Popov Museum

The memorial museum of Alexander Stepanovitch Popov (1859-1906) includes a museum-laboratory and a museum-apartment of the prominent Russian scholar in the field of physics, electrical and radio engineering. The museum is located in two buildings of Saint Petersburg Electrotechnical University "LETI": auditorium building and apartment house for teachers of the University. They were constructed in 1903 by Alexander Vekshinsky, the academician in architecture, for Alexander III Electrotechnical Institute, which was founded in 1886.
Alexander Popov had been a professor of physics at the Electrotechnical Institute (ETI) since 1901 and its first elected director since September 1905. His energy and talent helped to improve the equipment of physical laboratories and an auditorium of the Institute which is named after him. Popov is a pioneer in developing of teaching programmes on wireless telegraphy for military and civil high schools.
On June 25, 1948 according to the decision of the USSR government the memorial museum of Alexander Popov was opened in his former laboratory in Leningrad Electrotechnical Institute named after Vladimir Ulyanov-Lenin (LETI). This museum has been a historical, technical, and cultural centre for 50 years of its scholar, research, and enlightening activity. The information about the museum can be founded in many international catalogues and tourist guides.
In the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century Popov had close contacts with prominent scholars of Russia - D. Mendeleev, S. Makarov, A. Krylov, A. Lodygin and others. While observing the museum exposition, one will get knowledge on the development of electrical engineering, on appearing of radio engineering in Russia and other countries, and at the same time one will get a clear idea of everyday life of scientists within this period.
In the museum-laboratory, Popov’s original physical instruments are exhibited, such as labware, ship stations equipment of wireless telegraphy, and documents confirming Popov’s priority in the invention of radio.
The exposition presents the main events of Popov’s life, his pedagogical and scientific activity. The prominent scientist spent his childhood in a large and amicable family of a priest the settlement Turjinskie Rudniki at the Urals. He got education in religious schools in Dalmatov, Ekaterinburg and Perm, and then - at St.Petersburg University. There are some photos with his teachers and friends and photos taken by Alexander Popov himself in the museum. Being in St. Petersburg, he got interested in M. Faraday’s and D. Maxwell’s ideas in the field of the electromagnetic phenomena. It was here where he made first steps in the electrical engineering.

Since 1883 Popov lived with his family in Kronstadt and worked at the Naval department. He taught electrical engineering, mathematics, and physics in the Mine Officer Class. Besides he taught physics in the Naval engineering college. There for the first time he delivered lectures on “Dynamos and electric motors ”.Popov realized the demands of Russian fleet in communication facilities quite well. He got carried away with H. Hertz’ experiments on creation of “rays of electrical force” and experiments of E. Branly and O. Lodge with coheres, the powder indicators of high-frequency electromagnetic radiation, and repeated them.

On May 7, 1895 Popov demonstrated the electromagnetic signals transmission system at the meeting of Russian physical and chemical society. In that system he used a special “device for the detection and for the registration of electrical oscillations” as a receiver, which was the first receiving set in the world, while Hertz vibrator was used as a transmitter there. The signalling system using electromagnetic waves was tested at some ships as early as in May 1897. Popov collaborated successfully with the French engineer-businessman E. Diucretet, who had begun serial production of wireless telegraphy equipment in 1898. That apparatus was named “Popov-Diucretet system” and was used for the Naval departments in Russia and France.

