The history of the “Pechora Brigade” of the USSR Academy of Sciences’ PolarCommission is reconstructed, based on the archive documents. In the first half of the 20th century, the Commission had a significant impact on the exploration of the subarctic territories, creation of the Academy of Sciences’ permanent institutions in these areas, and the long-term economic planning for the whole country. On the Commission’s initiative and with the support of the Academy of Sciences’ Council for the Studies on Production Forces, the large-scale, complex expeditions were organized in the Northern Krai in the early 1930s. The Pechora Brigade led by Academician A. P. Karpinsky was one of those expeditions.
In the summer of 1933, the Pechora Brigade visited the major economic centersand regions in the Komi Autonomous Oblast, with the aim to identify together withthe Soviet, economic, and scientific organizations the main strands in the studies of productive forces necessary for tackling the Krai’s economic problems. As a result, a comprehensive study of the region rich in nature and energy resources was carried out. This study determined the direction of the region’s development for many years to come and tied the future of the academic science in this region with the state objectives of major importance. The Pechora Brigade’s principal outputs were the development of the Working Hypothesis of the Economic Exploration of the Ukhta-Pechora Region in 1935–1950 and creation of the Northern Base of the USSR Academy of Sciences, a permanent Academy’s institution in the Northern Krai. For the Academy of Sciences, this was a turn towards rolling out the scientific research not only in the capital but also in the regions. Without such reforms, the Academy would have hardly been able to achieve the upsurge of science in our country in the years to come.
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