Establishment and operation of the Department of History and Ethnology of the Siberia Research Institute and its role in studying the history, archeology and ethnography of the Siberian region

This article examines the establishment and operation of the Department of History and Ethnology of the Siberia Research Institute on the basis of archival materials, documentary publications and periodicals. It analyses the state of the scientific resources that Siberia had in the field of history, archeology and ethnography. It is concluded that despite the minor success achieved in these areas the research process lacked a definite plan and was unsystematic before the Congress on the Organization of the Siberia Research Institute. The challenges in the field of historical disciplines were discussed during the work of the Section of History, Archeology and Ethnography at the Congress, which was held in Tomsk from January 15 to January 26, 1919. It is noted that during the work of this section, the questions of both scientific and purely organizational nature were raised. The participants of the section spoke about the urgent need to protect the aboriginals of Siberia from extinction and improve their living conditions; about the importance of studying folklore of indigenous tribes and Russian population; about the need to protect the cultural and historical heritage of the region, etc. At the same time, they pointed out the distressing situation of scientific organizations in the field of history and related sciences. As a solution to these problems, they proclaimed the need to create a department of history and ethnology under the Institute. It is emphasized that the department was able to begin its work only in the summer of 1919, when the Russian government under A.V. Kolchak granted the Institute loans for scientific research. The department worked in several fields which involved collection and organizing the research material, expedition activities, scientific works publication, establishment of committees for the protection of cultural heritage, researchers training, provision of financial support for scientists and research organizations, etc. The department work involved such scientists as Dean of the History and Philology Faculty of Tomsk University P.G. Lyubomirov, Vice-Rector of Tomsk University and Ordinary Professor of the Russian Language and Literature Department A.D. Grigoryev, postgraduate student of Kazan University and archaeologist V.F. Smolin, art historian and Doctor of Art Criticism B.P. Dennicke, Extraordinary Professor interim of the Classical Philology Department of Tomsk University E.V. Dil; ethnographers A.N. Lipsky and N.A. Lipskaya, representatives of the Priamur Department of the Russian Geographical Society, and others. In conclusion, the authors note that despite the department's short period of existence, its work was of great importance for researchers in Siberia. In the conditions of the Civil War, economic devastation and crisis, the department managed to unite the isolated efforts of individual specialists and organize systematic scientific work, which continued even after the department's closure.

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