Ilya Alexandrovich Shipilov,
Candidate of Historical Sciences, Institute of History of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russia, e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
The History of Academic and Government Expeditions to Siberia in the 18th Century in the Light of the Relationship between Government and Scientists
DOI: 10.31518/2618-9100-2024-5-15
The article examines the process of scientific development of Siberia in the 18th century through the prism of interaction between the Russian state and scientists participating in academic and government expeditions. The role of the state as the main initiator, organizer and source of funding for expeditionary research on the history, geography, nature and population of Siberia is shown. It is established the scientific works of historical content during and according to the results of Siberian expeditions were performed by both professional historians G.F. Müller, V.N. Tatishchev, J.E. Fischer, and D.G. Messerschmidt, Ph.J. von Strahlenberg, J.G. Gmelin, S.P. Krasheninnikov, P.S. Pallas, G.A. Sarychev, who proved themselves not only first-class specialists in their scientific fields, but also historians of science, the first historiographers of Russian expeditions and the history of the study and development of Siberia, the Far East and the Pacific North. The article identifies the application of the principle of historicism by travel scientists was both the result of the implementation of the state program for the scientific development of Siberia and the personal initiative of researchers. To reconstruct the interaction of government and scientists in the context of the formation of historical memory, the opinions of researchers on the directions and methods of practical implementation of state policy in Siberia and the Far East are given, their business contacts with representatives of central and local administrations and the attitude of the authorities to the publication of scientific works of travelers are characterized. The author concluded that during the organization and conduct of academic and government expeditions, a multifaceted system of relationships developed between government authorities and scientists, including interactions within the framework of a linear subordination scheme of “power and subordination”, as well as various options for dialogue and cooperation, personal initiative, independent judgments and actions of researchers.
Publishing: 28/10/2024
The article has been received by the editor on 28/06/2024
How to cite: Shipilov I.A. The History of Academic and Government Expeditions to Siberia in the 18th Century in the Light of the Relationship between Government and Scientists // Historical Courier, 2024, No. 5 (37), pp. 196−208. [Available online: http://istkurier.ru/data/2024/ISTKURIER-2024-5-15.pdf]
The article was made on the topic of the state assignment “The Past in the Manuscript Sources of the 16th − 20th Centuries: Preservation and Development of Traditions” (FWZM-2024-0006).
Links: Issue 5 2024
Keywords: scientific development of Siberia in the 18th century; Russian Empire; academic and government expeditions; interaction between statesmen and scientific travelers; geography, nature and population of Siberia, the Far East and the Pacific North; the history of science; the principle of historicism