“Hic tuta perennat.” Imperial Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg: The 18th century

For several centuries, the phenomenon of the establishment of the Academy of Sciences in Russia by the will of Emperor Peter the Great remains the focus of attention for the researchers with the history of the Academy being one of the main topics in the history of science. This article is an attempt at the comprehension of the main features of the Academy of Sciences’ formation and development in the initial period of its existence in the 18th century. The article analyses the evolution of Peter the Great’s attitude to scientific knowledge, studies and comprehension of the European experience, measures taken in the process of the Enlightenment of Russia such as opening schools, organizing expeditions and cartographic projects, creating the first public Museum and Library and, as a final stage, preparing in 1724 the project of establishment of the Imperial Academy of Sciences in Russia. The implementation of this project is traced in the post-Petrine period, during the reigns of Empresses Catherine I, Anna of Russia (Anna Ioannovna), Elizabeth (Elizaveta) Petrovna, and Catherine the Great. The article describes the activities of a number of the Academy of Sciences leaders: Presidents L.L. Blumentrost, I.A. Korff, and K.G. Razumovsky; Directors V.G. Orlov, E.R. Dashkova, and others. It is shown that the Academy of Sciences was not more than a center of science and education. The Imperial Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg was one of the main symbols of the new era, new Russia, and new culture.