and mammals section demonstrate the inhabitants of the main biogeographic zones of Eurasia, and the invertebrates section reflects the diversity of natural zones of the World Ocean from tropical to subpolar regions. Biological groups and dioramas in the birds and mammals section demonstrate the inhabitants of the main biogeographic zones of Eurasia, and the invertebrates section reflects the diversity of natural zones of the World Ocean from tropical to subpolar regions. One of the museum's exhibitions is dedicated to the recent geological past of the Earth and demonstrates fossil animals - mammoths and mammoth fauna. One of the museum's exhibitions is dedicated to the recent geological past of the Earth and demonstrates fossil animals - mammoths and mammoth fauna.
The systematic collection of invertebrates contains many rare exhibits. One of these wonders is the longest giant “Sea Pen”, 2.6 m long, obtained by the drifting station “North Pole-6”. The museum has a collection of tridacna, among which there is the shell of the unique Rosewater tridacna (Fig.), described by the staff of our institute in 1991 and known only from one single place - the Sail de Malha Bank in the western Indian Ocean.
Insects This most numerous class of the animal world is represented by more than exhibits located in the choirs of the first hall of the Museum and representing all orders of insects. The collections of tropical butterflies, beetles and grasshoppers attract special attention from visitors with their bright colors and large sizes.
Fishes The collection of fishes and fishes is located in the first half of the second hall on the left side and in its center. There are 720 species of fish from the globe represented here. The collection of fish-like creatures and fishes is located in the first half of the second hall on the left side and in its center. There are 720 species of fish from the globe represented here. The collections of sharks, rays, sturgeon and salmon are especially well represented.
Amphibians and Reptiles Exhibits representing more than 500 species of these classes of vertebrates occupy the central part of the left side and middle of the second hall. Exhibits representing more than 500 species of these classes of vertebrates occupy the central part of the left side and middle of the second hall. Class Amphibians (amphibians) Representatives of this class are four-legged animals from the anamnia group, body temperature is variable, skin is bare, with a large number of glands. There are internal nostrils of the choanae. The middle ear has one auditory ossicle. The cervical and sacral spine are formed by one vertebra. Amphibians have a three-chambered heart with two circulation circles. Fertilization occurs in water, and the larvae also develop in water. The class accommodates about species. Orders of amphibians: Tailless (frog) Tailed (newt, salamander) Legless (caecilian) The habitat of amphibians is located on the border between water and land. Their skin is bare and moist with glands that secrete mucus. Mucus has bactericidal properties, and also contains irritating substances, which, due to their properties, repel amphibian predators. Constantly moisturizing the skin is necessary for breathing, since amphibians suffocate the entire surface. For example, the ratio of the lengths of capillaries of the skin and lungs in a newt is 4:1, and in a toad it is 1:3.
Reptiles Reptiles are terrestrial animals with variable body temperatures. Reptiles have a well-defined neck, dry skin with keratinized epidermis, and no glands. The thoracic spine contains ribs that form the rib cage. The cortex appears in the cerebral hemispheres. The heart is 3-chambered with an incomplete septum in the ventricle. The excretory organs are the pelvic kidneys. Fertilization is internal. The class contains about species. Subclasses of reptiles: Lizards (beak-headed) Scaly turtles Crocodiles General skeleton (crocodile) Komodo dragon
Birds The exhibition dedicated to birds is located in the last third of the second hall, and its entire right side and central part is occupied by biogroups showing the life of birds in a wide variety of conditions - in the European, Siberian and Far Eastern taiga, in the semi-desert and on the sea coast, in the tundra, in the mountains and on lakes. The exhibition dedicated to birds is located in the last third of the second hall, and its entire right side and central part is occupied by biogroups showing the life of birds in a wide variety of conditions - in the European, Siberian and Far Eastern taiga, in the semi-desert and on the sea coast, in the tundra, in mountains and lakes.
