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
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.