Nicholai Miklukho-Maklai

Nicholai Nicholaevich Miklukho-Maklai (??????? ?????????? ???????-?????? in Russian) (1846 – 1888) was a Russian ethnologist, anthropologist and biologist.

Related Topics:
Russian - 1846 - 1888 - Russia - Ethnologist - Anthropologist - Biologist

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Miklukho-Maklai was born in a temporary workers camp near St Petersburg in 1846, the son of a civil engineer, working on the construction of the St Petersburg - Moscow railway. He attended a grammar school in St. Petersburg, then went on to study at St. Petersburg University.

Related Topics:
St Petersburg - Civil engineer - Railway - St. Petersburg University

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He travelled and studied widely in Europe, and became a close friend of the biologist Anton Dohrn, with whom he helped conceive the idea of "research stations" while staying with him at Messina, Italy.

Related Topics:
Europe - Anton Dohrn - Messina - Italy

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Miklukho-Maklai left St Petersburg for Australia on the schooner Vityaz. He arrived in Sydney on the 18th July, 1878. A few days after arriving, he approached the Linnean Society and offered to organise a zoological centre. In September 1878 his offer was approved. The centre, known as the Maritime Biological Centre, was constructed by prominent Sydney architect, John Kirkpatrick. This was the first marine biological research institute in Australia.

Related Topics:
Australia - Schooner - Sydney - 1878 - Linnean Society - Architect

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He visited Papua New Guinea on a number of occasions, and lived amongst the native tribes, writing a comprehensive treatise on their way of life and customs.

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He married Margaret-Emma Robertson, daughter of the Premier of New South Wales, John Robertson. In 1887 he left Australia and returned to St Petersburg to present his work to the Russian Geographical Society, taking his young family with him. Miklukho-Maklai was in poor health at this time and it was a trip from which he did not return. Despite treatment from Sergei Botkin, Miklukho-Maklai died of an undiagnosed brain tumour, aged 42, in St Petersburg. He was buried in the Volkovo cemetery, but left his skull to the St. Petersburg Military and Medical Academy.

Related Topics:
Premier of New South Wales - John Robertson - 1887 - Russian Geographical Society - Sergei Botkin - Brain tumour

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Miklukho-Maklai's widow returned to Sydney with their children. Until 1917 the scientist's family received a Russian pension. The money was first allocated by Alexander III and then by Nicholas II.

Related Topics:
1917 - Alexander III - Nicholas II

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The building of the Maritime Biological Centre was commandeered by the Australian Ministry of Defence in 1899, as a barracks for officers. The Russian ethnic community in Australia lobbied for the centre to be made into a historical landmark in memory of Nicholai Miklukho-Maklai's scientific work. In 2001, the last military personnel left the building and the building was returned to the public. A bust of Miklukho-Maklai was unveiled to commemorate the occasion.

Related Topics:
1899 - Barrack - Officer - Ethnic - 2001

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In the country of his birth, his life is commemorated through the name of the N.N. Miklukho-Maklai Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology Sciences at the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow.

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