The systematic collection (left side of the hall) represents all existing orders of birds. Of particular interest here are the collections of birds of prey, waders, hummingbirds, parrots, woodpeckers, pigeons and passerines. Bird class Birds are warm-blooded animals adapted for flight. The forelimbs are modified into wings, the body is covered with feathers. The cerebellum and cerebral hemispheres are well developed, there is a cortex. The heart is 4-chambered, with a right aortic arch. The lungs are connected to the air sac system. Birds reproduce by laying eggs. The class contains about species. Superorders of birds: Keel-breasted Ratite Penguins The body shape of birds is streamlined, adapted for flight. Almost all systems are adapted for flight. The size of birds varies slightly. The largest flying birds are the condor (wingspan reaches 2.5 m), the smallest are hummingbirds (body length 5 cm). In our fauna, the smallest bird is the wren. Body coverings and their modifications: feathers are a modification of the epidermis. The feather is a horny hollow rod that has a fan (horny beards). This feather system ensures air impermeability of the bird's body cover, which allows it to rely on air. Feathers change regularly, and molting occurs between feeding periods.
Mammals Collections of mammals occupy part I and the entire III halls of the museum. In Hall I, skeletons and stuffed animals of cetaceans and pinnipeds are exhibited; the exhibition in Hall III presents the remaining orders of this class. There are also more than 90 biological groups showing animals in their natural habitat.
The exhibition of mammoth fauna, collections of Przhevalsky, Langsdorff, Voznesensky, as well as superbly executed biological groups of Amur tigers, saigas, giraffes and lions enjoy constant attention. Mammals are warm-blooded animals covered with hair. Mammals have a well-defined head with an external ear, neck, torso, and tail. The skin has sebaceous and sweat glands, the muscles are well differentiated. There is a diaphragm - a flat muscular partition between the lungs and other internal organs. The teeth are differentiated into incisors, canines and molars. The lungs have an alveolar structure. The heart is 4 chambered with a left aortic arch. Mammals give birth to live young, and females feed their offspring with their milk. Mammals are higher vertebrates. Signs of a complex organization: High development of the central nervous system and sensory organs, due to which they are distinguished by complex behavior. The heart is divided into left and right parts, which allows the arterial system to carry pure arterial blood. Females have a hollow organ called the uterus, which allows them to carry a baby for a long time and give birth to it alive. The presence of mammary glands allows them to feed their young after birth. Mammals are the pinnacle of the evolution of animal development, they are ubiquitous, the organ system works perfectly as a whole. The class contains about species. Subclasses: Oviparous (cloacal, monotreme) Marsupial Placental The size of mammals varies significantly. The smallest animal is the tiny shrew, body approximately 2 cm, weight 2.5 g. The largest mammal is the blue whale, whose body reaches 33 m and weighs 150 tons. Mammalian skin consists of epidermis and dermis, as well as subcutaneous fat.
Rare and endangered animals All sections of the exhibition feature so-called “Red Book” species, that is, those animals whose existence is currently under threat. All sections of the exhibition present the so-called “Red Book” species, that is, those animals whose existence is currently under threat. Some of them are included in the Red Book of the World, some - in national or regional Red Books.
Here are rare species of fish (Amu Darya and Syrdarya shovelnose), and the giant Japanese salamander, and the famous hatteria, the last surviving representative of the once vast order of beak-headed reptiles, the Japanese ibis and the Californian condor, Amur tigers, okapi and many others.
Extinct animals Exhibits representing extinct animals are unique because they will never be obtained again. Undoubtedly, the first place among them is occupied by the world-famous collection of our Museum, which includes the remains of mammoths and other animals of the mammoth fauna, preserved in the permafrost of the Eurasian North. Here you can see the world’s only stuffed adult mammoth (Berezovsky mammoth), mummies of two mammoths, heads of woolly rhinoceroses, limbs and skulls of ancient bison, horses, the skeleton of a cave bear...
There are probably cowardly pilots or cheerful moneylenders. But people have a different idea about their characters. And as a rule, it is justified. It is not entirely clear whether the profession molds a person, or whether the job is liked only by a certain mental make-up, or perhaps both have an effect, but between the work and the character of people, as the poet asserted, “there are subtle powerful connections.”
The beloved and traditional Jules Verne hero, selflessly hunting for butterflies, kind and eccentric, brave and naive, full of all kinds of knowledge, selfless and enthusiastic, gives an accurate idea of the type of taxonomist. The more you get to know people in this profession, the more often it seems that a taxonomist is not just a profession, but also a personality trait, and that one cannot work as a taxonomist, one can only be one.