In 1899 Popov developed “the telephone receiver of dispatches” on the basis of the detection effect discovered by his assistants P. Rybkin and D. Troitzky. The signals were received executed by hearing with the help of “ear telephones”, the sensitivity of the equipment and, accordingly, the range of communication being increased considerably. The receiver was patented in Russia, England and France. For the first time the device was used when a 48 kilometre long radio line, linking the island Kutsalo (town Kotka) and the island Gogland in the Finnish gulf was installed. The radio line was constructed to help a battleship “The General-Admiral Apraksin”, which ran aground because of a navigation error. The first wireless message received by the radio line allowed to save the lives of 27 fishermen who had been carried away on a block of ice in the sea-way.
That successful operation of the radio line resulted in taking a decision to use the radio at ships of the Russian Navy. In 1900 according to Popov’s proposal the first Russian workshop, manufacturing wireless telegraphy equipment, was founded in Kronstadt.
Alexander Popov paid great attention to all new investigations not only in the field of physics, radio-activity and electrical engineering, but in making electrical machines and designing roentgen devices.
In the exposition, numerous Russian and international prizes, titles, money rewards, decorations and medal demonstrate the merits of Alexander Popov. Part of those rewards are represented on the exhibition stands and in show-windows.
In 1945 a state holiday, the Day of Radio, was established. It was decided to celebrate it annually on the 7^th of May. The government has decreed to install monuments and memorial plaques devoted to the inventor of radio, to institute a badge “Honorable Radio Operator” and the gold medal named after A. Popov. The medal is awarded by the Academy of Sciences to famous scientific researchers and inventors in the radio engineering field.
The museum exposition tells the visitors much about Popov’s achievements and the significance of his works. Some educational institutions, research institutes, museums, ships and streets are named after Popov to commemorate the prominent Russian scholar. A special stand is devoted to 19 winners of the gold medal named after A. Popov.
The museum collections contain the library and archives of the scientist, including documents connected with his first experiments in the field of physics and electrical engineering (electrical machines, electrical lighting, wireless telegraphy, roentgen devices, radioactivity phenomena o), and also lecture notes on physics and electrical engineering.
Of great interest for the historians of radio are the publications of that period of time Popov’s works, his correspondence with Russian and foreign colleagues, as well as scientific and technical literature on radio engineering issued in the first half of the 20th century.
Alexander Popov travelled a lot all over Russia, from Helsingfors to Krasnoyarsk. He was at the head of the power station at the Nizhny Novgorod fair during summer months in 1889 - 1899, also he visited many European cities (Paris, Berlin, London, Libava, Zurich) and made a trip to America (Chicago, New York). The life of that prominent person, scientist, teacher and inventor, was full of bright events. He was a brilliant and productive scientist.

The opening of Popov museum-apartment in the house of teachers of Electrotechnical University (Prof. Popov street, 5), which was held on May 7, 1967, became a significant event for Leningrad and all the country. In this building famous scientists and engineers lived and worked, many of them were Popov’s colleagues and disciples, who founded the fundamentals of modern electrical, power and radio engineering and electronics in Russia.
The collection of household things in the museum-apartment attracts double interest. It includes original furniture of his study, drawing room, dining-room and bedroom. Some items of the collection were gifted by members of Popov’s family to the museum, and others by the families of his colleagues and friends.
Pictures and sculptures presented to the museum play a significant role in gathering the collection too. Among them are the pieces of art created by Alexander Popov’s sister A.Popova-Kapustina (1863-1941) and a son of the scientist A. Popov (1887-1942). Both of them are graduates of the Academy of Arts. A separate part of the whole collection is the collection of the music pieces by S. Popov (1884-1920), the eldest son of the scientist. He was a graduate of St. Petersburg Conservatoire. There is also a set of medical tools that belonged to the scientist wife Raisa Popova (1860-1932) and his daughter Raisa Popova (1891-1976). Alexander Popov’s wife was one of the first women-physicians of Russia, and his eldest daughter Raisa Popova was a physician too.
The first director and founder of the museum was Popov’s younger daughter Catherine Popova-Kjandskaya (1899-1976). She was an honourable person of the Russian Federation involved in the arts and an honourable member of the scientific and technical society NTORES named after Alexander Popov. For many years the museum was supervised by her daughter Catherine Kjandskaya (1934-1994), also an honourable member of NTORES. Raisa Popova, the scientist’s eldest daughter, and his grand daughter M. Andreeva (1921-1995) helped much in creating the museum collection.
The amateur short-wave radio station is operating at the museum. Its call-signs RK1B are audible far outside our country. More than two thousands of QSL-cards received from the entire world give good evidence of its intensive operation. It is necessary to mention that the initiator of a radio amateur activity in our country was Imant Freumann (1890-1929), a professor of ETI, the chair of radio engineering department, the first one in Russia. The museum collects items related to the history of radio amateur activity in Russia.
Since 1949 annual scientific readings have been carried out in the museum. They are concerned with the problems of modern radio electronics and are held on March 16, the birthday of Alexander Popov. Scientific conferences, meetings, devoted to the history of science and engineering, memorial dates and anniversaries of prominent scientists, take place from time to time in the museum-apartment. Such meetings are usually accompanied with musical and literary programs, performances of singers and actors.
The museum staff collects documents on activity of colleagues, disciples and followers of the radio inventor, historical documents and subjects concerning television development, space radio communication and modern telecommunication technologies having direct relation to the history of radio engineering. These materials find their place in the museum collection either in permanent exposition or at temporary exhibitions.

Director of museum L. Zolotinkina