Mikhail Dmitrievich Ruzsky - a view from the XXI century
Authors:   Tomsk State University, Shcherbakov Mikhail V. 
Published: October 2024

Mikhail Dmitrievich Ruzsky was born on 19 (7) of April, 1864 in Os-mino village of the Gdov Uezd, Petersburg Province of Russia. His father was collegiate councillor Dmitrii Dmitrievich Ruzsky, a civil servant of the independent principality department of Russian Empire, and his mother was Anastasiya Dmitrievna Ruzskaya. In 1884 he graduated from the classical gymnasium in Simbirsk with a silver medal award. In the senior class of the same gymnasium was Aleksandr Il'ich Ulyanov, the elder brother of Vladimir Lenin, who was a friend of Mikhail Dmitrievich, and they often spent time studying nature in the environs of Simbirsk. Ruzsky's family was on friendly terms with Ulyanov's family. Following the gymnasium, Mikhail Dmitrievich entered the Department of Natural Sciences of the Physical and Mathematical Faculty of Kazan University during which time he started doing research under the supervision of Prof. N.M. Melnikov and Prof. M.M. Usov. His first article was published in 1886, and 9 articles, 5 on entomology and 4 on ichthyology, were published prior to his graduation from the University. He was awarded a gold medal for the graduate work Pelagic Fauna of Kaban Lake, and a prize from the Kazan Naturalist Society after K.F. Kessler for his master’s thesis Materials to Study Birds of Kazan Province. Mikhail Dmitrievich became a privat-docent at the Department of Zoology, Comparative Anatomy and Physiology at Kazan University in June 1898. In 1905 he published the first volume of his fundamental research Ants of Russia, the second volume appeared in 1907, and Ruzsky defended his Doctorate dissertation in Kharkov University in 1908. For his work devoted to the study of ants he was awarded a Gold Medal and a prize by Karl Baer of the Petersburg Academy of Sciences and a prize by A.P. Bogdanov of the Moscow Society of Natural Science, Anthropology and Ethnography. In 1912 he was elected Extraordinary Professor at the Imperial Tomsk University, where he headed the Department of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy, and the Zoological Museum, which he held until his death. M.D. Ruzsky published several articles in different aspects of zoology: entomology, ornithology, ichthyology, hydrobiology, herpetology, theriology, and parasitology. He was also a historian of science writing papers about contemporary and predecessor scientists and compiling essays regarding research in Siberia. About 160 articles belong to his pen, namely: 18 articles on faunistic research, zoological excursion reports incorporated into Zoodinamics of Barabinsk Steppe; 42 myrmecological papers including the two-volume work Ants of Russia; 22 publications on different terrestrial invertebrates; 14 articles on amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals; 48 papers devoted to the history and bibliography of zoology. He made numerous trips to Kazan, Nizhniy Novgorod, Simbirsk, Samara, Vyatka, Ufa, Saratov, Perm’, Astrakhan’, Orenburg, and Tobolsk Provinces, Central and South Urals, Akmolinsk Oblast, Kiegizskaya Steppe, the Caucasus and the Crimea during his time at Kazan University during 1888-1912, and to Tomsk Province and North Altai in 1914, to Enisei Province in 1915, to Irkutsk Province, Zabaikalsk and Amur Oblasts, Baikal lake, basin of the Selenga and the Amur rivers as far as the suburbs of Khabarovsk in 1916, to Barabinskaya steppe and Karachi Resort in 1923, and his last trip to Barabinskaya steppe in 1939 (celebrating his 75th jubilee). He lectured not only in Kazan (1898-1913) and Tomsk (1913-1948) Universities, but also in Kazan Veterinary Institution (1900-1913), Tomsk Pedagogical Institute (as Head of Department in 1936-1939). Living in Kazan, he taught in Kazan Zemskaya School for Teachers (women seminary) (1884-1913), and the private Six Classes Womens' professional school by L.P. Shumkova (1895-1907). During his time in Tomsk, he taught in the Medical Assistant Obstetrical School (later Medical College) (1914-1924), Pharmaceutical College (1918-1925) and Siberian Higher Womens' Courses (19131920) until they were united with the University. The range of disciplines delivered by M. Ruzsky was very wide, from natural history to physics, physiography, systematics of vertebrate animals, zoology and comparative anatomy, human anatomy, biology and geography of animals, entomology, and other subjects including Latin. He paid special attention to museum development and took part in the work of several Zoological Museums. In Kazan he participated in development of Zoological Museum in Kazan University, and was co-founder, chairman of council, and director of the Natural-History Department of the Kazan City Museum, and he was awarded an "honorary official member" title for this work (1889-1902). When working in the Veterinary Institute he participated in the foundation of a third Zoological Museum in Kazan. He also headed the Zoological Museum of Tomsk University, and founded and led Natural History Museum in the Lake Karachi resort. Mikhail Dmitrievich Ruzsky was conferred with several titles and awards during his long life. During the period of the Russian Empire, he was awarded orders of Saint Stanislav of the third (1901) and the second (1915) classes, that of Saint Anna of the third class (1908), and medals Silver on Alexander Ribbon in Memory of the Reign of Emperor Alexander III, and Light-Bronze in Memory of 300 years of Reign of the Romanovs Dynasty. According to the table of ranks as of 21 May, 1913 Mikhail Ruzsky became a collegiate councillor with precedency. In the Soviet Union, he was awarded with the order Working Red Banner to his 80th anniversary (1944), and the medal For Valorous Work During Great Patriotic War 1941-1945 after the end of the Second World War (1946). In 1934 he was awarded the honorary degree Honoured Science Worker of RSFSR. He passed away due to general sclerosis on 13 April, 1948 at the age of 83. The article contains 5 Figures, 20 References. The Author declares no conflict of interest.