The contribution of domestic taxonomists to the classification system is enormous. A distinctive feature of the work of our scientists is their collective style. It is difficult to single out anyone personally in the remarkable army of taxonomists, but it is easy to name the institution with which the world fame of Russian zoological taxonomy is associated—ZIN. It became a scientific institute only during the years of Soviet power. Before that, it was simply the Zoological Museum, and even earlier - part of the famous Peter the Great's Kunstkamera. Now they, ancestor and descendant, are located side by side in the most charming part of Vasilyevsky Island, near the rostral columns, from where the Neva ensembles are so picturesquely visible, the beauty of which is impossible to get used to.
Here, to the first house of the University Embankment, two completely different streams of people are drawn in the morning. One, numerous and loud-voiced, spreads across the museum floor. Walking around the skeleton of a giant whale, schoolchildren are frozen in front of the colorful splendor of a collection of tropical butterflies or a stuffed huge anaconda. Another stream, adult and purposeful people, indifferently passing by the museum’s splendor, disappears into the endless corridor of the Zoological Institute. These are scientific workers.
The science of “Systematics” has a very definite smell. A pungent mothball-formalene spirit forever permeated the walls of the zoo corridor, densely lined with cabinets. They house collections that are among the five richest in the world and books.
The second purely external feature of taxonomy is the abundance of old books. Luxurious volumes, in leather and marroquin, with gold embossing and marble edges, make the institutional corridor look like a bibliophile’s study or a museum collection of rarities. The fact is that books on taxonomy do not age. Endlessly updating and expanding, this discipline stores as working material everything useful that was done by its predecessors. Unlike other sciences, classical works are not petrified here, but are themselves raw materials for the next stages. The systematic tree is forever green!
And perhaps the sense of history and continuity is especially deeply realized in the old building of the St. Petersburg Customs House, adapted for the Zoological Museum, precisely because the learned men of the past and today remain rivals in science. From the portraits hanging in the lobby, they closely follow the battles of modern biologists, as if egging them on: “You, today’s people, come on!” Among them is Peter Pallas, curator of the collections of the Kunstkamera, which laid the foundation for the Zoological Museum.
The son of a German and a French woman, Pallas found his real homeland in Russia, where he was invited by Catherine II. Immediately after his arrival, the new member of the academy sets off on a long journey. Exploring the banks of the Volga and Yaik, the slopes of the Ural Mountains and Altai, the brave explorer reaches the Chinese border. Returning back through the Caucasus, Pallas brought to the capital such an amount of materials that it did not take him his entire life to process them. He was the first to describe musk deer, wolverine, sable... New species of birds, reptiles, fish, mollusks, worms, zoophytes became known to European scientists thanks to his works. Rodents alone provided a whole volume's worth of material. The academician publishes “Russian Flora” in two thick volumes and immediately sets about “Russian Fauna”. But zoological work was not the most significant part of his research. Articles on geography, climatology, ethnography are published one after another. Pallas collaborates in the topographic department, is approved as a historiographer by the admiralty boards, and is busy studying the Crimean Peninsula...
The highly experienced Cuvier concluded his word about Pallas as follows: “He always lived like a true scientist, occupied solely with the search for truth, and did not pay much attention to everything else... The more experience you gain, the more convinced you are that this is the only way to preserve both the purity of conscience and calm!"
It can perhaps be argued that genuine scientific interest and selflessness are the professional traits of taxonomists. What makes a person, bent over a binocular, day after day, study the genital organs of countless beetles pinned to a pin? No resounding success or fame is expected.
Overwhelmed with work, Pallas never had time to create the Zoological Museum, and in the basement of the Kunstkamera, destroyed by dampness and moths, the collections collected by the expeditions of Lepekhin and many other explorers perished.
In August 1828, the Academy of Sciences appointed Karl Maksimovich Baer as director of the museum. In his Autobiography, he describes his impressions of this institution as follows:
“The Zoological Museum, located in two large halls in the building of the old Kunstkamera, as it was called, still gave the impression of the former cabinet of curiosities. Huge snakes and other creatures attached to the walls and ceiling seemed to be crawling along them, amazing visitors... My first thought when examining the Kunstkamera was this: remove the zoological collections from here, since the type of ancient institution is too deeply rooted here. I was further strengthened in this idea when I saw that the systematic names of mammals, which were attached to movable stands, were partly mixed up. Having arranged them properly, two days later I found them again in their original places. It was the work of the so-called “keeper” of the museum, a former servant of Pallas, who had some knowledge of taxidermy, but had no idea about zoological taxonomy.”
