On February 8, a souvenir sheet dedicated to the 300th Anniversary of the Russian Academy of Sciences was put into postal circulation

The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) is a National Academy of Sciences of the Russian Federation, the largest center of fundamental research. The St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences was established by order of Emperor Peter the Great on February 8 of 1724.

Its first president was Laurentius Blumentrost, the personal physician to the Emperor. As envisioned by the Emperor, the Russian Academy was not to resemble any of the European ones. It was to become not only a scientific, but also an educational institution. The Academy of Sciences received at its disposal the Kunstkamera collection, a library, a botanical garden, a mineralogical office, workshops, and a printing house. In 1747, Empress Elizaveta Petrovna instituted the first academic charter, which officially established the name of the Imperial Academy of Sciences and Arts in St. Petersburg. From 1803, it was named the Imperial Academy of Sciences, and since 1836, the Imperial St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. In May of 1917, it was renamed the Russian Academy of Sciences, and in 1925, the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. In 1934, it was transferred from Leningrad to Moscow. Since 1991, the Russian Academy of Sciences is the highest scientific organization of the Russian Federation, the leading center of fundamental research in the field of natural and social sciences in the country.

In accordance with the historically set tasks, the Academy is structured according to the science specialized and territorial principle and comprises 13 specialized scientific divisions and 3 regional branches (Far Eastern, Siberian and Ural ones), as well as 15 regional scientific centers. The supreme governing body is the RAS Meeting. The general management of the activities of the Academy is performed by the President of the RAS. Currently, there are more than 400 scientific organizations in the structure of the Academy. It employs about 100 thousand people, of whom 45 thousand are scientific researchers.

The postage stamp provides an image of the Kunstkamera building; the margins of the souvenir sheet feature a portrait of Peter I and pages of the draft statutes on the establishment of the Academy of Sciences and Arts.

In addition to the issue of the souvenir sheet, JSC Marka produced First Day Covers and special cancels for Moscow, St. Petersburg, Ekaterinburg, Novosibirsk and Vladivostok.


Design Artist: V. Khablovsky.
Face value: 150 rubles.
Souvenir sheet size: 93×70 mm; stamp size on the sheet: 42×30 mm.
Quantity: 17 thousand souvenir sheets.

« back