Statistical Scientists in the Academy of Sciences: To Mark the 300th Anniversary of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS)

Abstract

The paper covers the 300 years of the history of the Russian Academy of Sciences, which embodies the intellectual potential of Russia. The authors focus on the figures of academic scientists who have left their mark on the history of Russian statistics. It is stressed that the choice of personalities – members and corresponding members of the Academy of Sciences – was relative due to the complex structure of the Academy itself when а branch or a department of the Academy nominates a scientist to the rank of an academician or a corresponding member, as well as an ambiguity of a scientist’s contribution if the area of subsequent activity of the elected member of the RAS strained from the profile of the nominating division of the Academy. When discussing personal achievements, the authors adhered only to chronology, consistently moving from one historical phase to another, from one system of government to another. It is difficult to review the three centuries of the Academy of Sciences in any detail; this explains the lapidary style and the lack of description of the features of Russian history in each period and their impact on scientific research priorities. The article may be of interest to researchers, teachers and post-graduate students of economic universities, as well as employees of state statistics institutions in Russia.