Two years have passed. Academician Baer, having never created a museum, left St. Petersburg, and now his own collections, collected in the north of Russia, are rotting in the storerooms.
The Zoological Museum was officially opened on July 4, 1832. Its founder and first director was Fedor Fedorovich Brandt. For almost a year he worked on setting up the museum, devoting all his strength and knowledge to it. When the newly appointed director first came to the Kunstkamera, there was obvious progress in the museum business: instead of one caretaker, there were four employees on the staff...
The exhibits of the Kunstkamera provided a lot of useful information. True, there were rarities, for example, a fossil rhinoceros described by Pallas, and a mammoth described by Brandt himself, but there were no completely exotic, but necessary species.
In 1875, when N. M. Przhevalsky processed ornithological material obtained during his first trip to Central Asia, he needed an ordinary sparrow for comparison. It turned out that there is not a single specimen of a sparrow in the collection of the Zoological Museum. I had to specially prepare several sparrows caught in the vicinity of St. Petersburg.
It would be difficult to find a better director for a young museum than Brandt. He was a scientist of boundless erudition. Fedor Fedorovich began his scientific activity as a physician, and quite successfully: he became a doctor of medical and surgical sciences. But then his attention was attracted in turn by botany, anatomy, and zoology. Moreover, he did not change his profession, but expanded the range of his activities. He combined his directorial duties with lecturing on zoology at the Main Pedagogical Institute, a course in anatomy at the Medical-Surgical Academy, inspector work at the Mariinsky Institute and presidential duties at the Russian Entomological Society.
It is quite difficult to outline the range of his interests, since Brandt was a member of over 70 scientific institutions, both Russian and foreign. Three years before his death, when his 50th doctoral anniversary was celebrated, he was presented with a printed list of his scientific works. It took 52 pages. There was a description of the collections collected by F.P. Litke, works on beavers, a monograph on sturgeon fish, works on botany, paleontology, comparative anatomy, philology and, of course, taxonomy.
For almost half a century, until his death, Brand headed the Zoological Museum, replenishing and systematizing its collections.
In the rays of this glory, the modest name of the preparator of the Zoological Museum, Ilya Gavrilovich Voznesensky, undeservedly faded. Sent by Brandt to collect collections in Russian America, he traveled throughout Alaska for almost ten years. Kuril Islands, Kamchatka. Voznesensky was not a pioneer, but the material he collected, as it became clear later, was a genuine discovery of those places where a meticulous and hardworking researcher came. Academician Brandt argued that “there is no zoological work about Eastern Siberia and our former North American colonies in which the name of Voznesensky would not be gratefully mentioned.”
The collections he collected become more valuable year after year. Today, it is referred to not only by zoologists, but also by historians, ethnographers, botanists, anthropologists, geologists, and demographers. One hundred and fifty boxes of ethnographic materials sent to the Academy, about four thousand animals dissected by Voznesensky, new four hundred species discovered by him are a wealth that “exceeds all probability,” as academician A. A. Strauch, who replaced Brandt in his post, wrote.
In the summer, ZIN laboratories are semi-desert: biologists go to the field. Among them are taxonomists who collect materials from their group. Even today, the field sometimes means a difficult journey, but in the past it was quite a dangerous undertaking, and the taxonomist often walked with a net in one hand and a rifle in the other. While collecting a collection for the museum, P.P. Semenov-Tyan-Shansky successfully penetrated into the heart of Asia, but his predecessor Schlagintwein was executed in Kashgar, and Severtsov was captured by the Yuokandans. The work of a taxonomist often turned out to be akin to the work of a geologist, topographer, or hunter.
When the sharp, creaky voice of Grigory Efimovich Grum-Grzhimailo, a famous butterfly specialist, was heard in the endless corridor of the ZIN, zoologists looked up from their binoculars and identification guides and went to listen to stories about Bukhara, the Pamirs or Western China, where he wandered from 1885 to 1890. Famous the traveler bore the playful nickname "European's Leg", since he reached such a wilderness where no explorer had gone before.
No less a stir was caused by the appearance of the quiet and modest Grigory Nikolaevich Potanin, who always came with his small and thin wife Alexandra Viktorovna, a faithful companion on his difficult campaigns. She died in her husband's arms during his fourth expedition to China in 1892.
