Science Around Us Foundation

August 2017

Restoration of the Narkevich-Iodkos’ Family Estate Nadneman

The prominent Belarusian natural scientist Yakub Ottonovich Narkevich-Iodko (1847-1905) is one of the most significant figures in the history of scientific thought of our country. He is the author of major scientific research works at the intersection of Physics, Meteorology, Medicine, and Psychology, pioneering works in the sphere of electromagnetic radiation and its application in medicine, the author of an anti-hail system, and takes priority in the invention of radio. He is also the initiator of systematic meteorological and phenological observations in Minsk province and an active supporter of large-scale use of atmospheric electric energy in agriculture.

The name of Narkevich-Iodko is associated with a radical change in the understanding of the role of Belarus in the development of science and culture in the world. Interest to his research works in the 1980s marked the beginning of systematic research into the history of the development of scientific and technical thought in our country. As a result, the names of hundreds of outstanding scientists originating from Belarus were returned from oblivion, the name of Narkevich-Iodko among them.

In 2009, the family estate of the scientist, the Nadneman manor complex, was included in the top ten unique historical and architectural monuments of Belarus that require urgent restoration. Thanks to the financial support of the Science Around Us Foundation, restoration of Nadneman started in 2015.

. http://sciencearoundus.org/ru/restoration-of-the-nadneman-manor-narkevich-jodko-family-estate/

On August 17–18, 2017, in the year of the 120^th anniversary of the birth of Y. O. Narkevich-Iodko, historians and regional ethnographers, physicists and physicians gathered in his home grounds to discuss aspects of further study and practical application of his scientific heritage, the issues of restoration of the Nadneman manor, and the prospects of using the estate complex for educational purposes and for the development of regional ethnography and tourism in Uzda district.

Well-known scientists native to Uzda district, such as academicians of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus N. S. Kazak, G. M. Lych, E. I. Marukovich, Professors V. I. Bernik, L. M. Lych, N. A. Poklonsky, took an active part in the seminar that was also attended by the Dean of the Faculty of Physics of BSU, Professor V. M. Anischik, Associate Professor N. I. Gorbachuk, and graduate student A. N. Derevyago. Several reports were presented including one dedicated to the methods of recording discharges of electricity in the atmosphere of the Earth by Professor P. V. Kuchinsky, as well as the report of O. A. Gaponenko on the main stages of studying the biography and scientific heritage of Y. O. Narkevich-Iodko.

The seminar was also attended by representatives of the ancient Belarusian family of Narkevich-Iodko: Professor Mikhael Slavinsky and his wife Elena Patarini-Slavinsky, Rafal and Isabella Narkevich-Iodko, Natalia, Margarita, and Georgi Narkevich-Iodko, Leocadia, Leonida, and Alina Narkevich-Iodko-Zmachinsky, Vladimir Korotkevich, Elena Grigorenko, Sergei Iodko, and Gennady Narkevich. A special section was devoted to the history of their family. The miraculously preserved photographs from their family archives allowed to make a new step in the specification of the Narkevichh-Iodko family network and sparked the keen interest of the participants.

They also discussed the issues related to the course of restoration efforts at the Nadneman manor. The chairman of the Y. O. Narkevich-Iodko Foundation board Professor V. A. Samuilov provided an overview of the problems and plans of restoration. The plans include creation of a Laboratory Museum of the Scientist as well as a scientific and educational center with meteorological and scientific laboratories. The team already prepared a collection of scientific and applied equipment of the XVIII-XIX centuries that corresponded to the sphere of work of the scientist and the scientific atmosphere of that time to be exhibited at the museum and laboratory.

The creativity section of the seminar included an exposition of works by artists participating in the open-air painting organized in the Kukhtichi manor and park complex. Several paintings including a portrait of Y. O. Narkevich-Iodko by A. Belyavsky were presented to Uzda Regional Museum of Local History.

Links:

Front gate before restoration

Front gate today

Coach house before restoration

Coach house today