Peter Kropotkin House Museum

About museum

The only museum in the world dedicated to the well-known scientist and theorist of anarchism Peter Kropotkin is located in Dmitrov. The house in which he lived from 1918 was built in the 19th century by Count Mikhail Olsufyev in the style of Russian wooden Art Nouveau. After Kropotkin's death in 1921 a memorial plaque was placed on the house. Sofya Kropotkina, the scholar's widow, came every summer from Moscow and received visitors. In 1937 the family of Kropotkin's nephew moved here, but in 1942 the house was used for public purposes: the building's interior and exterior appearance changed and the furniture became worn. In the early 1990s Romuald Khokhlov, an employee of the Dmitrov Kremlin museum-reserve, began restoring the museum. With the help of scholars from Moscow universities and Alexey Polivanov, Kropotkin's nephew, a reconstruction plan was prepared, and in 2004 the house was incorporated into the museum-reserve. Residents of Dmitrov donated books and household items from the early 20th century to the museum, and in 2005, after receiving a grant, many of Kropotkin's personal belongings were collected.