Ivan Dementsvich Chersky was also a long-term employee of the Zoological Museum. Exiled to Siberia for participating in the Polish uprising, he fell in love with this harsh region and devoted his entire life to it. Tall, slender, wearing the same old jacket and worn-out patched boots, this man evoked involuntary respect from everyone both with his courage and enormous knowledge in geology, paleontology and geography, acquired independently.
Perhaps there is a Muse of Systematics, close to her more famous friends. How else can one explain that among the people who devote themselves to this work there are so many artistically gifted individuals? The first work of Karl Baer published in Russia was a cantata in honor of the end of the Patriotic War of 1812. N. Polezhaev translated Heine, played the piano superbly and wrote romances that were popular in his time. Professor of Zoology, Corresponding Member of the USSR Academy of Sciences N. Kholodkovsky is probably better known as a translator of Milton, Byron, and Goethe. His translation of Faust remains unsurpassed. The son of the famous traveler, a long-term employee of the ZIN, who described 800 species and 100 genera, A.P. Semenov-Tyan-Shansky wrote poetry, translated Horace, and published several articles about Pushkin. He used his specialized knowledge to analyze poetic texts, because many masters make botanical mistakes. For example, in Lermontov’s work “the yellowing field is agitated” and the lily of the valley is blooming at the same time. The elder brother of the leading entomologist of ZIN, a major entomologist himself, Alexey. Nikolaevich Kirichenko was a passionate photographer and was fond of archeology and architecture. He took measurements and photographs of the ruins of Termez monuments of the 11th century BC. e. The number of similar examples can easily be increased. One of the directors of ZIN, academician E. N. Pavlovsky, even wrote a special book on this topic, “Poetry, Science and Scientists.”
Every week, a colorful scattering of biological journals is dumped onto the long table of the ZIN library, and researchers rummage through them, looking for the latest publications of their “rivals.”
The profession of taxonomist is one of those that is difficult to part with. Therefore, there have always been many patriarchs in ZIN. Among them we should name a man who devoted his entire life to the institute and died within its walls, ichthyologist Pyotr Yulievich Schmidt. He was called “medium” in contrast to the “big” - academician-paleontologist F.B. Schmidt, very large and deep-voiced, and the “small” - librarian of the Zoological Museum.
Schmidt’s predecessor in the ichthyological department, S. M. Herzenstein, is also a veteran of the institute. His erudition was inexhaustible. Extremely modest, unusually kind, always ready to help everyone who approached him with a question, he was everyone’s favorite. But his appearance was unprepossessing: stooped, with a huge hooked nose. Professor Nikolsky recalls that once, when Herzenstein was excitedly turning over stones on the shore of the White Sea in search of coastal animals, passing fishermen took him for the devil and shouted: “Get lost, evil spirit!”
But perhaps the person who worked the longest for ZIN was Alexander Alexandrovich Stackelberg, who collected and systematized flies for more than sixty years and was the head of the malaria commission. For many years he was the editor of the volumes “Fauna of the USSR” and “Identifiers” published by the institute. Before his eyes, not only the Zoological Museum, but also the entire biological science changed. At the beginning of the century, all the museum’s research staff gathered to “drink tea” during a break. There were about a dozen of them. And all zoologists in the country, according to statistics, there were 406.
Now /1990/ there are more of them in only one ZIN. There are about five thousand zoologists in the Union. And here's what's interesting. Despite such rapid growth, zoologists make up a share of the total number of biological scientists that is ten times smaller than before the revolution. This means that other biological disciplines are developing even more rapidly.
From 1907 to 1971, Alexander Nikolaevich Kirichenko worked at ZIN. Nothing stopped him from fulfilling his quota every day: identifying 80-200 insects. In besieged Leningrad, he remained at the head of ZIN. Kirichenko described 34 new genera and 223 species, one genus and about 30 species were named in his honor. He is the author of about one hundred and thirty scientific works, including fundamental ones - two volumes “Fauna of Russia” and a reference book for all hemipterologists “Identifier of Hemiptera,” which continues the work of Oshanin. Thanks to the efforts of Alexander Nikolaevich, the stock collection of bedbugs in ZIN is the best in the world. What Kirichenko did not do to replenish it! He exchanged insects for stamps, begged diplomatic couriers to collect them in exotic countries, and corresponded with Russian people who, by the will of fate, had been abandoned to different parts of the world. F. G. Dobzhansky collected bedbugs for Kirichenko in North America, A. Ogloblin - in Argentina, G. Olsufiev - in Madagascar. There are still legends about his memory in ZIN...
