The specificity of the organization of museum practice in Western Transbaikalia in the late 19th and early 20th centuries

Museum is a special cultural space that collects and represents historical experience. Activity of museums corresponds to the level of society development. Formation of museum practice in Russia began two hundred years later than in Europe. In the second half of the 19th century the Imperial Russian Geographical Society (IRGS) played a big role in formation of museums. In the last third of the 19th century, development of the local lore study in Siberia, the growing need in exploring the natural riches, economy and region history, growth of the population's public activity led to the establishment of museums of a complex profile. In Transbaikalia, the activities of regional specialists who created private collections extended in the 1850s - 1860s. Collections of merchants Kurbatov in Verkhneudinsk and Zenzinov in Nerchinsk were very popular. In Western Transbaikalia (Buryatia), the first museum of local lore appeared at the end of the 19th century. Since 1870 Kyakhta became a basic point for Central Asian IRGS expeditions headed by known scientists and travelers N.M. Przhevalsky, M.V. Pevtsov, V.I. Roborovsky, D.A. Klements, N.M. Yadrintsev, G.N. Potanin, P.K. Kozlov and V.A. Obruchev. Kyakhta merchants helped with preparations for expeditions. In the late 1870s - early 1880s a circle of people fond of the study of local lore was formed in Kyakhta. Favorable conditions for the establishment in the city of a public museum exhibiting the nature, history and culture of Transbaikalia and Mongolia were formed. In 1890 a museum was founded in Kyakhta. On October 8, 1892 D.A.Klements gave a public lecture "Local museums. Their Value in Provincial Life" in the city. In 1894 the museum moved to a two-storeyed stone house which merchant A.D. Startsev (the son of N.A. Bestuzhev) donated. The same year the Troitskosavsko-Kyakhta Office of IRGS was open. The museum published its works, opened a scientific library, continuously replenished its collection, which allowed it to exchange collections and editions with many domestic and foreign scientific organizations and establishments. The 20th century for the museum business of Siberia began with the Parisian World Fair in 1900. International experts noted ethnographic collections. The Troitskosavsky Office of IRGS was awarded a gold medal. In 1902 the employees of the Kyakhta Museum undertook the largest expedition of the pre-revolutionary period to Lake Khubsugul in the North Western Mongolia under the leadership of P.S. Mikhno. For the first 20 years of the museum, its employees published 185 scientific works. Thus, the organization and the initial stage of activities of the Kyakhta Museum reflected the situation in the museum business of the country of the end of the 19th century, when it developed in the absence of a uniform governing body, legislation, programs and charters. The Siberian museums played an important role as cultural, educational and scientific centers. The activities of the museum and of the IRGS Office in Kyakhta began systematic scientific research in the region, the history of museum business development in the region, the history of development of science in Buryatia.

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