“Sincerely respecting you V. Obruchev”. In commemoration of 160th anniversary of the birth of Academician V.A. Obruchev

At the end of 2023, the scientific community celebrated the 160th anniversary of the birth
of Academician V.A. Obruchev (1863–1956), a Russian geologist, geographer, traveler, science fiction author, and explorer of Siberia and Central Asia. His previously unknown
letters and photographs, found in Professor D.P. Grigo riev’s archive deposited in the
Russian Mineralogical Society, are published here. The unique photographs date back to
the time of his work at the Tomsk Institute of Technology (1906–1911). The letters reflect
the difficult years of evacuation to Sverdlovsk (1942) and Alma-Ata (1943), his return to
Moscow (1943–1948) and his stays in the Academic Dachas (1949–1951). The letters
mention about 40 prominent Russian scientists, mostly geologists from the USSR
Academy of Sciences, who during the War were engaged in prospecting and exploration
of minerals in the Urals, Siberia and Kazakhstan: A.K. Boldyrev, A.A. Bo ri syak, A.P. Vi no -
gra dov, I.F. Grigo riev, A.N. Za varit sky, V.L. Komarov, F.Yu. Levinson- Lessing, V.N. Lo -
dochnikov, I.V. Mushke tov, D.V. Nalivkin, V.A. Ne nad kevich, A.A. Sau kov, S.S. Smirnov,
M.M. Tetyaev, V.G. Khlopin and others. The article aims to cover as fully as possible the
history of Russian geology, including the organizations and individuals. The importance of
studying personal archives of the prominent scientists is emphasized.