Chekhovskaya T.P., Shcherbakov R.L. 1990 The Staggering Variety of Life, 64-77
I propose to look at the museums of our capital not only as repositories of exhibits, but also as architectural objects. Let's start with one of the oldest - the Zoological Museum of Moscow State University, located on Bolshaya Nikitskaya, 2
Zoological Museum building
The official history of the Zoological Museum is usually counted from the formation of the Cabinet of Natural History in 1791. The first collection was based on donations from representatives of the Demidov dynasty, then there were gifts from Catherine the Second, Alexander the First, and Princess Dashkova. Almost the entire priceless collection was lost in a fire in 1812; only part of the sea shells was saved. Thanks to numerous donations, the collection was restored again. During the 19th century, it was located in different university buildings on Nikitskaya Street, until in 1898-1902 a separate building was built specifically for the Zoological Museum
Facade of the Zoological Museum of Moscow State University, facing Bolshaya Nikitskaya Street
The author of the project was academician of architecture, chief architect of Moscow University Konstantin Mikhailovich Bykovsky. In total, he built several buildings for the university on Bolshaya Nikitskaya Street. The style of the Zoological Museum building can be described as restrained eclecticism based on classicism. The first floor of the building along the entire facade is highlighted with decorative rustication, i.e. facing with quadrangular, tightly fitted stones, in this case with a pyramidal surface treatment
The building's plan has the shape of an angle and is located on one arm along Bolshaya Nikitskaya, and on the other along Nikitsky Lane. The architect beautifully solved the problem of balancing the facades and placed the main entrance from a cut corner. Under the roof along the entire facade of the building there is a stucco frieze, in which, in addition to plant garlands, you can see many animals: squirrels, bats, various reptiles, herons, owls and other birds, the heads of bears, hares, wolves, mountain goats and other pairs. and equids
There is a semicircular niche on each of the museum's facades. Based on the traditions of classicism, according to which the building was designed, I am not sure that it was supposed to have a window, as is the case now, but with a much greater degree of certainty we can assume that a niche was intended for a statue, most likely an allegorical one, of one of the cohorts of patron gods of science and knowledge
The building looks very interesting from the courtyard: the decor of the facade is made as carefully as from the street, only it is not plastered or painted
It is interesting that until 1953, part of the current premises of the museum was residential; the apartments of professors of the Faculty of Biology of Moscow State University were located there. I. Mandelstam, M. Bulgakov, V. Kandinsky, R. Falk visited the professors. It was here, within the walls of the Zoological Museum, in 1931 that Mandelstam wrote the famous: “It’s all just nonsense, sherry brandy, my angel...”. And Professor Alexey Severtsov served Bulgakov as a prototype for the famous Professor Persikov, the hero of the story “Fatal Eggs”. Here, in one of the modest rooms, in the summer of 1940, Marina Tsvetaeva and her son were sheltered, who had nowhere to go after being evicted from Golitsyno.
Halls of the Zoological Museum
In total, the museum has three exhibition halls on two floors. The halls are located in that part of the building that stretches along Bolshaya Nikitskaya. Along Nikitsky Lane there are office premises and offices that are not accessible to visitors. The Lower Hall displays animals from single-celled animals to reptiles; this is where the largest number of exhibits are. Birds and mammals are shown in the Upper Hall. Also on the second floor is the Hall of Comparative Anatomy or the Bone Hall. Look how impressive the colonnade of the central passage of the Lower Hall looks
The capitals of the columns are decorated with curls of acanthus leaves intertwined with snakes
The old floor, lined with patterned Metlakh tiles, has been preserved here. In the passages, the tile pattern has been worn away by the feet of numerous visitors, but there are well-preserved areas with a clearly legible pattern
The upper hall immediately takes us back to the era of Art Nouveau, the construction of the Eiffel Tower and the first skyscrapers, when they loved to emphasize structural elements
Feel the rhythm of the steps and railings, the laconicism of the beams’ ornaments, the appropriateness of the rivets
Staircase of the Upper Hall leading to the gallery balconies
Along the side walls of the Upper Hall on the second floor there are gallery balconies, which are supported by brackets in the Art Nouveau style.
