Translation. Region: Russian Federation –
Source: Moscow Government – Moscow Government –
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K.A. Timiryazev State Biological Museum— a visual encyclopedia of the evolution of the living world, accessible to schoolchildren and useful to students, scientists, and professionals from various fields. It also features a new, modern space, "Biocluster." Moscow Culture's guide to this world is Elena Mikheecheva, a first-category methodologist. Her story is a journey through the museum's history and exhibitions.
Two halls and a corridor
"The State Biological Museum opened in 1922—and not here, but in a building on Miusskaya Square," says Elena Mikheecheva. "Now the Russian State Humanitarian University is located there, but at that time it was the Ya.M. Sverdlov Communist University, where the museum's founder and first director, Boris Zavadovsky, was head of the biology department. At the very beginning, the museum had only two halls and a corridor." In the late 1920s, the museum was forced to leave its building on Miusskaya Square and separate from the university; this was a difficult period. But in 1934, the museum moved to the former estate of merchant Pyotr Shchukin, which it still occupies today.
Boris Zavadovsky was a physiologist, and this left its mark on the collection. Elena Mikheecheva points out the exhibits in the first halls, which might confuse or even frighten the unprepared visitor—the display cases showcase medical and physiological experiments. "Boris Zavadovsky researched the endocrine system. These halls are dedicated to human and animal physiology: the nervous and circulatory systems, digestion. The direct connection between experimentation and medicine is one of the key ideas of the museum. This research was aimed at healing people. Not everyone likes it, but I assure you, children take it completely calmly. The museum's conventionality suits them perfectly," the guide notes.
Elena Mikheecheva suggests looking at this from a scientific and humanistic perspective: “You can approach the display cases with exhibits and say thank you, because without the participation of these dogs and other experimental animals, we would never have learned to treat many diseases or perform successful transplant operations.”
From truffles to witch circles
The museum's halls present biology in incredible diversity. "We display all kingdoms of the living world," explains Elena Mikheecheva. The kingdom of fungi occupies two halls, and this collection is a three-dimensional encyclopedia. "We have the opportunity to see things we don't usually see: the underground bodies of mushrooms, truffles—the most prized mushrooms," says the methodologist.
The exhibit also serves an educational purpose, highlighting its treacherous lookalikes. "For example, the death cap is a deadly poisonous mushroom. We present several variants, and show you what other mushrooms it might be confused with," the guide explains.
Here you can explore the mysterious phenomenon of a fairy circle, where mushrooms form a perfect ring. Elena Mikheecheva smiles as she recounts ancient superstitions: "It's not a dance of spirits or witches, as was once thought. The mycelium is round because it grows outward from the center, dies in the center, and young mushroom fruiting bodies appear along the outer ring. And there's no magic involved."
Flight of the Snow Leopard
The hall, which emphasizes the interaction between nature and man, is called "Nature and Man." Its dominant feature is a majestic snow leopard, frozen mid-spring. "This is a mountainous area, a cliff, where we see an endangered species—a stuffed snow leopard. All visitors are particularly interested in how it's frozen mid-spring. The complete illusion of movement, the mountings are invisible from any angle—this is the pinnacle of taxidermy art. The artist is Vadim Khrenov," explains Elena Mikheecheva.
A hall dedicated to ecology also reminds visitors of the fragility of life. "This is a stretch of coastline on the Commander Islands, and here we see parts of the skeleton of the famous Steller's sea cow. The animal disappeared in the 18th century," the guide continues.
Nearby is an urban artifact. "It's a crow's nest, made using polyethylene rope and wire. This shows that animals can, after all, adapt to life in urban environments," comments Elena Mikheecheva.
From giant mollusks to humans
Elena Mikheecheva proudly leads the way to the next hall. "Our most beautiful hall is called 'The Development of Life on Earth.' It presents vanished paleolandscapes—from ancient times to the present. The hall consists of two levels. The upper level contains models of paleolandscapes: the Silurian, Devonian, and Jurassic periods. The lower level displays authentic objects characteristic of each period," she explains.
