П.П. СЕМЕНОВ-ТЯН-ШАНСКИЙ И Г.Н. ПОТАНИН: РОЛЬ НАСТАВНИКА В СТАНОВЛЕНИИ УЧЕНОГО
Authors: М.В. ШИЛОВСКИЙ 
Published: November 2024

Актуальность предпринятого исследования в преддверии 200-летнего юбилея П.П. Семенова-Тян-Шанского (1827-1914) очевидна. Его целью является реконструкция основных этапов многолетнего знакомства и сотрудничества руководителя Императорского Русского географического общества (ИРГО) и выдающегося исследователя Центральной Азии. Достижение поставленной цели потребовало решения следующих задач: установление обстоятельств знакомства ученых и общественных деятелей; определение уровня их взаимоотношений в ходе подготовки, проведения и обобщения результатов экспедиционных работ, предпринятых Г.Н. Потаниным в Центральной Азии; характеристика основных направлений взаимодействия П.П. Семенова и Г.Н. Потанина в общественно-политической сфере, их вклада в развитие науки.

Grigory Nikolaevich Potanin (1835-1920) made an outstanding contribution to the comprehensive study of Central Asia (geography, ethnography, botany, folklore studies), organizing a number of long term expeditions to the region in 1876-1878, 1879, 1884-1886, 1892-1893. P.P. Semyonov, then not yet Tyan-Shansky, played the decisive role in his choice of scientific specialization. The young Cossack officer met P.P. Semyonov in Omsk in 1856. As a vice-chairman of the Imperial Russian Geographic Society (IRGS), the latter managed to include his protégé in an expedition to explore the area of the Lake Zaysan in 1863-1864. Thanks to him, G.N. Potanin also got amnesty in the case of the Siberian separatists. Later P.P. Semyonov kept patronizing G.N. Potanin in the preparation and conduct of the expeditions, publication of reports, and promoted his contribution to science. At the suggestion of G.N. Potanin, the head of geographical research in the Russian Empire attracted N.M. Yadrintsev and M.V. Pevtsov to the exploration of the vast expanses of Central Asia. On P.P. Semyonov’s initiative and with his personal participation, Grigory Nikolaevich received the highest award of the Geographical Society - a Big Gold Constantine Medal. One of the IRGS chairmen also greatly promoted the development of the Siberian periodical press, applying for the permission to publish the newspaper “Vostochnoye obozreniye”. This periodical was the first all-Siberian newspaper that advocated the Siberian regionalists’ views and presented topical issues of the region’s social, economic and political life, including materials on G.N. Potanin’s expeditions. Upon G.N. Potanin’s request, P.P. Semyonov repeatedly “interceded for persons who came into conflict with the authorities of the old regime”. Together, the described facts make this study relevant in advance of the 200th anniversary of P.P. Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky (1827-1914). The purpose of research is to reconstruct the key milestones of a long-term acquaintance and partnership of the head of the IRGS and an outstanding explorer of Central Asia. To achieve this goal, the following tasks were solved: finding out the circumstances under which these two scholars and public figures met each other; determining the level of their cooperation in preparing, conducting and summarizing the findings of expeditions undertaken by G.N. Potanin; describing the key areas of interaction between P.P. Semyonov and G.N. Potanin in the social and political sphere.