These side balconies are not accessible to visitors, but sometimes on Museum Days tourists are taken to this bridge, thrown from one wall to another
The floor in the Bone Hall is so cheerful
In the Bone Hall, you should also pay attention to the picturesque frieze on the history of the living world of the Earth. This is the work of the founder of Russian animal painting, artist Vasily Vatagin, who worked at the Zoological Museum for thirty years and was also at the origins of the Darwin Museum
The value of V. Vatagin’s work lies in the exceptionally correct biological drawing, in the skill of scientific illustration, as close as possible to the original and at the same time enriched with artistic intent. In those days when the art and technology of photography had not yet reached its current heights, when there were no computer image processing programs, biological drawing was practically an integral part of fundamental science. It turns out that until now, artistic illustrations, for example, in bird guides, are of much greater value than photographs, because very few photographs have an angle that allows one to see all the necessary identifying features.
Vatagin’s works can be found throughout almost the entire exhibition of the Zoological Museum. Huge picturesque panels depicting the life of wildlife greet visitors already in the foyer and are a real calling card of the museum.
Paintings by V. Vatagin in the foyer of the Zoological Museum of Moscow State University
Funds and exhibition of the Zoological Museum
It must be said right away that with the current level of transmission and preservation of images and with the opportunity to travel around the world, the museum’s exhibits do not make a stunning impression and sometimes seem primitive. But the immeasurable scientific value of a museum is determined not by its entertainment value, but by the uniqueness of its holdings. The halls display only 14 thousand exhibits, while the scientific collections include about 8-10 MILLION (!!!) storage units. The collection of the Zoological Museum of Moscow State University is currently the second largest in Russia (after the Zoological Institute and the RAS Museum in St. Petersburg), and ranks approximately 13th in the world.
Moreover, the development of science does not detract, but only increases the value of what has been accumulated. For example, Austrian scientists recently approached the museum for samples brought by Przhevalsky's expedition for genetic comparison with the current inhabitants of the Asian steppes.
In the Zoological Museum, almost all exhibits are natural biological material. The museum does not exhibit plastic models as a matter of principle. There are only two exceptions. This is a model of single-celled animals that cannot be seen without a microscope - radiolaria, and a cast of coelacanth - a rare animal that was considered extinct, of which there are around 100 specimens in all museums around the world, and in our country there is a single specimen at the Institute of Oceanology. Forms of storage include both classic - dry and wet preservation, and new ones - tissue samples for DNA analysis, various decoding of the molecular level (genotypes, karyotypes, sequences, etc.), cryocollections, audio recordings of voices, etc. In wet storage at The racks store hundreds of thousands of jars, vials and other thick glass vessels with ground-in stoppers, additionally sealed with films made from bull bladders or more modern materials. Despite all the tricks, alcohol from bubbles and cans gradually evaporates, so it has to be topped up regularly
Among the scientific premises there is a so-called “kozheednik” or, scientifically, “dermetarium”, where animal skeletons are cleaned by skin beetles and where even employees are prohibited from entering. The building of the Zoological Museum has extensive cellars. In that basement, under Nikitsky Lane, there was a bomb shelter with a high degree of autonomy: sealed steel doors with bolts, like in a bunker. In the other direction, the dungeon goes towards the Kremlin, but not far: the passage is blocked with brickwork. The described basements, storage facilities and rooms for scientists are not accessible to visitors, but next I want to tell you what is worth paying attention to in the museum’s halls. In this narrow corridor of the second floor, do not pass by one of the most unusual exhibits
This is an image of the coat of arms of the Russian Empire, which at first glance seems to be embroidered with multi-colored beads and seed beads, but in fact it is made of more than 5,500 specimens of beetles and 20 types of butterflies. This appliqué painting is almost 180 years old; it was a gift from the original Slovenian entomologist Ferdinand Jozsef Schmidt. In Soviet times, the coat of arms was hidden in storage rooms. The painting was restored three times, selecting lost insects of the same size and color, and if initially it consisted of specimens of the ethnofauna of the Balkans, now it is almost entirely of Russian species
A stuffed rhinoceros, or rather a rhinoceros, is of not only scientific, but also historical value. The animal itself was purchased in 1862 in Calcutta and transported to Moscow. They named her Semiramis, and the servant who looked after her gradually renamed her Monka. A noteworthy story is how Monka-Semiramida walked across Moscow for half a kilometer when it was necessary to transfer her from a temporary place to a permanent one in the Zoo. The gendarmes blocked the traffic, about 20 workers gathered to hold the rhinoceros on a chain, and they also tied a heavy log to the chain. But Monka ran, broke the chain and was stopped only by a piece of bread. So, after feeding her about 11 kg of bread, they brought her to the Zoo. She lived there for 24 years, and after her death she donated two exhibits to the Zoological Museum: a stuffed animal in the Upper Hall and a skeleton in Kostny. Previously, the scarecrow stood in the passage and there are still legends that not only students, but also luminaries of Russian science jumped over it - not across, but along (!)
