Fersman Mineralogical Museum
Museum in Moscow, Russia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Fersman Mineralogical Museum (Russian: ÐинеÑалогиÑеÑкий мÑзей им. Ð. Ð. ФеÑÑмана) is one of the largest mineral museums of the world, located in Moscow, Russia. Its collections include more than 135,000 items. Among them natural crystals, geodes, druses and other kinds of mineral treasures. The museum was named after Alexander Fersman.

Current headquarters of the Fersman Mineralogical Museum in Moscow | |
| Established | 1716 |
|---|---|
| Location | Moscow, Russia. |
| Collections | Systematic collection,Crystal collection,Locality collections,Pseudomorph collection and Gems and stone art collection |
| Collection size | more than 135,000 items |
History
Early history
The museum was founded in 1716 in Saint Petersburg.
On 5 December 1747 a great fire destroyed virtually the whole collection. In 1836 the Kunstkamera was divided into 7 separate museums, including Mineralogical museum which was moved to the new building. In 1898 the museum was expanded and renamed the Geological museum.
In Moscow
Museum was moved from Petersburg to Moscow in 1934 together with the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Collections

All museum acquisitions since 1716 were divided at the beginning of 20th century by the academician Vladimir Vernadsky to 5 main collections:
- Systematic collection.
- Crystal collection.
- Locality collections.
- Pseudomorph collection.
- Gems and stone art collection.
Directors

- 1835â1845 Grigori Gelmersen
- 1845â1857 Konstantin Grevingk
- 1857â1866 Adolf Gebel
- 1866â1873 Nikolai Koksharov
- 1873â1900 Fyodor Shmidt
- 1900â1906 Feodosy Chernyshov
- 1906â1919 Vladimir Vernadsky
- 1919â1945 Alexander Fersman
- 1930â1945 Vladimir Kryzhanovsky (executive director)
- 1945â1945 Vladimir Kryzhanovsky
- 1947â1953 Dmitry S. Belyankin
- 1953â1976 Georgi Barsanov
- 1976â1980 Yuri Orlov
- 1980â1982 Vladimir Sobolev
- 1983â1995 Aleksandr Godovikov
- 1995â2010 Margarita Novgorodova
- 2011â2015 Viktor Garanin
- 2016âpresent Pavel Plechov[1]