I.P. Kuznetsov-Krasnoyarskiy as a historian and museographer

This article deals with the activities of I.P. Kuznetsov-Krasnoyarskiy, a prominent researcher and collector of the late 19th - early 20th centuries, who made a great contribution to the replenishment of funds of Siberian museums, to the study of history, archaeography and museum science in Siberia. In order to understand the origin of Kuznetsov's interest in the study of Siberia, it is necessary to refer to his own testimony in his works. Now we know that Innokentiy Kuznetsov was born in 1851 in a rich merchant family. His father was an owner of a goldmine; he donated to churches and culture. Besides, he formed collections, and was a member of the East Siberian Department of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society. Innokentiy Kuznetsov had no special education. Nevertheless, he was engaged in self-education. Following the example of his father, he began to form collections. He conducted archaeological excavaions, acquired archaeology and ethnography items while traveling across America and Europe. He collected old documents as well. Kuznetsov donated all his collections to the Minusinsk Museum, the Imperial Historical Museum in Moscow. Kuznetsov gave the bulk of his collections to the Archaeological Museum in the Imperial Tomsk University. Yu.I. Ozheredov, a modern author calculated that Kuznetsov had given about 700 real sources, as well as photographs and documents. After his death in 1916, his widow gave 1722 subject to the University's Archaeological Museum. It is important to say that Kuznetsov did not only form collections. He described and attributed all items. When describing the subjects of archaeology he found in the Minusinsk District, Kuznetsov used the museography approach. He showed the informative and attractive features of items. Through the prism of his collections, Kuznetsov presented the history of southern Siberia, and could talk about the impact of Chinese culture on the local population of the Bronze and Iron epochs. Besides, he noted that Minusinsk aborigines used archaic flintlock shotguns at the end of the 19th century, and he wrote that their funeral rites were preserved since old times as well. The article contains new information that in addition to museography Kuznetsov was engaged in archaeography. Using his collection of ancient papers, he published eight books of historical documents about Siberia in the 17th-18th centuries. Thus he saved a mass of historical information from destroying. Being a collector and archaeographer, the investigator particularly emphasized the importance of historical sources in the studies. He considered that an important task of history studies was people's life, not the conquest of Siberia. It is necessary to note that the materials of his documentary books allow us to look at the Siberian past from the view of its witnesses. There is a lot of information about the abuse of power in the Siberian towns and cities in the 18th century in his publications. He revealed the plight of women in his works. Among first in Siberia, I.P. Kuznetsov told about people's holidays, matchmaking, etc. A critical use of historical sources allowed him to have his doubt about the Royal origin of the Tomsk elder (starets) Fyodor Kuzmich. Reading Kuznetsov's works helps us to make a complete account of his contribution to the comprehensive study of Siberian territories; it renews and enriches the vision of the historical past of Siberia.

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