An Attempt at a Dialogue with State Power: the Academy of Sciences and “A Note of 342 Scholars” (1905)

This article presents two interesting documents related to an important episode in the
history of relations between the Academy of Sciences and state power. These sources
that came to life in connection with the events from the initial period of the first Russian
revolution of 1905 are a newspaper article “The needs of education (A note of 342 scholars)” and a circular letter written by the President of the Academy of Sciences, Grand
Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich, to the members of the Academy of Sciences who had
signed the Memorandum. The majority of the Academy of Sciences members (17 out of
32) demonstrating their support of the provisions set out in the “Note” by signing it was the
first public appeal of the academic science representatives to state power and Russian
society in the history of the Academy of Sciences. By doing so, the Academicians
publicized their joint program and their views on the future of science and education in
Russia, regarding them as the main engine of socio-economic and cultural modernization
and successful advancement of the country.