West-Siberian Branch of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR: projects and realities of the first half of the XX century

The article shows that the task of exploration of Siberia with its rich natural resources was given to the Russian Academy of Sciences practically from the moment of its foundation and was performed in the form of academic expeditions. At the beginning of the 20th century the strategy of exploration of Russia's productive forces was determined by the scientific Commission for the Study of Natural Productive Forces (KEPS) founded in 1915. During the Soviet period the declared policy of industrialization made the public opinion in Siberia keenly aware of the necessity to discuss the prospects and problems of the region's development including the need for the creation of academic institutions. In the 1930s several projects of creation of the Academy's Branch in Siberia were offered, however none of them was ever implemented due to multiple reasons. The most fundamental projects were developed by the scientific community of Tomsk and Novosibirsk before the Great Patriotic War. It was then that these two major Siberian cities laid their claims for hosting the first center of academic science in Western Siberia. The article analyzes historical prerequisites for the creation of the West-Siberian Branch of the Academy of Sciences during the Great Patriotic War in Novosibirsk. Among such factors was the evacuation to Western Siberia of a significant amount of scientists from the European part of the country; integrated efforts of scientific community to form the defense potential; geopolitical role of Novosibirsk strengthened under the circumstances of the war-time period. Mobilization of resources in the Urals region, Siberia and Kazakhstan was coordinated by the Commission of AS of the USSR headed by Academician V.L.Komarov. In the course of its work the priority tasks for the future Academy's Branch were determined. Projects of the future Branch were again presented by Tomsk and Novosibirsk. Nevertheless, the Presidium of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR made it clear that the favorable decision in regard to the establishment of the Academy's Branch in Siberia totally depended on the consolidated concept of an integrated research institute. The Tomsk and Novosibirsk scientists worked together in order to develop the structure of the Branch and determine the main areas of its activities which in turn accelerated the document flow in the governmental agencies and helped them to give a positive answer to the question of the creation of the West-Siberian Branch of the Academy of Sciences in the end of 1943 - the beginning of 1944. The article reconstructs the history of the Branch, stresses the role of certain scientists (especially those from Tomsk) in the organization of academic institutes and personnel training, shows major accomplishments of the Branch in the exploration of the region's productive forces, presents a short account of the history of individual institutes.

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