University Museums

Kazan Federal University is the only university in Russia that possesses its unique combination of different museums. The University's Royal Charter of 1804 established the Cabinet for Natural History and the Mineral Cabinet, the foundations for the present day Mineral-Geological, Zoological and Botanical Museums. The Cabinet of Rarities, the foundation for the Ethnographic and Archeological Museums, was established in 1815. The foundation of the present day Museum of the History of Kazan University was laid when a 'memorial zone' was created in 1948.

KFU museums enjoy international repute for their quality, and information on their collections can be found in international catalogues and reference books. These collections are used for educational, research and cultural purposes by university staff, as well as by city and Republic of Tatarstan educators and cultural embassaries.

The Botanical Museum was established by Karl Fuchs, who had just brought the first finds from his trip to the Urals in 1801. It was complemented by the collection of Prince Potemkin, donated by Emperor Paul I to the Kazan Imperial School in 1798. Later the large collections of abbot de Grenadier (1,500 pieces) and Rupreht (6,500 pieces) were added, to be joined by other collections.

The Edward Eversman Zoology Museum similarly arrived at KFU as a part of the Prince Potemkin's unique collection and was used for teaching by Fuchs and other early professors. Today, it boasts over 50,000 exhibits, giving a complete view of the diversity of wildlife from unicellular organisms to primates, thus occupying one of the most important places among Russia's natural museums.

The Ethnographic Museum was started under the auspices of the University's Oriental Department. During the first half of the 19th century numerous articles from the Pacific, Mongolia, Tibet and China were collected. The Museum's most exemplary collection is that of the artifacts characterizing the ways of life of different peoples of Russia, especially Siberia and the multiethnic Volga region. In this respect, it is a one-in-a-kind museum with an outstanding collection regarding Volga ethnic groups such as the Tatars, Chuvashs, Mari, Mordva and Udmurts.

The Archeological Museum started in 1810, when its first coins and rarities were acquired; by the mid 19th century it had one of the biggest numismatic collections in Europe. The main exhibition presents wide-ranging illustrations of general archeology, anthropology, ancient and medieval history and the history of archeological science in Kazan.

The Alexander Stuckenberg Geology Museum is one of the most famous and richest natural museums, being one of the top three such university museums in Russia. It was established in 1804 and now comprises over 100,000 articles from 60 countries, including collections of meteorites, rocks and fossils of ancient plants and animals.

The Museum of the Kazan School of Chemistry was first founded in 1863 as the Alexander Butlerov Cabinet-Museum. It is the only museum of a whole chemical research .eld to be found in the entire world. Scholars who have worked in this museum in the footsteps of Butlerov have taken pains to preserve the 19th century interior, including beautiful glass bookshelves, redwood ornamentation, and antique desks and armchairs. The visitor can see authentic 19th century equipment, unique chemical samples and halls decorated with portraits of outstanding scholars.

The Museum of the History of Kazan University, which opened in 1979, is located in the former University Chapel and is one of the most remarkable rooms of the main University building. A thousand exhibits familiarize the visitor with the history of Russia's second oldest university. It illustrates the scientific advances of KFU scientific schools and presents the outstanding discoveries that have brought worldwide renown to KFU.

The Memorial Laboratory Museum of Yevgeny Zavoisky opened in 1997 presents the Room 253 of the Main Building of Kazan Federal University, where in 1944 Yevgeny K. Zavoisky observed signals of magnet spin resonance for the first time. The collected materials include memories of Ye.Zavoisky's colleagues and contemporaries - professors of Kazan University.