Home – Home – Jornals – Humanitarian sciences in Siberia 2017 number

The article is devoted to N.N. Pokrovsky, who rose through the ranks from junior researcher to the academician in Siberian Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences in less than 30 years, who became one of the main authors of “archaeographic discovery of Siberia”, and who created his own scientific school. The period under consideration was a time of intensive development of the Siberian region and its science, in particular humanities. The article discusses principles of scientific and organizational activities of N.N. Pokrovsky in the course of solution of major scientific projects. The main goal for him was to save and study a large quantity of books, which were in the hands of old believer peasants and which disappeared each year because of the fires, death of owners and so on. Annual expeditions in most regions of Siberia, Central Asia and the Far East served this goal. Under his leadership there were then collected about a thousand ancient manuscripts and early printed books that made up continuously growing Collection of the Institute of History of Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (SB RAS). Another principle of his activity was to investigate museums, archives and libraries of Siberia in order to describe their collections of ancient manuscripts and books according to a single system as well as to publish such descriptions that were to serve a preservation of collections. Soon after his arrival in Novosibirsk, N.N. Pokrovsky put forward an idea of creating a museum of history of Siberia common to all research institutions of Novosibirsk Akademgorodok, and of constructing for it a new building with modern technical conditions for the organization and operation of the museum. The project was presented by him in a special memorandum “On the Establishment of the Scientific and Historical Museum of Siberia and Gathering Monuments of Ancient Culture by Siberian Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences”, proposed for publication. Here, he introduced the prospects of research and scientific and organizational activities for gathering, preserving and exhibiting objects of Siberian culture, focused on their saving and popularization, the use of exhibits and expeditionary collections for training purposes in cooperation with Novosibirsk State University (NSU).