A.S. Uvarov and P.S. Uvarova and museology in Russia

The article describes the author's perspective on the role of the Uvarovs couple in the development of museum practice and museological thought in Russia. Analysis of articles and memoirs by P.S. Uvarova and of professional museum forums proceedings enabled the author to identify the intersection of the museum world with the world of science and the emergence of museological knowledge. The author claims that the creation of museums in the last third of the XIX century. became a kind of scientific method, a way to implement large-scale scientific programs in the field of archeology, anthropology, ethnography, and natural science. A.S. Uvarov is one of the founders of the Moscow Archaeological Society and the Historical Museum in Moscow. The establishment of a historical museum is associated with the awareness of collections of monuments as sources for scientific research. The innovative exposition of the museum corresponded to the level of development of historical science in Russia, and its educational activities reflected trends in the public life of the country. P.S. Uvarova will head the Moscow Archaeological Society after her husband's death and will support and complete his other projects. The article focuses on the publication of PS. Uvarova "Regional museums", which has a programmatic significance for the development of museum practice in Russia. This publication reflected the desire to extend scientific work to the provinces, to properly organize the activities of specific museums and the museum business as a whole. The author came to the conclusion that the Uvarovs considered the museum as a public institution with a wide range of possibilities and responsibilities. They made a significant contribution to the process of professionalization of museum practice, which took place at the turn of the XIX-XX centuries. An important milestone in this direction was the 1912 museum congress.

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