To the issue on division of Russian museum history into periods

The paper describes unexplored topic of division of Russian museum history into periods. The authors of the article used the ideas of a prominent Russian historian A.Y. Gurevich. He said that scientific concept of division into periods helps to dismember the historical process and focus on the study of a specific plot. Moreover, different aspects of historical development possess their own division. Using this notion, the authors of article pointed out that the original study of the Russian Museum history was based on universal division. The basis of the criteria of division into periods created formation theory of social development. So Russian investigators studied the history of museums during feudalism, i.e. XVIII - first half of XIX century. A.M. Razgon, D.A. Ravikovich and others studied the history of Russian museums for capitalism, which was dated as 1861-1917. The dismemberment of Russian museum history for socialism had different stages of development. For example, the investigators studied museum history during the Revolution in 1917-1918. They concentrated on a period of the economy recovery in 1920-1925, then they considered the museum history during so-called Stalin's five-year plans (1928-1941), as well as Great Patriotic war, and the post-war Soviet five-year plans, etc. Changes in the socio-political developments in Russia in 1990s entailed an update of division into periods. Moscow museologist A.A. Sundieva developed a cultural model of the dismemberment of Museum development. This model includes the protomuseum period (to the beginning of the XVIII century), the time of the genesis of Museum as a cultural form (XVIII-XIX centuries), the acquisition of status of cultural norm by museums (1890-1920), and the inclusion of museums in the national cultural tradition (1930-1990s). By the same time Omsk museologist N.A. Tomilov had prepared a new model of division into periods. It reflects the specific events of Russian museum history and includes nine separate stages of museum development. The authors of the article appreciate all the works. Still they felt, it was necessary to use the principles of history periodization formulated by V.O. Klyuchevskiy. He dismembered historical time into spaces filled with the most influential factors of political, economic, and cultural processes. The application of this principle to the history museum allows us to formulate four large period in its development. First of them was the time of XVI-XVIII centuries, when the Museum grew accustomed to collect and preserve cultural heritage. During the second period, since the beginning of the 19th century and until the end of the 1920s, scientific and public importance of the Museum's activities was established. At the third period, in 1930-1980s, Russian museums were obeyed to Soviet State tasks, all of them have been turned into institutions of socialism propaganda. In the fourth stage, since the beginning of the 1990s, Russian museums have a certain independence; receive the right to follow its own Museum rules and views.

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