Long Abstract
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Sergei V. Geiman, the member of the Second Russian expedition to South America (1914-1915), in the spring of 1915 made a trip to Chile (provinces of Araucania, Valdivia, Llanquihue, Chiloe). New documents and photographs from the Russian archives reflect the cultures of Chile in the early 20th century. Many prominent persons contributed to the success of the field research of the Second Russian expedition to South America (1914-1915). Sergei V. Geiman, was supplied with important recommendation letters in Buenos Aires. The director of the Department of Anthropology of the La Plata Museum Dr. Robert Lehmann-Nietzsche addressed to Rev. P. Fray Félix José de Augusta (Convento Capuchino, Valdivia) and to Thomas Guevara (specialist in cultures of the Mapuche Indians). Prof. Cristóbal María Hicken addressed Prof. Carlos Reed, the director of the Mendoza Museum (Argentina), and also suggested logistics options for the voyage. Geiman traveled to distant settlements, stayed at Misión Araucana in Temuco (under Padre Carlos Sadleir) and Misión Panguipulli (under Padre Siegfrid von Frauenhäusl). He met the leaders of the Mapuche (Araucan) Indians. In Temuco, the Mapuches themselves systematized the ethnographic items they helped to collect, and the collections became part of the Museo Etnográfico de la Faculdad de Filosofía y Letras in Buenos Aires (Argentina) and Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography in St. Petersburg (Russia). In March 1915, Geiman traveled through the province of Llanquihue where he solved another task of the expedition: Enrique Miguel donated a collection of samples of trees from southern Chile for the Botanical Museum. Geiman went to Punta Arenas on the ship "Chiloé" to meet the Chilotes and study their culture. Geiman published four articles in Spanish admiring the fortitude of the Mapuche (Araucans) and the uniqueness of the Selk'nam (Onas) people. Polymorphism of Russian scientific expeditions on the Eve of the First World War: interdisciplinary character (typology) of anthropological expeditions to South Asia and South America
