Aleksandr and Boris Arbuzov House-Museum

About

Aleksandr and Boris Arbuzov House-Museum (Russian: Дом-музе́й акаде́миков А. Е. и Б. А. Арбу́зовых) is a Russian State (departmental) Memorial Museum attached to the A. E. Arbuzov Institute of Organic and Physical Chemistry of the Kazan Scientific Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS). It is located in the city of Kazan (Republic of Tatarstan). It specialises in the daily life and scientific activities of outstanding Soviet chemists: academicians Aleksandr Ermingeldovich and Boris Alexandrovich Arbuzovs. Local historians date the construction of the wooden mansion to 1913. The building was an urban mansion in the style of Russian eclecticism or Art Nouveau. It has never been rebuilt, so the architectural details, the interior layout and the finishing of the rooms have been preserved. The mansion originally belonged to Maria Alexeeva, the niece of the painter Ivan Shishkin. Alexandr Arbuzov moved to this address with his wife and three children in 1916 and lived here until his death in 1968. The house was not owned by the academician: he rented it until the October Revolution, and after nationalisation it became state property. By the decision of the Presidium of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR of 28 March 1969 the Memorial Museum of Aleksandr Arbuzov was organised here. It was opened on 22 September 1971. On 18 September 2001 (on the tenth anniversary of Boris Arbuzov's death) the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences renamed the museum the Arbuzov House Museum. The exposition of the museum is divided into two sections. The first —historical and biographical— reflects the events of the life, scientific, public and state activity of the academician Arbuzov. The second part —memorial and domestic— includes the living room, the dining room, the bedroom, the office of Boris Arbuzov, the kitchen, the summer porch, which preserves the interiors from the time when the Arbuzov family lived here, and the garden, where Aleksandr Arbuzov used to work.

Academician Aleksandr Yerminingeldovich Arbuzov settled on Katanovsky Lane with his wife and three children in 1916 and lived there until the end of his life (1968). The authors of the booklet Academician A. E. Arbuzov in Kazan tells that it was, because the academician was a patriarchal and somewhat conservative man. During this period, the apartment was visited by many outstanding scientists and chemists of the time: Nikolay Zelinsky, Alexey Favorsky, Sergey Reformatsky, Alexei Chichibabin, Vyacheslav Tishchenko, Nikolai Kurnakov and others. By 1916 Aleksandr Arbuzov was already widely recognised as an important chemical scientist. In 1910, he travelled to Germany, France, Switzerland and Italy to study the state of research in organic chemistry in those countries. In 1911, Arbuzov won an all-Russian competition for the position of Professor Extraordinary at the Imperial Kazan University and from then on became Head of the Department of Organic Chemistry. In 1915 he presented his doctoral thesis On the phenomena of catalysis in the field of transformations of some phosphorus compounds and was confirmed as an ordinariate professor of that university. The house in Katanovsky Lane did not belong to him: he rented it until the October Revolution, and after nationalisation the house became state property.

The academician's daughter Irina described 1918 and 1919 as a difficult time for the family. During the artillery bombardments of the city, the father sent the children to the cellar of the house, and the change of power the household learned about in the form of detachments entering the city. A document issued by the house committee to Arbuzov on 29 March 1920 has survived:I submit herewith the certificate of the House Committees requesting the issuance of a warrant for the delivery of shoes and galoshes to the following employees of the factory of Arbuzov Alexandr. [Signed, stamped]. Appendix: Certificate of the House Committee of the 3rd Gymnasium Lane. I hereby certify that Mr. Arbuzov, Aleksandr Ermingeldovich, who lives at No. 8, Square 3, 3rd Gymnasium Lane, has never received rubber shoes or boots. 29 March 1920. Chairman of the House Committee [Signed, stamped].During the Second World War, the academicians' family consisted of 11 people of different ages (the youngest son Yuri and his family returned to Kazan from Moscow at that time, and daughter Irina from Leningrad). Nevertheless, Aleksandr Arbuzov sheltered the families of the academicians Aleksandr Fersman and Aleksandr Frumkin, evacuated from Moscow. In the dining room they assembled a Russian stove for cooking and heating the apartment. Fersman later recalled: "...those were difficult times, but the gathering under one roof of beautiful, kind people made life easier". The academician's friend and biographer, Candidate of Chemical Sciences Nikolai Grechkin wrote that Aleksandr Arbuzov's holidays were active. He did not sit around doing nothing: he was engaged in literary work, listened to the news on the radio and then shared it with family members, thought... Vera Zoroastrova, candidate of chemical sciences, who knew the academician well and often visited his home, said:The furniture of the apartment was simple, even austere. There was no luxury there. There was a complete absence of what we call bourgeoisie. In the living room, which was also used as a study, there was a large antique desk, a big piano, a bookcase, a shelf with books, notes, folders. On the walls were pictures of nature, painted by the academician in his youth... It was a family tradition to celebrate the birthday of Ekaterina Petrovna [the academician's wife]... The festive dinner was followed by tea, at which A. E. Arbuzov himself prepared sandwiches and served jam and sweets. At home, Aleksandr Yerminingeldovich was always friendly, cordial, hospitable and simple. He loved to talk about his teachers, about Russian scientists, many of whom he knew personally. He recalled episodes from his student days.Lyalya Mukhamedova recalled that guests at the Arbuzovs' house were always worried about how to behave in the presence of scientists. The stiffness quickly disappeared under the influence of the hosts' hospitality, the relaxed atmosphere that prevailed in the house on Shkolnaya Street. The authors of the guide to the house museum noted that the family atmosphere of the Arbuzovs was characterised by warmth, "modesty, dignity and high personal culture". In the ornamental garden next to the house, Aleksandr Arbuzov planted shrubs, trees and perennial flowers. The scientist was particularly proud of the parma violets he had grown himself, which bloomed twice a year. Fazilya Valitova, an employee of the Institute of Physics and Technology of the Kazan Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences, recalled: "Aleksandr Ermingeldovich loved flowers, admired their beauty, called them wonders of nature. In a small garden near the house he planted flowers, watered them and took care of them. In early spring, A.E. Arbuzov would bring fragrant Parma violets from this garden to the laboratory". Aleksandr Arbuzov's eldest son, Boris, also took care of the garden, but according to chemical scientist Lyalya Yuldasheva, he preferred rose hips and jasmine.

Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Photography via Wikimedia Commons.