Memorable dates of Russia: “Mikhail Lomonosov and Academy of Sciences” documentary and arts exhibit underway in Moscow

On November 24th 2011 the Russian Academy of Sciences Archive in Moscow staged a documentary and arts exhibit “Mikhail Lomonosov and the Academy of Sciences”, which has been prepared by the Russian Academy of Sciences Archive in collaboration with its St. Petersburg branch, Institute of Scientific Information for Social Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Library for Natural Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences.  

The exhibition launched in the Russian Academy of Sciences Archive showcases over 150 documents originating from the collection of the Russian Academy of Sciences Archive in Moscow and its branch in St. Petersburg. On display go letters, certificates, passport of Lomonosov as a student; drafts, drawings, handwritten works; his certificate of the Professor of Chemistry; the project of Chemistry Laboratory, project of illuminations and fireworks for the New Year; programs of experiences; certificate of land donation in Ust-Ruditsa. A particular place occupy documents focused on studies and promotion of Lomonosov’s heritage in the Academy of Sciences. This is a correspondence of the President of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR V. L. Komarov with Mikhail Lomonosov’s great-granddaughter Ye. N. Orlova on donation of scholar’s authentic manuscripts to the academy; works by academicians V. I. Vernadsky, A. A. Baikov, S. I. Vavilov, M. V. Keldysh dedicated to Mikhail Lomonosov and his scientific work; numerous photographs, collections of drawings, medals, drafts of Lomonosov’s order. Visitors can discover lifetime publications of Mikhail Lomonosov, rare editions of his own works and the ones about him from the collections of academic libraries. In the arts section of the exposition on show are sculptural portraits (busts) of Peter I and Catherine II (by Z. Tseretelli), prints from the collection of the Russian Academy of Arts.

The inauguration ceremony of the exhibition featured a presentation of a new publication entitled “Lomonosov and the Academy of Sciences”, timed to coincide with 300th birth anniversary of the brilliant scholar, prepared by the Russian Academy of Sciences Archive, its branch in St. Petersburg, the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Kunstkamera), the Institute of Russian Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Pushkin House), the Institute of Informatics Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences.