POPOV MEMORIAL MUSEUM

5 ulitsa Professors Popova 197376 St. Petersburg
Open: 11am - 5pm
Closed: Saturdays and Sundays
Tel. 234-5900
Nearest metro station: Petrogradskaya

The museum is devoted to the life and work of Alexander Stepanovich Popov (1859-1905/06), an outstanding physicist and electrotechnician, who was one of the first to use electromagnetic waves. The museum comprises Popov's laboratory and apartment.

The laboratory was opened in 1948 at the Electrotechnical Institute where Popov held the post of professor and head of the department of physics (from 1901), before becoming director in 1905. On display are documents relating to Popov's life and work, as well as the instruments and pieces of apparatus that he created, including the radio set by which he proved the possibility of wireless communication.

Popov's apartment was opened to visitors in 1967. The scholar lived here from 1903 to 1905. The interiors of the drawing-room, dining-room and the study have been completely restored. More than 2,000 exhibits are to be seen here. The collection is all the more interesting because it gives an idea about the lifestyle of St.Petersburg's scientific intelligentsia in the early 20th century.