The Imperial Tomsk University and the Russian Geographical Society (Late 19th - Early 20th Centuries)

Research activities of the professors and academic staff of Tomsk University carried out on the instructions and with the support of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society (IRGS) are considered. The article is based on the materials of scholarly publications, periodical press and office documentation. The research activities included scientific expeditions organized to various regions of Asian Russia; collecting and systematization of materials on natural sciences, economics, anthropology and ethnography; presentations of scientific reports at sessions of the Russian Geographical Society. The professors and academic staff of Tomsk University V. Sapozhnikov, N. Gezehus, F. Kapustin, N. Novombergsky, S. Kuznetsov, S. Korzhinsky, S. Zalessky, A. Zaitsev, P. Krylov were full members of the Russian Geographical Society or members of its Siberian departments. Expeditions funded by the Russian Geographical Society were sent to the Yenisei, Amur and Narym regions, Uryankhai land, Kuznetsk Alatau, Altai, Baraba steppe, Zhetysu, to the regions of Mongolia and Central Asia, etc. Collected and systematized floristic, faunistic, mineralogical, archaeological, soil materials were received by the museums and herbaria of Tomsk University (as well as by the Botanical Garden at the university), by the Altai sub-department of the West Siberian Department and the Krasnoyarsk sub-department of the East Siberian Department of the Russian Geographical Society, and by the Saint Petersburg Botanical Garden. The results of the research activities were reported at sessions of the departments, sub-departments, as well as at the headquarters of the IRGS in Saint Petersburg. Reports were published in the proceedings of the IRGS. Researches of scientists from Tomsk University were also reviewed in these proceedings. Scientific reports of the professors and academic staff of Tomsk University include not only the analysis of valuable scientific materials, but also forecasts about the prospects for the industrial and agricultural development of remote areas in Siberia and the Far East. It is concluded that, despite the absence of the IRGS department in Tomsk, the professors and academic staff of Tomsk University realized the research, enlightening and civilizing mission of the IRGS in the east of the Russian Empire.