Stuffed monkeys made by taxidermist N.K. Nazmov in the collection of the Museum of Anthropology MSU
Materials and methods. The work uses data on the biography of famous Russian taxidermists found in publications and materials from the scientific archive of the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology and Human Morphology of the Research Institute and the Museum of Anthropology of Moscow State University. Results and discussion. Nikolai Konstantinovich is a famous Russian taxidermist. Nazmov lost his family and lived in an orphanage in Ryazan. In those years, his talent was first discovered. Later he studied at the taxidermy laboratory of the State Museum of the Central Industrial Region in Moscow. The famous taxidermist E.A. Bekshtrem became his teacher. In the first half of the 1930s, Bekshtrem's taxidermy workshop designed expositions of the departments of nature in the museums of Zvenigorod, Kolomna and Volokolamsk, in the Moscow Polytechnic Museum. In 1937, Bekshtrem was arrested on a false denunciation. The taxidermy workshop was closed. N.K. Nazmov begins independent work. He has been trying to open a workshop for a long time. Nazmov is the developer of the sculptural taxidermy method. The biological group "Wolves Attacking Elk" was performed using this method. This composition was recognized as the best at the World Hunting Exhibition in Budapest in 1971. The works of N.K. Nazmov are exhibited in the largest natural science museums in Russia. In the 1930s, the Museum of Anthropology of Moscow State University received several exhibits made by N.K. Nazmov. These are: a stuffed Black-and-white Ruffed Lemur (adult male, КО 169/1/1); a stuffed Sooty Mangabey (adult male, КО 134/4/1); a stuffed Chimpanzee (young female, КО 170/3/1); four stuffed Hamadryas Baboon (four adult males, КО 169/3/1, КО 175/1/1, КО 175/2/1, plus one adult female, КО 175/3/1). In addition, Nazmov donated casts of the hands, feet, and brains of some monkeys that died at the Moscow Zoo to the Museum of Anthropology. Conclusion. In the 1930s, the Museum of Anthropology worked closely with the Moscow Zoo. Then the primatological fund of the museum was significantly replenished. The works of the famous taxidermist N.K. Nazmov were among these new exhibits. These were several stuffed primates and some posthumous casts. Other works of the great scarecrow master may be discovered in the future.