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The Asiatic Museum (Азиатский музей) in 
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...
was one of the first museums of Asian art in Europe. Its existence spanned 112 years from 1818 to 1930 when it was incorporated into the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
In 1818, the Russian Academy of Sciences
The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across the Russian Federation; and additional scientific and social units such ...
(RAS) learned that Jean-Baptiste Rousseau (1780–1831), the French consul at Aleppo
Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...
and Tripoli (then both part of the Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
), was selling his extensive collection of manuscripts written in the Arabic script
The Arabic script is the writing system used for Arabic (Arabic alphabet) and several other languages of Asia and Africa. It is the second-most widely used alphabetic writing system in the world (after the Latin script), the second-most widel ...
. In November of that year, the president of the RAS, Count Sergey Uvarov, wrote to the Board of the RAS requesting that a separate room be put aside in the Academy's cabinet of curiosities
Cabinets of curiosities ( and ), also known as wonder-rooms ( ), were encyclopedic collections of objects whose categorical boundaries were, in Renaissance Europe, yet to be defined. Although more rudimentary collections had preceded them, t ...
for storing this collection of manuscripts (which was eventually purchased by the RAS in two tranches, in 1819 and 1825), as well as other medals, manuscripts and books of oriental origin already in the Museum of the Imperial Academy of Science. The result was the establishment of the Asiatic Museum () of the RAS, in Saint Petersburg.
List of directors
* Christian Martin Frähn (1818–1842) * Johannes Albrecht Bernhard Dorn (1842–1881) * Victor von Rosen (1881–1882) * Ferdinand Johann Wiedemann (1882–1885) * Friedrich Wilhelm Radloff (1885–1890) * Karl Germanovich Salemann (1890–1916) * Sergey Fyodorovich Oldenburg (1916–1930)References
{{authority control Defunct art museums and galleries Art museums and galleries in Saint Petersburg 1818 establishments in the Russian Empire 1930 disestablishments in Russia Asian art museums in Russia Art museums and galleries established in 1818 1930 in art Art museums and galleries disestablished in the 20th century Educational organizations disestablished in 1930 Defunct museums in Russia