The Presidential Library and the Russian Geographical Society develop cooperation

The Russian Geographical Society which brought together scientists, travelers and local historians was established by the will of Nicholas II 174 years ago, on August 18, 1845. Its main task was "cultivating the geography of Russia". The expeditions of society played an important role in the development of Siberia, the Far East, Central Asia and World’s water. Stories about these expeditions, in particular Pyotr Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky or Nikolay Przhevalsky, are available today on the Presidential Library’s portal.

At the present time the Russian Geographical Society has become a partner of the Presidential Library. One of the most important tasks of the Russian Geographical Society is to facilitate the collection and dissemination of truthful information about Russia. Besides, the Presidential Library also solves the same tasks.

As early as September 2013, a cooperation agreement was concluded between the organizations. Today more than 5.5 thousand books, brochures, periodicals, archival affairs and photographs, including rare and especially valuable ones, have been converted into electronic form.

For example, in 2014, specialists of the Presidential Library digitized Chinese popular prints from the archive of the Russian Geographical Society. Among them is an electronic reproduction of an ancient Chinese folk New Year's painting (nyanhua), "God Exorcising the Devil". It features Zhong Kuya (the god of doors), the image of which was hung to expel evil spirits from the house. The picture was brought to Russia in 1897 by the famous Russian geographer V. L. Komarov.

The collection of the Presidential Library dedicated to Russian America and the Russian-American campaign also includes materials from the Russian Geographical Society. Here we can mention the "Biography of Alexander Andreevich Baranov, the chief ruler of the Russian colonies in America" ​​(1835). Baranov for a long time did not agree to head the Russian colony in America. However, the "confluence of adversity" associated with his unfinished business, forced the merchant to accept the proposal.

The collection “Russian circumnavigations of the first half of the 19th century” would also be incomplete without materials from the Russian Geographical Society. And in the preface to the book “Bering” (1939), a curious assessment of the activities of the famous navigator of the 18th century is given: “Bering was humane and modest, did not know how to use self-promotion and curry favor with his superiors, he wrote very little and briefly. <...> The deeds of Bering, his two remarkable Kamchatka expeditions, somehow absorbed with his innumerable details of himself, his personal initiative of the organizer and leader”.

I. Akifiev’s book “To the Far North: From the Diary of a World Traveler” (1904) tells of a journey from Petersburg to New York and beyond, “across the Great Ocean” to the shores of Alaska and Chukotka. “Here we are in Russia, although there is nothing similar to our European Russia. It’s wild and deserted all around, but this dead silence, these bare rocks are somehow nicer than the noise that hangs over Nom (Alaska) ...” - the author shares.

The electronic reading room on Senate Square, 3, in St. Petersburg and in remote centers of access to the resources of the Presidential Library in other cities of Russia and the world, provides access to "Notes of the Krasnoyarsk subdivision of the East Siberian Division of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society for Ethnography" (1902), including "almost the first collection of Siberian tales published in a separate collection". Many of these tales are forgotten, so the modern reader will be interested in even a simple listing of their names: “A Man and a Red Sun”, “Icon of Mikola”, “Dunno”. "Bezruchka", "The Bear Tsarevich" - this is included in "Russian and foreign tales of the Yenisei and Tomsk provinces" (1906).

The Presidential Library partially digitized the memorial library of the famous researcher Yu. M. Shokalsky (1856–1940), the author of the book “Sea Route to Siberia”, which is available on the Presidential Library’s portal.

The digitized issues of the journal Izvestia of the Russian Geographical Society, available in the remote electronic reading rooms of the Presidential Library, located throughout Russia and beyond, tell about geography and the history of the most different corners of our homeland.

Thus, thanks to modern information technologies, truly interesting and unique materials are now available to many people, and the cultural and historical heritage of Russia is preserved for future generations. The Presidential Library congratulates the Russian Geographical Society on the date of the organization’s establishment.