In general, many inhabitants of the Moscow Zoo ended up in the museum’s exhibition after death: these are giant pandas, an Indian elephant, a lion (a gift to J. Stalin from D. Nehru), several species of monkeys and birds
And the stuffed hippopotamus was most likely made right in the exhibition hall, since due to its size it does not fit through the door leading into the hall. This exhibit was used in Eldar Ryazanov’s film “Garage” - it was on it that the “luckiest” member of the cooperative, performed by the director, slept
On my own behalf, I would advise you to pay attention to the display case with birds of central Russia. You will be surprised to see the species diversity of the most familiar birds to us: sparrows, tits, buntings. And here you can find out the names of the birds that live next to us, in city parks and alleys
Everyone, of course, has their own sympathies in the animal world, but as a fan of insects, I can’t help but draw your attention to the stands with butterflies
In fact, out of the one and a half million animal species on Earth known to us, up to a million are insects - so this is their planet)). Look at these beautiful beetles - you just want to take them in your hands to feel their heaviness, their solid cast bodies and admire the impeccable perfection of nature’s creations
How to get to the Zoological Museum of Moscow State University
The official address of the Zoological Museum of Moscow State University is Bolshaya Nikitskaya Street, building 2 (formerly building 6). It is in the very center of Moscow, on the corner of Bolshaya Nikitskaya and Nikitsky Lane, a 6-7 minute walk from the Okhotny Ryad metro station (exit to Tverskaya Street, to the Ermolova Theater):
It takes a minute longer to walk from the Lenin Biblioteki, Aleksandrovsky Sad and Arbatskaya Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya Line stations:
The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., on Thursdays until 9 p.m., but visitors are not allowed in an hour before closing. Monday is a day off. The last Tuesday of the month is sanitary day. Ticket price: full – 300 rubles, for schoolchildren, students, pensioners – 100 rubles.
The museum offers dozens of excursions for different ages. Their themes and order of design can be found on the official website of the Zoological Museum of Moscow State University. The museum has a biological lecture hall and a club for young naturalists.
The current building of the Moscow Zoological Museum on Bolshaya Nikitskaya Street, 2 was erected between 1896 and 1902 according to the design of the famous architect.
It was Konstantin Mikhailovich who completed the first building in Moscow, specifically designed to house a museum complex with indispensable exhibition halls and premises for housing funds.
Photo 1. The building of the Zoological Museum on Bolshaya Nikitskaya Street, 2
The building of the Zoological Museum itself is designed as a pair of two buildings adjacent to each other at an angle. The main facade planes are thus facing Nikitsky Lane and B. Nikitskaya Street.
The junction of the buildings is made in the form of a semi-rotunda with a portal surrounded by semi-columns of the so-called Tuscan order. The decor is represented by stucco moldings based on animalistic and plant themes.
From the history of the Zoological Museum on Bolshaya Nikitskaya
Sam, which belonged to Moscow University, was founded in 1791. At the initial stage it was a Cabinet of Natural History. Scientists Grigory Ivanovich Fischer, Karl Frantsevich Roulier, Anatoly Petrovich Bogdanov, Alexander Andreevich Tikhomirov, Grigory Aleksandrovich Kozhevnikov and many others made a huge contribution to its formation.
After October 1917, in the 20s of the same century, the Zoology Research Institute was first located in this museum complex, and then, already in the 30s, it was again given the status of a museum attached to the Biological Faculty of Moscow State University. The status of the Scientific Research Zoological Museum was approved only in the 90s of the 20th century.
