From botany to geology: Russian study of northeast China (1946–1954)

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Abstract

The article is devoted to the activities of the Harbin Society of Naturalists and Ethnographers (HOEE, founded in 1946), which was registered with the Society of Soviet Citizens in Harbin and its leaders, who became the last Russian emigrant researchers in China (B.V. Skvortsov, A.G. Malyavkin, V.N. Alin, I.G. and A.I. Baranov, V.I. Kuzmin, G.I. Razzhigaev, V.S. Starikov, A.M. Smirnov, and others), who made a great contribution to the study of northeast China. Their research results were published in the “Notes of the Harbin Society of Naturalists and Ethnographers” (Harbin, 1946–1954. 14 vol.). The HOEЕ was divided into sections: botany, zoology, agriculture, historical and ethnographic and geology. The organization maintained scientific ties with the Far Eastern Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences. The collection of the University of Hawaii and the Museum of Russian Culture in San Francisco, as well as literature found in other Russian and foreign collections, including private collections, was used to prepare the article.

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About the authors

Amir A. Khisamutdinov

Central Scientific Library, FEB RAS

Author for correspondence.
Email: khisamut@yahoo.com
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-8228-7513

Doctor of Sciences in History, Head of the Research Department

Russian Federation, Vladivostok

References

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  3. Hisamutdinova N.V. Iz Vladivostoka – v emigraciyu: sud’by dal’nevostochnyh professorov = [From Vladivostok to emigration: the fate of Far Eastern professors]. Vestnik Kemerovskogo Gosudarstvennogo Universiteta. 2015;(2/6):309–312. (In Russ.).
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  6. Ot redakcii = [From the editor]. Zapiski Harbinskogo Obshchestva Estestvoispytatelej i Etnografov. Harbin. 1946;(5):[1]. (In Russ.).
  7. Kirilov A.L. Iz nablyudenij nad rastitel’nost’yu rajona stancii Handaoheczy KCHzhd v Severnoj Man’chzhurii = [From observations of the vegetation in the area of the Handaohezi station of the Chinese Railway in Northern Manchuria]. Zapiski Harbinskogo Obshchestva Estestvoispytatelej i Etnografov. Harbin, 1949;(9):34. (In Russ.).
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Supplementary files

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1. JATS XML
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2. Ornithological collection of the Museum of the Society for the Study of the Manchurian Region (OSMC)

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3. B.P. Yakovlev – founder of the Natural History Department of the OSMC Museum. The display case mainly presents the Botanical Collection of B.V. Skvortsov. Collection of the Museum of Russian Culture in San Francisco

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4. Natural Science Department of the OSMC Museum. Zoology and Botany Section. Collection of the Museum of Russian Culture in San Francisco

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5. OSMC Museum. Department of Agricultural Products of Northern Manchuria. Standing is the museum curator G.Ya. Maliarovsky. Collection of the Museum of Russian Culture in San Francisco

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6. Russian researchers in Harbin. Excursion to Kusyacun for paleontological excavations on October 17, 1937. Third from the right is geologist E.E. Anert (see about him: Khisamutdinov A.A. Geologist Eduard Anert: "to stay as close to the truth as possible" // Bulletin of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. 2020. No. 3)

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7. Russian scientists in Harbin with their students on an excursion to the temples of Ji-le-si and Confucius on May 30, 1937. The fifth person from the right in dark glasses is the naturalist T.P. Gordeev (see about him: Khisamutdinov A.A. Botanist and teacher Taras Petrovich Gordeev // Bulletin of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. 2024. No. 2). Collection of the Museum of Russian Culture in San Francisco (collection of V.N. Zhernakov)

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8. Russian scientific staff of the former OIMK museum. Sitting: on the left – V.N. Zhernakov, on the right – the head of the museum V.V. Ponosov. Collection of the Museum of Russian Culture in San Francisco (V.N. Zhernakov’s collection)

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9. Entrance to the Heilongjiang Provincial Museum, a national museum in the Heilongjiang Province of China. 2024. Photo by A.A. Khisamutdinova

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10. Exhibition of the taxidermy department of the Heilongjiang Provincial Museum. 2024. Photo by A.A. Khisamutdinova

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11. Exposition “Russians in Harbin”. Heilongjiang Provincial Museum. 2024. Photo by A.A. Khisamutdinova

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12. In front of the entrance to the Heilongjiang Provincial Museum. Chinese and Russian (in the first row – V.N. Zhernakov and T.P. Gordeev) employees. 1950–1960s. Collection of the Museum of Russian Culture in San Francisco (V.N. Zhernakov collection)

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