Day in the history of the Jewish Autonomous Region
Photo: Regional Library
November 15, 1831
Gustav Ivanovich Radde (Gustav Ferdinand Richard), Russian geographer and naturalist of the second half of the 19th century, was born in Danzig (now Polish Gdansk) on November 15 (27), 1831 in the family of a school teacher. Since childhood, he showed interest in botany and zoology. He received his secondary education at the Peter and Paul Gymnasium in his native city. In 1852 he moved to Russia, which became his second homeland. Here he managed to carry out his scientific plans, here he achieved fame and a strong position.
Day in the history of the Jewish Autonomous Region. Photo: Photo: Regional Library
In 1857, a 26-year-old traveler, with the blessing of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, set off to unknown lands in the Far East. After a 44-day voyage, on June 21, 1857, Radde landed at the place where the village named after him is now located. The traveler and his two assistants set up a camp where they were to live for almost two years.
Radde made a trip along the Amur to the mouth of the Ussuri, and in the fall he began to study the Bureinsky Mountains in earnest. He collected samples of rocks and plants, studied the life and habits of animals, and made meteorological observations.
On May 24, 1858, the boat of Count Muravyov-Amursky moored to the mooring site of Radde and his companions. The Governor-General of Eastern Siberia invited the researcher to take part in the colonization of the region. 24 families of foot Cossacks and 20 soldiers of a penal company were supposed to arrive from the Transbaikal region. Radde was supposed to supervise their work as a commander. Settlers arrived in June. The first houses were built on the banks of the Amur, but the area for 24 full households was small. The Cossacks chose a place slightly higher, near the Lagar River. From the shore there was a wide street at the northern end of which there were five houses. On June 17, 1858, the steamship Amur with Muravyov-Amursky was approaching a new settlement. “The visit and praise of the count were the last joyful events for me in Khingan…” recalled G.I. Radde.
The work was completed in late autumn. On November 22, 1858, the researcher left the Middle Amur region, where he lived for one year, three months and fifteen days. After the Amur trip, Radde explored Transbaikalia for another year.
For a detailed scientific report on the nature of Transbaikalia and the Middle Amur, Radde was awarded the Demidov Prize and the gold medal of the Russian Geographical Society, and the Academy of Sciences awarded him a cash prize. For special scientific merits, the scientist was elected Master of Zoology and Doctor of Philosophy.
Until the end of his days, Gustav Ivanovich Radde remained an active person. In 1884 he was elected chairman of the First International Ornithological Congress in Vienna, and in 1889 he became a corresponding member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. He traveled to India, Indonesia, Ceylon, and the Mediterranean countries.
In the name of G.I. Radde named several vascular plants, as well as toads. A street in his hometown of Danzig (Gdansk in Poland) and a village in the Jewish Autonomous Region bear his name. In 2015, the regional parliament decided to assign the basic school the village. Radde is the name of a natural scientist.
The name Radde remains forever on the geographical maps of the Far East; more than one generation of Far Easterners remembers him with gratitude.
November 15, 1944
Anatoly Surnin. Photo: Photo: EAOMedia news agency archive
On November 15, 1944, Honorary Citizen of the Jewish Autonomous Region Anatoly Aleksandrovich Surnin was born in the city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur.
Anatoly Aleksandrovich began his career in 1970 as an assistant at the Department of Marxism-Leninism at the Ussuri State Pedagogical Institute, and since 1973 – a graduate student at the Moscow State Pedagogical Institute. V.I. Lenin.
Since 1977 Surnin A.A. – teacher at Khabarovsk State Pedagogical Institute.
From September 1986 to January 2006, Anatoly Aleksandrovich headed the Birobidzhan State Pedagogical Institute, which in 2005, on the initiative of A. A. Surnin and with his direct participation, was transformed into a state educational institution of higher professional education “Far Eastern State Social and Humanitarian Academy”.
Anatoly Aleksandrovich conducted scientific and pedagogical activities at the Department of Philosophy at a high professional level, advised graduate students and young teachers.
In 2001, Anatoly Surnin became a diploma winner of the competition (12+) of teaching aids for part-time students in Blagoveshchensk, and in 2002 – a diploma winner of the regional competition of educational and methodological complexes (12+) in Khabarovsk. In 2002, his monograph “Taoism” (12+) was awarded the stamp of the International Academy of Sciences of Pedagogical Education.
Anatoly Aleksandrovich Surnin was the permanent chairman of the academic council of the Birobidzhan State Pedagogical Institute, was an academician-secretary of the International Academy of Sciences of Pedagogical Education, a member of the Council for Economic Development of the Jewish Autonomous Region under the regional government and the Commission for Social Development of Birobidzhan, a deputy of the Birobidzhan City Duma of three convocations, a member of the editorial and publishing council of the Institute for Comprehensive Analysis of Regional Problems of the Far East departments of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
In 2006, Anatoly Alexandrovich passed away. A memorial plaque was installed on the building of the educational building of the Amur State University named after. Sholom Aleichem.
Based on Resolution of the Legislative Assembly of the Jewish Autonomous Region dated April 26, 2006 No. 92, A. A. Surnin was awarded the title “Honorary Citizen of the Jewish Autonomous Region” (awarded posthumously).
