About the museum

The Chizhevsky Memorial house museum was opened in February 2010 in Kaluga in the Chizhevskys’ residence, being one of the departments of Konstantin E. Tsiolkovsky State Museum of the History of Cosmonautics

The author of the museum concept is T.P. Polyakov, a well-known expert in museum designing whose underlying idea was to display the exposition in the form of recollections: as if Chizhevsky himself wandering through the rooms he long ago deserted is trying to remember his young days. His memory picks up different episodes and fragments linked to this or that event which used to take place there. Was it really so or have the bygone years altered the perception? Who knows?

Theme and exposition plan was designed by L.T. Engelhart and A.V. Manakin which was put into life by A.A.Tavrizov, People’s Artist of the Russian Federation.

Currently the museum houses 7 exposition halls: “The arrival of the Chizhevskys in Kaluga”, the scientific-biographical hall, the study of Major General Chizhevsky L. V., the own room of Alexander Chizhevsky, the room of Leonid Chizhevsky’s sister, who literally replaced Alexander’s mother died early in life, a fragment of the dining-room. The exposition in the attic reflects the development of Chizhevsky’s ideas in the domains of heliobiology and aero-ionization. A fragment of his last Moscow flat, which contains the scientist’s genuine belongings, is also exhibited there. The attic has an observatory equipped with the telescope “Mizar” allowing the observation of sunspots.

On the ground floor there is an exhibition hall with various exhibitions being displayed. Each year on the birthday of Alexander Chizhevsky and on his Commemorative day the genuine water colour paintings of the scientist (from Konstantin E. Tsiolkovsky State Museum of the History of Cosmonautics collections)are exhibited there.