The branch "Valynets Local Lore Museum named after I. D. Chersky" of the state cultural institution "Verkhnedvinsk Historical and Local Lore Museum" is located in the agro-town of Valyntsy,
Melioratorov St., 1 (Valynetsky Sdk) Verkhnedvinsk district, Vitebsk region, 211610.
Fund Keeper - Vainovskaya Larisa Leonidovna
Tel. 8 (02151) 59309
The history of the creation and opening of the museum is connected with the tireless activity of history teacher, member of the Belarusian Geographical Society Boris Filippovich Shimuk. Through diligent research in archives, libraries, and scientific institutions, he collected detailed, richly illustrated material about the life and scientific discoveries of a prominent countryman, scientist, and researcher Ivan Dementievich Chersky.
Copies of documents, photographs, paintings by V. Chasny, wonderful models by K. Palinsky, mineralogical collections, 19th-century scientific books, and other exhibits – all this creates the museum's expositions. The museum was established in 1993. A permanent exhibition has been operating since 1995. The exhibition hall occupies 83 sq. Meters, the funds amount to about 7000 units of the main fund and about 1000 units of the scientific and auxiliary fund. The museum has the following expositions: general geology, the life and scientific activity of I. D. Chersky, archaeology of the region, nature of the region, history of the village of Valyntsy and the region, the war of 1812, ethnography.
The museum is engaged in scientific and educational activities, collection and preservation of the historical heritage of the region, and maintains ties with various public associations in Belarus and abroad.
The Chersky Family. An ancient noble family. The first records of family representatives are found at the end of the 18th - the first half of the 19th century. The Chersky family coat of arms is the "Rawicz" coat of arms. The Chersky family acquired the Svlna estate in 1840. The estate included the villages of Nikiperevo, Obukhovo, Nivye, Pligovka, Stepuki, Sharki. The manor house consisted of a house, a brewery, a threshing floor, a mill, and other buildings with 645 desiatinas of land (over 700 hectares).
Ivan Dementievich Chersky. A famous geologist, geographer, paleontologist, researcher of Northeastern Siberia, the Baikal region, and Lake Baikal.
His name is borne by 10 geographical locations in Northeastern Siberia, two species of fossil animals, streets in gray cities, and the Irkutsk Society of Belarusian Culture.
Chersky was born on May 3 (May 15, Old Style), 1845, in the manor of Svlna, Dzyatlava Uyezd (modern Verkhnedvinsk District, Vitebsk Region) into the family of a nobleman, Dominik Chersky. At birth, he was given three names – Jan, Stanisaw, and Francis. However, he became world-famous as Ivan Dementievich Chersky. Besides him, the family had an older sister, Michalina.
He received his initial education at home. From 1857 to 1860, Chersky studied at the Vilnius Gymnasium, and continued his education at the Noble Institute in Vilnius. He was fluent in French, English, German, Latin, and Polish, and also painted and engaged in music.
In February 1863, I. D. Chersky joined the participants of the uprising led by Kalinowski, and in April of the same year, he was arrested for his participation in the uprising. A trial was held. Chersky was sentenced to life imprisonment in Siberia with confiscation of the Svlna estate and deprivation of his noble title.
On the way to his place of imprisonment, Chersky met the renowned geologist a. L. Chekanovsky (who, like Chersky, had also been sentenced for participating in the uprising), who awakened in him an interest in the problems of geological geography. This meeting predetermined Chersky's future life path. He decided to dedicate his entire life to natural sciences. The period of imprisonment became a time of persistent self-education in natural sciences: he studied geology, anatomy, anthropology, and zoology. In 1869, his first scientific work on the geology of the Omsk region appeared.
Chersky's research was noticed, and in 1871, at the suggestion of Academician a. F. Middendorff of the Russian Academy of Sciences, he was invited to Irkutsk to work in the Siberian Department of the Russian Geographical Society. While living in a rented apartment, he met the landlady's daughter, Mavra Pavlovna, who later became his wife and, subsequently, a reliable associate in his research.
1873. At the suggestion of a. L. Chakanovsky, the Siberian Department of the Russian Geographical Society commissions Cherksy to lead an expedition to study the Eastern Sayan, the Tunkinsky and Kitaysky Goltsy ranges. While collecting specimens, Cherksy explores the Nizhnedinskaya Cave, where he finds fossil remains. For his outstanding work and scientific description and interpretation of the findings, he is awarded a small silver medal by the Geographical Society.
1877-1880. He studies the geology and morphology of Lake Baikal, explores the entire coastline, the rivers flowing into the lake (336 of them), and the Olkhon Plateau. The total distance covered by the expedition is 3.5 thousand versts, with 1000 pages of handwritten text. The results of the work (Map of Lake Baikal) were colossal: in 1881, the Russian Geographical Society presented them at the International Geographical Congress in Venice. For the Baikal expedition, I. Cherksy received a small gold medal.
In 1881, despite his deteriorating health, Cherksy leads a new expedition to the Selenga River valley. His countryman M. Vitkovsky works with Cherksy.
In 1883, Cherksy received an amnesty and in 1885, on behalf of the Academy of Sciences, he explored the route from Irkutsk to the Urals. After completing this assignment, he and his family moved to St. Petersburg. He worked at the Zoological Museum of St. Petersburg and lectured to students. Scientific societies admitted Cherksy into their ranks. He was considered the best expert on Siberia.
He worked on the re-publication of "Land Use of Asia" by K. Ritter. While revising the outdated edition, I. Cherksy supplemented it with his own data. He was engaged in the systematization of archaeological remains of fossil animals collected during the expedition to the Novosibirsk Islands. For these works, Cherksy was awarded the F. Litke Gold Medal of the Rgs.
In the winter of 1891, Cherksy, on behalf of the Academy of Sciences, set off on the Kolyma-Indigirka expedition. The decision of the ailing scientist to undertake a multi-year expedition to the harsh region of Siberia (with his wife, 12-year-old son, and nephew G. Douglas) was perceived as an act of great
On June 25, 1892, I.D. Chersky passed away. On July 1, 1892, M.P. Cherskaya buried her 47-year-old husband in the Kolyma settlement.
Mavra Pavlovna Cherskaya completed the expedition, fulfilling her husband's will.
The achievements of Ivan Dementievich Chersky in natural sciences are difficult to overestimate. Our compatriot is a citizen, a scientist, and a traveler.
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