Among them are fossilized mollusks, skeletal fragments, and imprints of ancient plants. Visitors immediately notice the models of giant reptiles and tree ferns. Among these giants of the past, the ancestors of all mammals are present, discreetly, almost unnoticed. "I want to draw attention to these little animals. They are the ones who defeated the giants in the struggle for existence," says Elena Mikheecheva.
The exhibition "How to Get Along with the People," housed in a separate hall, offers a contemporary perspective on anthropogenesis. The museum's particular pride is the plastic reconstructions of ancient people's faces, created using the method of anthropologist Mikhail Gerasimov. "Mikhail Mikhailovich worked at our museum for some time. His method is still relevant today—both in science and forensics. It has given rise to computer programs that help reconstruct the faces of people who lived in ancient times from skull fragments," the guide emphasizes.
Cave paintings and 3D of the last century
The vaulted ceiling of the "Origin and Development of Man" hall is enhanced by images replicating ancient cave paintings. Artistic motifs from various caves around the globe are used here.
The "Fundamentals of Evolutionary Theory" hall is also of interest to members of the professional community. "It primarily displays exhibits from the 1950s. Museum workers who visit us say this hall doesn't need updating because it's a monument to museum art," shares Elena Mikheecheva. At the same time, the hall remains relevant and continues to amaze modern visitors. The dioramas by People's Artist of Russia Yefim Deshalyt are the pinnacle of diorama art. Elena Mikheecheva explains: "We look at the diorama 'Sandy Desert' and see no boundary between the painting and the foreground, three-dimensional object. Children even say, 'This is 3D from the last century.'"
Alicorn guards the museum
The tour concludes with a history of the museum's building complex. It is a federal cultural heritage site, an architectural masterpiece built in the pseudo-Russian style fashionable in the late 19th and early 20th centuries: hipped roofs, red brick, ornate columns, and glazed tiles. The buildings resemble the towers of Russian fairy tales. Pyotr Shchukin, a renowned Moscow merchant and collector, built them for his own museum. The very first building (1893), the so-called Old Museum, housed Shchukin's collection of paintings and antiques. Today, it houses the administration of the Biological Museum, and the building has retained its architectural value.
Elena Mikheecheva explains that the museum has a talisman inherited from the Shchukin estate: "The creature depicted on the large medallion of the old museum is a very interesting biological specimen, a hybrid of three creatures: it has wings like a pegasus, a horn like a unicorn, and a tail like a snake or a lion. Art historians suggested that this creature is called an alicorn."
Pyotr Shchukin, along with architect Boris Freidenberg, went on expeditions to the Russian North. Many architectural and artistic designs originate from those places. The tiles decorating the old museum are copied from those in the ancient Church of St. John the Baptist in Yaroslavl.
New space
K.A. Timiryazev Biological Museum— is not just history frozen within the walls of the mansions on Malaya Gruzinskaya Street. It is developing dynamically, and the main proof of this is the large-scale project the museum is implementing. This summer, the Biocluster project was launched—a fundamentally new open museum space and research center, unique in Russia.
Currently, the Biocluster occupies two VDNKh pavilions, and in the future, there will be five, along with a greenhouse-laboratory. The idea strikingly echoes Boris Zavadovsky's original concept, who envisioned a space where scientific theory would be directly combined with practical experience for the public. Visitors to the Biocluster can encounter dinosaurs or explore the wondrous world of insects, participate in plant experiments in the greenhouse-laboratory, or learn how to grow garden flowers.
You can now visit two key sites at the Biocluster. In pavilion No. 29 Floriculture and landscaping The exhibition "Morphogenesis. Third Nature," organized in collaboration with contemporary Russian artists, is located in Pavilion No. 31, "Geology," where a large-scale exhibition is on display. "12 Signs of Life"All sections—from "Unity of Chemical Composition" to "Reproduction"—are illustrated by works of science art. A highlight of the exhibition is the robot guide Professor Boris Zemelkin, who leads visitors on tours.
Interactive Science and Inclusion: How the VDNKh Biocluster is Changing Museum StandardsWhen Nature Meets Art: Exploring the Biocluster Exhibition at VDNKh
The Biological Museum remains a place where the past becomes a springboard for future discoveries, and scientific knowledge is presented not as the dry pages of a textbook, but as a fascinating and endlessly beautiful process of discovery.
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