Description of the attraction
Evolutionary theory published Charles Darwin in 1859 in the book "The Origin of Species", evoked a stormy response from both scientists and ordinary people. Who supported the theory with all my heart biology student Alexander Kots decided to create a museum in Moscow dedicated to the theory of evolution … So at the beginning of the twentieth century, the Darwin Museum appeared, which is now called one of the most significant among its kind in the world. His collection clearly demonstrates the processes of evolution, natural selection in nature and the struggle for the existence of biological species, which results in numerous changes in flora and fauna on our planet.
Founder of the Darwin Museum
Alexander Kots was born in 1880 into a family of immigrants from Germany. His father was a botanist and doctor of philosophy, and his mother was the daughter of a forester. No wonder that Alexander from his youth was fond of studying the animal world, and he considered his love for nature to be an inheritance from his parents.
Already in the gymnasium, he began to take lessons in the preparation of animals and began to study taxidermy. The first scientific expedition of Kots took place at the age of 19, when the founder of the Moscow taxidermy school F. Lorenz helped the young man to take part in a scientific trip. The trip to the southern part of Western Siberia was very fruitful: Kots made more than a hundred stuffed animals and birds, for which he received a large silver medal of the Russian Scientific Society. Later, this particular collection will form the basis of the exposition of the Darwin Museum.
Alexander Kots entered University of Moscow and during his studies he repeatedly visited European educational institutions, biological stations and museums. After graduating from the university, he remained at the department and began to prepare for a professorship.
History of the creation of the museum
The date of foundation of the Darwin Museum is considered 1907, when Alexander Kots was offered a place at the Moscow Higher Courses for Women … An assistant in the natural sciences department began to lecture on the doctrine of evolution. The collection of scarecrows followed as visual aids and was housed in the course room.
Two years later, F. Lorenz dies, from whom the young Kotz learned the basics of taxidermy. A young teacher buys from the heirs Lorenz collection, consisting of hundreds of stuffed birds and animals, among which were rare and disappearing. Later, Cotes goes on a trip to the cities of Europe, where he acquires many rarities, one way or another connected with the theory of evolution and the origin of species. He even manages to get hold of unpublished letters from Darwin himself. Western zoologists and botanists became interested in the activities of Coots and began to donate interesting rarities and exhibits for his collection. As a result, by 1912 the number of items in the collection totaled several thousand, and the total cost of the exhibits was approximately 15,000 rubles.
In 1913, Alexander Kots donated his vastly expanded collection to the Moscow Higher Courses for Women. The collection of exhibits is housed in a building on Devichye Pole, and for the first time the collection receives an official name - the Museum of the Evolutionary Theory of the Moscow Higher Courses for Women.
The revolutionary events did not interfere with the activities of Coots and the workers of the Darwin Museum. Employees continued to create new exhibits, and in 1918, Honored Professor of Moscow University and, in combination, an authoritative revolutionary, Pavel Sternberg issued a security certificate for the museum. This saved the exposure. In the future, the new government actively cooperated with the directorate and in every possible way advocated the popularization of the theory of evolution.
Cotes was in charge of the museum until 1964. Until his death, the founder of the museum and his assistants continued to collect and organize exhibits that allowed all new generations of visitors to get acquainted with the theory of evolution of the great Charles Darwin.
Darwin Museum building
After moving from the building of courses in Merzlyakovsky lane to Maiden field the exhibits felt quite comfortable for some time - there was enough space and spacious exposition areas made it possible to properly display all the rarities. However, Coots' irrepressible craving for the development of his brainchild brought more and more new items, and the collection grew too fast. As a result, in 1926 the Council of People's Commissars decided on the need to build a new building.
The adopted resolution existed only on paper for many years. Funds for the construction were not allocated for twenty years, and therefore in 1945 Alexander Kots achieved a special meeting of the Council of Ministers. The supreme executive body confirmed that the intention to expand the museum remains in effect, but the work was again postponed for a long 15 years. And the building, almost completed in 1960, was suddenly given to the choreographic school.
The founder of the museum never saw how his brainchild was moving to new premises. Kots died in 1964, and Vera Ignatieva, who was appointed to the post of director, began to beat the thresholds of high authorities. Only in 1974, the first stone was laid in the foundation of the future building on Vavilova Street, and the permanent exhibition opened its doors to visitors only in 1995 … 12 years later, a six-story building appeared next to the main building, in which the museum's funds were placed and exhibition spaces for temporary exhibitions were created.
