Russian Societies for Natural Science and the Integration of Women into the Professional Scientific Community in 1860-1870s
The article analyzes the history of relations between Russian women scientists and Russian societies of naturalists in the 1860-1870s. I examine the existing types of women’s networking with the scientific com-munity for the first time in the historiography of Russian science, including the participation of women in the societies meetings, collecting excursions, scientific expeditions, and organizing and publicizing activi-ties. I base my analysis on the biographical data of women scientists, as well as on the materials from the archive of the Society of Amateurs of Natural Science, Anthropology and Ethnography at the Moscow Imperial University, the first scientific society in Russia, which began to accept women into their ranks. The article focuses specifically on Olga Armfeldt (Fedtchenko) - the first woman-founder of the society of naturalists in Russian history, Ludmila Mechnikova - the first wife of Ilia Mechnicov who was also his co-worker and co-author, and Elena Bogdanova - wife of Anatoliy Bogdanov, one of the societies founders and its most active members. I also examine the election of women into the ranks of the Society of Russian Medical Doctors, including the special permission obtained from the Minister of Internal Affairs. The article also analyzes the lists of members of other Russian natural science societies in order to identify their policies with regard to the inclusion of women scientists. Among them are the lists of members of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society, of the Society of Naturalists of the Imperial Kazan University, and of the Russian Entomological Society. I also evaluated the dynamics of the very first women’s publications in scientific periodicals. The article concludes that in the 1860-1870s, the rise of Russian public interest in the natural sciences also affected women from the educated classes, and while governmental policy categorically forbade women’s access to the universities, the natural science societies became a public institution that allowed women to integrate into the professional scientific community.