{"title":"For fame and fortune: the origins of St Petersburg’s zoo, 1865–1871","authors":"Anton Kotenko","doi":"10.1017/s0963926824000269","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p>In the 1860s, the first zoos appeared in the Romanov empire. This article deals with the reasons for their establishment by looking into the early history of St Petersburg’s zoo, which has not been explicitly discussed in the historiography. By situating its history in the global context, it argues that, on the one hand, St Petersburg’s zoo was founded because the city’s officials wanted to enhance the fame of the capital of their empire in the globalizing world of the nineteenth century. On the other hand, the founder of the zoo had other motivations and was principally driven by mercantile considerations. Thus, St Petersburg’s zoological garden is presented as one of the important social spaces and points of reference of the Romanov empire’s capital, which could bring fame and fortune to the zoo’s owners and the city in which it was located.</p>","PeriodicalId":45626,"journal":{"name":"Urban History","volume":"112 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.4000,"publicationDate":"2024-05-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Urban History","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s0963926824000269","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"HISTORY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
In the 1860s, the first zoos appeared in the Romanov empire. This article deals with the reasons for their establishment by looking into the early history of St Petersburg’s zoo, which has not been explicitly discussed in the historiography. By situating its history in the global context, it argues that, on the one hand, St Petersburg’s zoo was founded because the city’s officials wanted to enhance the fame of the capital of their empire in the globalizing world of the nineteenth century. On the other hand, the founder of the zoo had other motivations and was principally driven by mercantile considerations. Thus, St Petersburg’s zoological garden is presented as one of the important social spaces and points of reference of the Romanov empire’s capital, which could bring fame and fortune to the zoo’s owners and the city in which it was located.
期刊介绍:
Urban History occupies a central place in historical scholarship, with an outstanding record of interdisciplinary contributions, and a broad-based and distinguished panel of referees and international advisors. Each issue features wideranging research articles covering social, economic, political and cultural aspects of the history of towns and cities. The journal coverage is worldwide in its scope. In addition, it hosts innovative multi-media websites - including graphics, sound and interactive elements - to accompany selected print articles. The journal also includes book reviews, reviews of recent PhD theses, and surveys of recent articles in academic journals.