Zoology and Zoologists at the Golitsyn Higher Women’s Agricultural Courses

The article deals with the teaching of zoological disciplines at the Golitsyn Higher Women’s Agricultural Courses. A.D. Nekrasov, who had previously worked at the Moscow Agricultural Institute, was invited to give lectures on zoology. In different years he was assisted by A.L. Brodsky and B.N. Shaposhnikov. Much attention in teaching zoology was given to the formation of students’ skills in dissecting various objects, identifying animal species by morphological and anatomical features, and assessing the frequency of their distribution. For this purpose, the curriculum included classroom laboratory classes and summer zoological practice. For the period of summer practice, country estates were rented, where dormitories for female students and educational buildings were located. The first field practice in zoology was held in the summer of 1912 and included classes in entomology and hydrobiology. Over time, a section on vertebrate zoology was added to the internship programme. Teaching of zoological disciplines at the Golitsyn courses did not stop even during the First World War, but since 1917 there were problems in the or- ganisation of summer practical classes. The experience of teaching zoology at the Higher Women’s Agricultural Courses was later used in Soviet educational institutions, and zoologists A.D. Nekrasov and A.L. Brodsky occupied leading positions in the new universities – Nizhny Novgorod University (Gorky) and Central Asian University (Tashkent).