Kurbatov V.Y., (1878-1957), Chemist, Regional Ethnographer

Categories / Science. Education/Personalia
KURBATOV Vladimir Yakovlevich (1878, St. Petersburg - 1957, Leningrad) chemist, art historian, regional ethnographer. Upon graduating from the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of the St. Petersburg University in 1900, he served on the Main Board of Weights and Measures under the guidance of D. I. Mendeleev. Later he worked at the University's chemical laboratory. A member of the Russian Physics and Chemistry Society from 1901. Worked at the Technological Institute from 1908. Became a professor and chairman of the Department of Physics and Chemistry in 1922, and was one of the organizers of the Phototechnical Institute in 1918. His main works focus on the mechanics of chemistry. Was close to the World of Art circle at the end of the 1890s. Started to research art history under A. N. Benois's influence. Contributed to the journal Khudozhestvennye Sokrovishcha Rossii from 1901. Was a founding member and a member of the Board of Directors of the Museum of Old St. Petersburg in 1907. Contributed to the journals Zodchy, Starye Gody, and Apollon. After October 1917, he worked at the People's Commissariat of Education and in the Agency for the Protection of Monuments of Art and Antiquity. In 1918, Kurbatov was a member of the Commission for Receiving Church Valuables from the House Churches. Later, he became a commissar and head of the Department of Gardens and Parks. Kurbatov initiated the establishment of the City Museum (1918, today the Museum of the History of St. Petersburg), of the Institute of Art History (worked as a professor from 1920), and of the Society for Old St. Petersburg (1921). He wrote many works about St. Petersburg and its outlying regions. In the 1930s, he lived at 25 Proletarskoy Pobedy Avenue (today Bolshoy Avenue of Vasilievsky Island) and at 3 Tuchkov Lane. Kurbatov was buried at Shuvalovskoe Cemetery.

Works: Pavlovsk: Artistic-Historical Essay and Guide-Book (2nd edition; St. Petersburg, 1912); On Petrograd's Beauty (Petrograd, 1915); Gardens and Parks (Petrograd, 1916); Detskoe Selo (Leningrad, 1925); Peterhof (Leningrad, 1925); Strelna and Oranienbaum (Leningrad, 1925); and St. Petersburg: Artistic-Historical Essay and a Review of the Capital's Artistic Wealth (St. Petersburg, 1993, posthumously).

References: Костригина Н. А. В. Я. Курбатов - химик // Анциферовские чтения: Материалы и тез. конф. Л., 1989. С. 56-58; Векслер А. Ф. Владимир Яковлевич Курбатов // Топонимич. журн. 1998. № 1. С. 55-56.

A. F. Veksler. Benois Alexander Nikolaevich
Kurbatov Vladimir Yakovlevich
Mendeleev Dmitry Ivanovich
Bolshoy Ave of Vasilievsky Island/Saint Petersburg, city, house 25
Tuchkov Lane/Saint Petersburg, city, house 3
Павловск: Худож.-ист. очерк и путеводитель. 2-е изд. СПб., [1912]
Стрельна и Ораниенбаум. Л., 1925
Детское Село. Л., 1925
Петергоф. Л., 1925
Сады и парки. Пг., 1916
Петербург: Худож.-ист. очерк и обзор худож. богатства столицы. СПб., 1993
О красоте Петрограда. Пг., 1915
Костригина Н. А. В. Я. Курбатов - химик // Анциферовские чтения: Материалы и тез. конф. Л., 1989
Векслер А. Ф. Владимир Яковлевич Курбатов // Топонимич. журн., 1998 State University, St. Petersburg
Russian Physics and Chemistry Society
State Institute of Technology, St. Petersburg
World of Art, Association
Khudozhestvennye Sokrovishcha Rossii (The Art Treasures of Russia), album
Museum of Old Petersburg
St. Petersburg Museum of History
Shuvalovskoe Cemetery