Exhibition 'Decembrist I. D. Yakushkin: Scientist, Educator, Human'

About exhibition

In the memorial house located on the grounds of the M. I. Muravyov-Apostol estate there are two rooms: a study and a bedroom, the latter notable for its miniature proportions. The study's interior was recreated based on a drawing by the Warsaw gymnasium pupil and exiled Pole R. P. Tsikhovsky, who was friends with the Decembrists and produced the depiction at the request of I. I. Pushchin. The study displays exhibits illustrating Ivan Dmitrievich's way of life in Yalutorovsk. One of Yakushkin's favorite pursuits was botany: he collected herbarium specimens and made plant sketches — in the exhibition you will find sheets from a botanical album and pages from the Decembrist's scientific diary, antique books, and 19th-century writing instruments. In addition to plants, Yakushkin was interested in meteorological observations, as evidenced by an antique barometer. Yakushkin's main undertaking in Yalutorovsk, however, was the school he organized based on the mutual-teaching system. The exhibition includes a model of a Lancastrian classroom, clearly demonstrating the teaching method; primary education here was provided to 531 boys and 191 girls.