Savinova T. A. Unknown IRTUR and its Head G.K. Riesenkampf: On the history of the development of Central Asia // The Russian Peasant Studies. 2026. V.11. №2. P. 48-66.
EDN: HMVQLZ
Annotation
The article considers the origins, development, activities and liquidation of one of the first Soviet organizations created by V. I. Lenin’s decrees in 1918 — Directorate of Irrigation Works in Turkestan (IRTUR). The author aims at describing the grandiose tasks set for this institution and its head and the influence of complex historical conditions in Russia in 1914–1920 on their solution. The article focuses on the activities of the technical director and chairman of the IRTUR Board, an outstanding scientist and hydraulic engineer G. K. Riesenkampf, an author of some ambitious irrigation projects, including Golodnostepsky (Riesenkampf’s full biography is given, including the last tragic pages). The work of some of his colleagues in the IRTUR is also mentioned — soil scientist N. A. Dimo, economist B. K. Lodygin and architect F. O. Shekhtel. The article is based on archival documents from institutional funds and personal funds of hydraulic engineers from the Russian State Archive of Economics (RGAE), most of which are introduced into scientific circulation for the first time.
Keywords
Irrigation, land reclamation, Hungry Steppe, Turkestan, Department of Land Improvements, B. K. Lodygin, F. O. Shekhtel.
About the author
Tatyana A. Savinova, PhD (Economics), Head of the Department of Organizational and Planning Work, Russian State Archive of Economics. B. Pirogovskaya St., 17, bldg. 9, Moscow, 119435.
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