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Crimean Science in the First Post-War Decade

On the eve of the transfer of the Crimean Oblast to the Ukrainian SSR in 1954, local science was in a neglected, fragmented, and unstructured state: a weak material and technical base, an acute shortage of personnel, and departmental fragmentation across seven ministries. A powerful, systematic revival of the peninsula's scientific network was carried out by the Ukrainian authorities and the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR—it was during the period of Crimea's inclusion in Ukraine that a truly powerful Crimean scientific sector was formed.

Overview

Crimea was traditionally one of the most developed scientific regions, distinguished by sectoral diversity: agronomy, horticulture, viticulture, resort and medical sciences, geology and mineralogy, astronomy, archaeology, and oceanology, and in later decades—space exploration and servicing the defense sector. Most of the peninsula's world-famous scientific institutions were established precisely after the transfer of Crimea to Ukraine.

In the first post-war decade, it was possible to revive the activities of all three Crimean higher education institutions—former divisions of Taurida University, which was founded in 1918 during the Wrangel era: the pedagogical, medical, and agricultural institutes. Science still flickered within them, but the material and technical base was weak, and qualified scientists were lacking.

Among the sectoral institutions operating were the Nikitsky Botanical Garden (which survived the war without major damage; conducting research in botany, plant introduction, dendrology, and plant breeding), the Magarach Institute of Viticulture and Enology, the Crimean Experimental Station for Horticulture, the Crimean Tobacco and Shag Station, the Regional Agricultural Station, the Crimean Landslide and Hydrological Station of the Ministry of Geology, and the Black Sea Hydrophysical Station of the Academy of Sciences.

One of the greatest achievements of academic science was the reconstruction of the Simeiz Observatory as a branch of Pulkovo Observatory. From 1945, by order of the All-Union government, it was transformed into the independent Crimean Observatory of the USSR Academy of Sciences, with its central base located in the newly founded settlement of Nauchny (near the former Crimean Tatar village of Mangush, Bakhchysarai District); the completion of construction and the peak of its achievements occurred during the Ukrainian period.

To deepen research not covered by universities and sectoral ministries, the Crimean Branch of the Academy of Sciences was created. A plot of land was allocated for it in Simferopol (near the present-day Children's Park, on the grounds of the former branch of the Nikitsky Botanical Garden) and construction of an administrative and scientific building began (currently the Institute of Mineral Resources); prior to commissioning, the departments were housed in various city premises. This building was completed only after the transfer of Crimea to Ukraine.

The actual state of Crimean science on the eve of the transfer was documented in a report by the Science and Culture Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine titled "On the State of Affairs in the Crimean Branch of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR" dated September 1, 1954 (TsDAVO of Ukraine, fond 1, opis 46, sprava 134–135). The branch, which inherited the Crimean Branch of the All-Union Academy of Sciences at the end of 1954, united 8 departments (geology, speleology and local lore, chemistry, history and archaeology, soil science, geobotany, crop production, agroforestry and steppe forestry), as well as the Karadag Biological Station. The scientific staff consisted of 293 positions (19 vacant), including 5 doctors of sciences, 20 senior and 10 junior research associates with candidate degrees, and 38 junior staff without degrees; research was conducted on 13 problem areas (24 topics).

Significant shortcomings included weak publishing activity (out of 13 publications planned for 1954, only 6 were prepared and 3 published), understaffing of leadership positions (vacancies for scientific secretary of the branch and three department heads, director and scientific secretary of the Karadag Station), and delays in building construction. The branch lacked a responsible leader for years: the first chairman, Academician Pavlovsky, lived and worked in Leningrad, while his deputy, Doctor of Geological Sciences Kozin, held several positions simultaneously (deputy chairman of the branch, head of the geology department, head of a department at the pedagogical institute, and head of the regional organization of the "Znannya" Society). Local leadership diverted highly paid scientists away from their primary duties to farm work at collective farms and construction work.

As of the end of 1954, the region's scientific network numbered 21 institutions (three higher education institutes, several research institutes, and nine experimental stations, including the Crimean Branch of the Academy of Sciences with 7 departments, the Institutes of Climatotherapy, "Magarach", Sechenov Climatology, the Nikitsky Botanical Garden, departments of republican institutes, the Crimean Observatory and its station). More than 330 scientists worked in them (12 doctors, 88 candidates of science), and 44 graduate students were in training; seven out of nine directors of experimental stations held no scientific degree. The institutions were subordinate to seven All-Union, republican, and regional departments, while the observatories and stations of the USSR Academy of Sciences operated independently of the Crimean Branch.

Thus, at the time of the transfer, Crimean science was in a neglected, fragmented, and unstructured state with a weak material and technical base and low personnel potential—it fell to the Ukrainian authorities and the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences to revive and develop it after 1954.

Key Details / Subtopics

  • Three Crimean higher education institutions—successors to Taurida University: the pedagogical, medical, and agricultural institutes were revived in the first post-war decade (as divisions of Taurida University in 1918), but with a weak material and technical base and a shortage of personnel (three departments of the agricultural institute lacked department heads).
  • Nikitsky Botanical Garden, "Magarach", and experimental stations: leading sectoral institutions in horticulture, viticulture, tobacco, landslides/hydrology, and hydrophysics that maintained scientific activities despite the war, albeit on a smaller scale.
  • Simeiz Observatory → Crimean Observatory of the USSR Academy of Sciences (Nauchny): transformed into an independent observatory from 1945, centered in the settlement of Nauchny; the completion of construction and the peak of achievements occurred during the Ukrainian period.
  • Crimean Branch of the Academy of Sciences: established to deepen research; its administrative and scientific building (the future Institute of Mineral Resources) was built only after the transfer of Crimea to Ukraine.
  • Report of the Central Committee of the CPU of Sept 1, 1954: the actual state of the Crimean Branch of the Academy of Sciences—293 scientists (19 vacancies), 8 departments, weak publishing activity, lack of a responsible leader (Academician Pavlovsky in Leningrad), and the use of scientists for collective farm work and construction.
  • Scale of the network and departmental fragmentation: 21 scientific institutions, over 330 scientists (12 doctors, 88 candidates), 44 graduate students, subordinate to 7 ministries—a fragmented structure that the Ukrainian authorities had to organize.