The Presidential Library presents a new collection “V. Y. Struve (1793-1864)”

To the 225th anniversary of the birth of Vasily Yakovlevich Struve, the Presidential Library prepared a collection dedicated to the world-famous astronomer, founder and first director of the Pulkovo Observatory. A collection of unique documents is available on the Presidential Library portal.

Vasily Yakovlevich (Friedrich Georg Wilhelm) Struve was born on April 15 (in a new style) in 1793 in the city of Altona near Hamburg in a large family of the director of the gymnasium. At the age of 15 he entered the Dorpat (Tartu) University to study philology - it affected the influence of the father and elder brother, who believed that this specialty would always provide Wilhelm with a piece of bread. The young man as an exemplary son obeyed, although he felt that his destiny was different. Soon he begins to attend lectures on astronomy and physics and after graduating from the university he refuses the place of the teacher of literature to give himself up entirely to the study of astronomical science at the university observatory. Already in 1818 he headed the Derpt Observatory. It is here that Struve begins a gigantic work on the study of binary stars and proves that the law of gravitation operates not only in our solar system, but also in remote depths of space. In total for his life he investigated 12 thousand stars and established the duality of 2500 of them. But there were no more than 500 similar stars before Struve! Created by him star catalogs won worldwide recognition and were awarded medals of the Royal Society of London. The collection, posted on the portal of the Presidential Library, has a unique document of 1826 - "The Case of the awarding by the London Astronomical Society of Professor F. V. Struve with a gold medal for his published work on binary stars".  

The discoveries of the scientist can be listed for a long time: thus, he was able to calculate the distance to the Vega star, thereby establishing the exact definition of interstellar distances; He proved that the density of stars increases with the approach of the main plane of the Milky Way; presented arguments that testify to the absorption of light in interstellar space ...

Engaging in scientific work, Struve also paid much attention to the technical equipment of the observatory - this is proved by the unique documents presented on the portal of the Presidential Library. He provided financing, was engaged in construction, purchased new equipment, that is, did everything possible so that astronomical science could move forward.

But Struve did not only study the stars. Sometimes circumstances, in the words of E. F. Litvinova, the author of the book "V. Y. Struve, his life and scientific activity", forced "to take his eyes off the sky and turn them to the ground". The first time it happened in 1816, when Struve was asked to make a topographic map of the Livonian province. This applied work conceived in him the idea of ​​a grandiose study. For many years he led the measurement of the arc of the meridian in a vast area from the Danube to the Arctic Ocean, with a total length of more than 2,800 km. On the scale of the executed work, the rare document from the collection of the Presidential Library dedicated to V. Y. Struve, numbering 356 sheets, speaks. The results of the measurements provided valuable knowledge about the parameters of the Earth, its shape and size, as well as materials for compiling accurate maps of Russia. Now this arc bears the name of astronomer Struve and is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

But astronomy did not go to the second plan for the scientist: after measuring the meridian, "there was only time to divide between these two works. Struve knew how to have a good time. Summer months, unfavorable due to short nights for astronomy, he used to measure the arc of the meridian, while the rest of the year he observed the declination of the stars", - Litvinova writes.

Struve was also an excellent teacher. According to the memoirs of A. N. Savich, a student of Vasily Yakovlevich, "all the students loved and respected him, they remember his clear, in every respect, attractive presentation and his tireless efforts to get them to obtain the acquired knowledge. It was not only the teacher, but the first friend and protector of his students and at the same time the most strict and demanding judge".

As for the life of the scientist in the "Derpt" period of his scientific research, here is how he is described in Litvinova's book: "In the corner of a rather extensive courtyard there is a white stone one-story house with a faded green roof; once in it "lived mind and soul" director of the observatory V. Struve. Insatiable desires, broad, courageous plans Struve applied only to the favorite science; in the home life, he seemed to be content with very few ... The room at Struve in Dorpat was so tight that one lady, inspecting him at the time when Struve was already in Pulkovo, refused to believe that V. Struve lived in it with eight children and four nephews! .. Struve’s personal life, although was not distinguished by any individual characteristics, was, however, such that when recalling Struve as a person, Savich says about it: "It brings the same amount of honor to his beautiful heart, how many discovery - his high mind".   

