Biological stations in the Russian empire: organization and financing

The article presents the features of the organization and financing of marine and freshwater biological stations. The history of the biological stations was described from the point of mainly biography or the scientific interests of the researchers who worked there. However, this shows only one side of their activity. This article comes to the other side, how the stations were organized and who controlled them, as well as who gave money for their activities. The founders of the stations were mostly university professors; however, the stations were not directly subordinated to universities, but to scientific societies. Such subordination was the reason of bureaucratic obstacles: in order to organize stations at universities, it was necessary to obtain official permission from the minister, and then receive funds from the university, which itself needed them. This was the reason that professors preferred to use scientific societies that provided money from membership fees, or use their own funds. The patronage was also used. The ministries of public education and agriculture and state property, which were the most interested in the stations, gave money extremely reluctantly and irregularly. Therefore, the stations experienced chronic financial needs and needed funding all the time during the imperial period.