Birthday of the founder of the State Darwin Museum

Alexander Fedorovich Kohts, the founder of the State Darwin Museum, was born on April 19, 1880. Until the last days of his life he has headed the only museum of evolutionary history in Russia. One can only guess how he has managed to keep the museum so rich in disturbing events of the 20th century!

The replenishment of the museum funds was a tireless concern of Alexander Fedorovich. About one such subject, which is the letters written by Darwin in the last years of his life, Alexander Kohts had heard at the age of 12 and since then he has dreamt to possess these letters without fail. Dreams come true, and since 1913 the letters have been kept in the Darwin Museum. Thanks to the participation of the museum in the Darwin correspondence Project of Cambridge University, they have become available to the widest range of the public and world researchers.

The news about the return to the University of Cambridge Library of two manuscripts of Darwin stolen two decades earlier was great for all the curators of the Darwinian heritage and for the birthday of Alexander Kohts.

Letter written by Charles Darwin from the collection of the State Darwin Museum

Alexander Fedorovich Kohts – the founder of the State Darwin Museum

Journals of Charles Darwin