Exposition of the Darwin Museum
The core of the museum collection is made up of exhibits collected by Alexander Kots during his student days and during his trips to European universities. Most of the works of domestic and foreign preparative companies that appeared on the stands of the museum were purchased at the personal expense of the scientist. He managed to buy out the collections of famous Russian biologists and researchers - Vladimir Artobolevsky, Nikolay Przhevalsky and Mikhail Menzibir … For some time, Kots worked simultaneously as the director of the Moscow Zoo, where he received a lot of opportunities to study the theory of evolution. His scientific research was recorded in photographs and drawings. The collection of the museum in those years was significantly replenished with new stuffed exotic animals and birds.
The modern collection of the Darwin Museum is able to impress any visitor:
- Information about evolution, natural selection and the diversity of life on our planet is presented in the Darwin Museum more 400 thousand storage units.
- The exhibits are located on 500 thousand square meters. m.
- Among the most valuable exhibits are genuine letters from Charles Darwin and the first edition of his Origin of Species. The old one is also worthy of special attention. book "A History of Snakes and Dragons", released in 1640 in Bologna. Its author, the Italian Renaissance scholar Ullis Aldrovandi, is often referred to as the father of natural science.
- The largest in the world abberant collection - the pride of the Darwin Museum. Animals whose color is not typical of their species are found all over the world, and in the museum you can see inhabitants of different climatic zones.
- Extinct biological species are becoming more and more every year and one of the most famous - dodo from the island of Mauritius … The museum displays the original skeleton of a flightless bird that died out in the 17th century. On the sad list of disappeared animals - wandering pigeon, wingless auk and multi-billed guia, whose stuffed animals are also displayed on the stands of the museum.
The artist helped Kotsu in the creation of the collection. Vasily Vatagin … He is famous for illustrations to the works of Kipling, London and Seton-Thompson. A famous graphic artist and animal sculptor, Vatagin was a staff member of the Darwin Museum and created panels, sculptures and paintings for the decoration of the exhibition. The artist is called the founder of the Moscow school of animal painters, and in the museum you can see his most famous works. The halls also display the works of other animalists: artists M. Ezuchevsky, A. Komarov and K. Flerov and sculptors S. Konenkov and V. Domogatsky.
Modern scientific trends have not spared the Darwin Museum. Over the past decade and a half, it has been actively introducing multimedia technology … Most of the rooms are computerized, their expositions are illustrated with moving models, and excursions are accompanied by audio broadcasts of the voices of animals and birds.
Guests are greeted at the entrance to the Darwin Museum inhabitants of the paleoparklong gone, but not forgotten. Visitors can see the mammoth and Amurosaurus, cave lion and mastodonosaurus in the open area.
The main building is connected to the exhibition center by an underground passage. The new building is worthy of visitors' attention exhibition "Walk the path of evolution" … No less interesting is the insectarium, where dozens of species of insects live. In nature, they live in various climatic zones.
The most interesting collections of the museum
For a full-fledged excursion to the Darwin Museum, it is worth taking a whole day, the collections presented in it are so varied and fascinating:
- The first herbarium material collected by A. Kots at the beginning of the last century, forms the basis of the Botanical collection. Today it has nearly 1800 exhibits and is of undoubted scientific value.
- V collection of butterflies you will see more than 52 thousand of the most beautiful representatives of the insect kingdom.
- Examine the nests and clutches of birds a collection of more than 7,000 exhibits will help the Darwin Museum. The oldest specimens date back to the 70s of the 19th century.
- The section in which stuffed mammals and birds, has about 10 thousand exhibits. Some of the items were made by Kots himself during his first scientific expedition. The largest exhibits in the collection are stuffed African and Indian elephants that adorn the central hall.
Memorial items - another section of the exposition popular with visitors. It displays personal belongings and working tools of the founder of the Darwin Museum, Alexander Kots, and his closest associates and collaborators. In the halls of the museum, the study of the first director has been recreated with an authentic writing desk, a bookcase and a typewriter on which the scientist typed out sketches of his works and research.
On a note
- Location: Moscow, Vavilova st., 57
- Nearest metro stations: "Akademicheskaya"
- Official website: www.darwinmuseum.ru
- Opening hours: Tue-Sun - from 10:00 to 18:00, Mon - day off, last Friday of the month - day off. Exhibition Complex: Thu - from 13:00 to 21:00 (ticket office - until 20:00).
- Tickets: Single ticket - 400 rubles / adult, 150 rubles / discount. Children under 7 years old, disabled people, veterans - free of charge. Admission on the third Sunday of the month is free.
