Russian Academy of Sciences

The Russian Academy of Sciences is the largest state institution that initiates and performs fundamental scientific research and practice in the field of natural, technical, humanitarian and social sciences.

The Academy was established by order of Peter I on January 13 (24), 1724. On January 22 (February 2), he also signed the draft regulations on the establishment of the Academy of Sciences and Arts and a related University. Its project was developed by the court physician Lavrenty Blumentrost. The official opening day of the Imperial Academy of Sciences is December 27, 1725 (January 7, 1726). Catherine I arranged a ceremonial reception for the academicians. In the first half of the XVIII century, the Academy developed into three directions: mathematical, physical (natural) and humanitarian. The first president of the Academy was the physician Lavrenty Blumentrost. The first staff of the Academy included mainly foreigners. Soon it involved Russian scientists who began to play a more significant role - M. V. Lomonosov, V. K. Trediakovsky, S. P. Krasheninnikov, I. I. Lepekhin and others. The Anatomical Theater, the Geographic Department, the Astronomical Observatory, the Physics and Mineralogical Rooms, the Botanical Garden, and instrumental workshops gradually entered the Academy. The Kunstkamera also became part of the Academy. In the XVIII century, the Academy acted not only as a scientific but also as an educational centre - it included a university and a gymnasium. From the second half of the XVIII century, the Academy began to arrange regular expeditions to study geography, ethnography, and exploration of natural resources. The Academy had a rich publishing activity. It issued collections of documents on Russian history, collections' catalogues, research, and numerous scientific magazines. In 1803 and 1836, the Academy of Sciences adopted new Regulations. In the 1820s, the interiors of the new building of the Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg were completed. In the XIX century, the Academy of Sciences reached its heyday. Its scientists contributed to the development of mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, geochemistry, the improvement of the Russian language, etc. In February 1917, by decision of the General Meeting of Scientists, the Imperial St. Petersburg Academy received the name The Russian Academy of Sciences and introduced the principle of elective leadership. From 1918, research institutes began to appear within the Academy. In 1925, the Academy received the name Academy of Sciences of the USSR and became the central scientific institution. In 1934, the leadership of the Academy and key institutes moved to Moscow. Soviet republics and major regions received regional branches of the Academy. The main scientific achievements of the Soviet period are associated with the activities of scientists who worked in the Academy. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Representative Order of the President of the Russian Federation of November 21, 1991, reestablished the Russian Academy of Sciences.

The collection includes current official documents, archival materials, research on the history of the Academy, literature indexes, anniversary publications, graphic materials, works of members of the Academy of Sciences and its periodicals.

The collection involved materials from the collections of the following institutions: Library of the Academy of Sciences, President of Russia official website, official Internet portal of Legal Information, Russian State Library, Russian State Historical Archives, Russian State Archives of Film and Photo Documents, State Public Historical Library, Central Naval Library, Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Russian Geographical Society, Maxim Gorky Volgograd Regional Universal Scientific Library, Nadezhda Krupskaya Moscow Regional State Scientific Library, Samara Regional Universal Scientific Library, Dmitri Mendeleev Tyumen Regional Scientific Library, National Library of the Republic of Buryatia, National Library of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), St. Petersburg State University, Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia, Russian Academy of Arts Scientific Library, Dmitri Shostakovich St. Petersburg Academic Philharmonic, North-West Directorate for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring, Federal Protective Service of the Russian Federation, Children's Postcard Museum, and private collections.