D.A. Clementce and his role in making of Kyakhta museum

In order to study the history of Russian museum science as a whole it is necessary to do an examination of the history of every detached museum. Such purpose was formulated by the prominent museum scientist A.M. Razgon in 1971. This task was begun to solve in the Russian Museum's encyclopedia, and it needs to be explored further. For example on the materials of Kyakhta Museum, it marks 125 years since its foundation. There are names of such authors or investigators as I.I. Popov, A.N. Charushin, G.N. Potanin, V.A. Obruchev, who did much for the Museum in Kyakhta. As for D.A. Clementce only short notes about his participant in the affairs of the Kyakhta Museum were published in "Historical Encyclopedia of Siberia" and Wikipedia. This information needs increasing and it is nessesary to make more precise the contribution of D.A. Clementce in foundation of Kyakhta Museum. Now it is known that Dmitry Aleksandrovich Clementce (1848-1914) took part in revolution movement, he called himself narodnik (populist), and he was one of the leaders of the party "Land and Freedom" (Zemlya i Volya). In 1879 he was arrested and exiled to Siberia and ended up in the small town of Minusinsk. There he met N.M. Martyanov, the founder of Minusinsk Museum, and began to work in the Museum. He compiled collections in archaeology, geology, geography, took part in preparing of Museum catalogues. It is important to emphasize that D.A. Clementce participated in adding new subjects to other museums in Siberia. In 1889 he sent to the Mineralogy Museum of the Imperial Tomsk University some collections he made in Eastern Siberia. His successes in the Museum's work were not accidental, being in University he prepared himself to scientific activity, and then in exile in Europe visited museums in Berlin and Paris and understood the importance of the Museum science. D.A. Clementce worked as the ruler of the Eastern Siberian Department of an Imperial Russian geographical society. And it had defined his role in the organization of research and the creation of new museums in Siberia. So he supported the initiative of Kyakhta citizens to make a museum. In order to support that initiative, in 1892 he had read a public lecture, and expressed his attitude to the Museum as a Centre for local studies. His lecture, published in 1893, had the first definition of museum. He said that museum is a systematic collection of nature works or any results of human labor collected for visual and experiance study of the objects. So he expressed interpretation of Museum work, showed his knowledge of the history of the Museum science. In 1894, just after opening of Kyakhta Museum, D.A. Clementce handed to it some materials took from Mongolian expedition. Simultaneously the participant of this expedition, Innokenty Lushnikov, son of Kyakhta merchant A.M. Lushnikov, donated 15 species of birds, collection of minerals and pictures of Mongolia landscapes to the Museum. The opening of Kyakhta Museum meant that the main idea of D.A. Clementce to preserve and learn cultural and economic relations of Russia, China and Mongolia was fulfiled.

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