Crimean-Caucasian Mountain Club

The Crimean-Caucasian Mountain Club was created on the model of the so-called alpine clubs well-known in Europe. They arose in Europe for the study of mountainous areas and travel arrangements not only for scientists, but also for the general public ^[2] .

The Crimean-Caucasian Mountain Club began its activities on May 6, 1890. However, the foundation day of the club should be considered the approval by the Minister of Internal Affairs of its charter on January 25, 1890, after which the first meeting of 15 founding members was convened, at which an interim board was elected. Initially, it was called the Crimean Mountain Club, as it had the goal of exploring the Crimean Mountains. Officially, the club was run by the Ministry of Agriculture and State Property ^[3] .

The club’s administrative center was in Odessa , a major scientific and cultural center in southern Russia.

Over the course of more than thirty years, the club’s charter has changed four times, reflecting the development of business goals and organizational structure. Since 1905, it became known as the Crimean-Caucasian Mountain Club in connection with the growing interest in studying the Caucasus and the emergence of new branches outside the Crimea ^[2] .

The chairmen of the club in different years were ^[2] :

1. The first chairman from May 1890 to February 1891 was Count Nikolai Yakovlevich Rostovtsev .
2. The second chairman was elected mining engineer, head of the Mining Administration of Southern Russia in Yekaterinoslavl, the author of many scientific works Lev Pavlovich Dolinsky (1839-1892). He served as chairman from February 1891 to June 1892.
3. The third chairman was the director of the Russian Society of Shipping and Trade (ROPIT), a graduate of the Alexander Lyceum, Nikolai Fedorovich Fan der Flit (1840-1896). He presided from June 1892 to November 1894 and left this post, having moved to Petersburg to serve in the Ministry of Finance.
4. The fourth chairman of the club, who had been in this post for more than twenty years, was Alexander L. Berthier-Delagard (1842-1920) - a military engineer, builder, historian, archaeologist and numismatist. Alexander Lvovich was also vice-president and de facto leader of the Odessa Society of History and Antiquities .
5. The fifth chairman of the club since April 1914 was the lawyer Evgeny Fedorovich Molchanov, who served as senior notary of the city of Odessa.

The club had several branches.

• On April 16, 1891, the Sevastopol branch was opened, which was exclusively engaged in organizing excursions. However, from 1897 to April 9, 1902, the activities of the Sevastopol branch were suspended. Then it continued to work until 1908, after which it was closed.
• April 23, 1891 the Yalta branch was opened
• The Yekaterinoslav branch functioned from February 22, 1902 for about 3 years.
• Gagra branch - from April 12, 1903 to September 18, 1908,
• Bessarabian - acted from 1903 to March 21, 1910,
• Baku - from May 29, 1908 to January 26, 1914,
• The Riga branch worked from October 13, 1911 until 1914.
• Later than others, on August 2, 1916, a branch of the Crimean-Caucasian Mountain Club in Feodosia was opened. It had 2 sections: museum-lecture and school-excursion.

The club annually published "Notes of the Crimean-Caucasian Mountain Club", Odessa, 1891-1917. ^[one]

• Crimean-Caucasian Mountain Club (Russian) . Republican Committee for the Protection of the Cultural Heritage of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. Date of treatment April 10, 2012. (unavailable link)