Dmitry Nikolaevich Anuchin (1843-1923): becoming a scientist

Abstract

Introduction. In 2023, Russian science celebrated the 140th anniversary of the birth of D.N. Anuchin, a scientist-encyclopedist and prominent specialist in the fields of anthropology, ethnology, geography, archaeology, and a promoter and popularizer of science. Materials and methods. Literary sources were used. Analytical and chronological research methods were applied in the study. Results and discussion. The section "Childhood and Youth" provides information about the scientist's life, his parents, wife, and children. D.N. received a good home education and entered the second grade of a gymnasium. In 1860, he enrolled in the Faculty of History and Philology at St. Petersburg University. Due to illness in 1861, he had to interrupt his studies and travel abroad for treatment. In 1863, Anuchin entered the Natural Sciences Department of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics at Moscow University, specializing in zoology. The section "Young Specialist" is dedicated to Anuchin's life in the first years after graduating from university. It was only in 1871 that Anuchin was elected to the position of scientific secretary of the Society for the Acclimatization of Animals and Plants. This period marks the first scientific publications by Anuchin in the collections "Nature." In 1876, his first major anthropological monograph on the Ainu people was published. In late 1876, D.N. was sent abroad by the university to prepare for the establishment of a new chair in anthropology. The section "Formation of Scientific Interests" shows how Anuchin's scientific interests were shaped, as the author of about 600 works on ethnic anthropology, anthropogenesis, paleontology, ethnography, primitive archaeology, physical geography, country studies, and the history of science. In the next article, the authors plan to examine D.N. Anuchin's scientific and organizational activities.