Soon the next stage of the eventful life of Struve began. In 1827, the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences began to develop a plan for a new observatory and attracted Struve to this. A place in 19 versts from Petersburg and 8 from Tsarskoe Selo "could not be more than the goal. An extensive horizon with a diameter of 70 miles, a neighborhood of gardens and meadows, which makes it impossible to observe dust, rare fogs, distance from the capital, from its noise and smoke and at the same time a relative affinity for it, which makes it possible without special effort to use its extensive scientific means ... ". "Here, on Pulkovo Hill, we will see the St. Petersburg Observatory one day!" - exclaimed V. Y. Struve during one of the trips in search of a place for a new observatory.

"The Pulkovo Observatory was dear to Wilhelm Struve long before its foundation: the mother's child is so dear before it is born, writes E. F. Litvinova. - The chairman of the commission, like her members, worked diligently and skillfully to create a new observatory. The soul of this union was Struve".

The opening of the observatory was preceded by a lot of trouble: "From different places the instruments came delivered to Pulkovo with all sorts of precautions. From Munich they were transported to Travemünde on purpose for the ordered spring crews. In Travemunde, they, along with those sent from England, were put on board the steamer "Alexander" to go to St. Petersburg. Soon after the arrival of the Munich instruments, the same cargo came from Hamburg. The central hall of the observatory was full of boxes; their number reached one hundred and two. Pulkovo astronomers had to work hard to install the instruments properly without the help of masters who made them. "... One can imagine that Struve was experiencing, holding in his hands the most perfect instruments at that time, the most powerful means for studying the heavenly bodies.

The opening day of the Pulkovo Observatory - August 7, 1839 - was an unforgettable day in his life. A little later, the emperor who visited the observatory, "hinting at Struve's well-known broad plans, asked in a playful tone whether the director is quite satisfied with the observatory. Encouraged by the monarch's cheerfulness, Struve answered with characteristic frankness that today he feels full satisfaction, but does not guarantee that after some time he will not have to resort to the magnanimity of His Majesty again for the sake of science. "Vasily Yakovlevich, in addition to frankness, also had a good sense of humor. They say that during the visit to the observatory by Nicholas I with his retinue, Struve said that he sees for the first time so many stars not in their places - on the uniforms of dignitaries.
Almost a quarter century Struve was director of the Pulkovo Observatory, under his leadership, it became, according to American astronomer Benjamin Gould, "the astronomical capital of the world". A French physicist Bio, talking about the Pulkovo Observatory, said that "Russia has a scientific monument, which no more exist anywhere".

Almost a quarter century Struve was the director of the Pulkovo Observatory, under his leadership, it became, according to American astronomer Benjamin Gould, "the astronomical capital of the world". A French physicist Bio, talking about the Pulkovo Observatory, said that "Russia has a scientific monument, above which there is no light".

In 1857, when health began to fail Struve, Otto's eldest son helped him in his work, he later headed the observatory. In the autumn of 1863, V. I. Struve celebrated the 50th anniversary of his scientific activity, in August 1864 - the 25th anniversary of his beloved child, the Pulkovo Observatory. This was the last major event in his life. November 23, 1864 the great scientist died.

Struve left behind a large family: eight children from the first marriage, four from the second, and brought up four nephews-orphans. Many of his descendants became well-known scientists, statesmen and politicians. As already mentioned, the eldest son, Otto Vasilievich, continued his father's scientific activity; Kirill Vasilievich conducted astronomical observations in Asia, compiled a map of the Turkestan Territory. Of the four sons of Otto Vasilievich Struve, two became famous in the field of astronomy: Hermann and Ludwig.

There is little-known fact, the confirmation of which can be found on the portal of the Presidential Library. The collections has a document of 1856, where the proposal "G. Academician Struve on the subject of construction under the Imperial Kharkov University of the Astronomical Observatory" is considered: "Apart from considering the right to analyze the project belonging to the first scientist in Astronomy and the best connoisseur of this case, "the rector of the school notes that the University" has an urgent need for the erection of a new, a more extensive clinic building. If the funds of the treasury are insufficient for a simultaneous enterprise of both facilities, then they prefer to follow the clinic".

The construction of the observatory in Kharkov was postponed and began only in 1883, and in 1898 it was headed by Ludwig Ottovich Struve, the grandson of the great astronomer, born two years after the proposal of his grandfather "on the desirability of building an astronomical observatory at Kharkov University".

Perhaps the biographer of Vasily Yakovlevich Struve Elizaveta Litvinova is right, and indeed "the observability of a practical astronomer is an undeniable gift, which is more or less inherited, as a musical ability or a talent for painting"?