The role of Z.M. Cybulski in the creation of the first university in the Asian part of Russia: the 200th anniversary of his birth and the 140th anniversary of Tomsk State University establishment

On the basis of archival documents, periodicals, personal papers, mainly letters, the history of donations of the famous Siberian entrepreneur and philanthropist, Tomsk mayor Z.M. Cybulski to the university in Tomsk is reconstructed (second half of the 1870s -early 1880s). It is emphasized that Cybulski, whose 200th anniversary of birth is celebrated this year, was not only the largest benefactor of the university, but also one of the public figures who organized its opening. The history of the establishment of the University in Siberia is observed. It had began in 1803 and entered into a crucial phase nearly three-quarters of a century later, when in 1875 G.N. Kaznakov was appointed Governor-General of Western Siberia. Having received the consent of Alexander II on the establishment of the University in Siberia, he took the necessary preparatory steps, including the organization of fundraising for the construction of the university by donation. The first to respond was Z.M. Cybulski, donating 100,000 rubles. However, offering Tomsk as a city for the future university Kaznakov later changed his mind and chose Omsk. Z.M. Cybulski played an important role in the fact that Tomsk was finally chosen. He not only donated a considerable sum for the construction of the university in this city, but also actively defended it as a university center. The article first introduces letters by Cybulski to N.T. Zotov, son of the Ural gold industrialist T.P. Zotov, to Petersburg. The letters allow to reconstruct the vicissitudes of this struggle and to show Cybulski's role in the fate of the first higher education institution in the Asian part of Russia - the Imperial Tomsk University. From these letters one can see that Z.M. Cybulski was not only interested in how the university issue was being solved in the government circles in St. Petersburg, but also actively advocated Tomsk. He sent memoranda to the Minister of Education and Chairman of the State Council. As a result, on May 16, 1878, Alexander II approved the submission of the State Council which allowed to open the Imperial Siberian University in the city of Tomsk. It is noted that Z.M. Cybulski as a member of the Building Committee for the construction of the Siberian University buildings in Tomsk and the mayor of the city was actively engaged in solving the problems connected with the construction of the university. This concerned in particular the task of providing bricks for the construction. In the conclusion it is emphasizes that National Research Tomsk State University, which is preparing to celebrate its 140th anniversary, not only pays respect to those who stood at its source, but also continues to carry the mission it had from the very first day of its existence: to assert the ideals of science, education and culture in the vast territory of Asian Russia.

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