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| Best of Collectors |
Vladimir PELEPENKO
Vladimir Andreevich Pelepenko is one of the most prominent mineral collector in Russia. He lives in Middle Urals - in the city of Ekaterinburg. His collection, which have been built during last 30 years, includes more then 17,000 specimens, covering 956 mineral species.
Geography of specimens is mostly Russia and Former Soviet Republics. A lot of specimens come from Kazakhstan, Tadzhikistan, Turkmeniya and Uzbekistan, East Siberia and Far East. About a quarter of his collection is made up of minerals from famous Dalnegorsk boron and polymetallic deposit. He collected there beautiful clusters of fluorite crystals, quartz of unusual forms, calcite, danburite, datolite and many other minerals. A considerable part of Pelepenko's collection made up of Ural minerals - emeralds, chrysoberyls, malachite, topazes of Mursinka, amethyst from Vatikha, etc...
For many years Vladimir dreamed to open a public Mineralogical Museum. Two years ago, in 2001 Vladimir Pelepenko's dream became reality: he opened the first private public Mineralogical Museum in Ural. It obtained official status of public museum and now is entitled: "Urals Mineralogical Museum". It is situated at the very center of Ekaterinburg, the capital of Middle Urals. There are two halls with exposition cases in the museum with more then 2,000 specimens in them.
Though very young, Vladimir's museum is very well known and popular in Russia. Thousand of visitors have already been there, and many thousands are still to come. College student groups from different cities visit the Museum during their vacations; professional mineralogists and high school professors come to see this outstanding collection. Every person notwithstanding his profession finds a lot of interesting and beautiful things in Pelepenko's Museum. Besides mineral specimens, there are fascinating stone carvings made by talented Ural stone cutters, which are a special object of Pelepenko's collecting. One can see traditional human and animal characters soulfully carved of rock crystal, rhodonite, jasper and other gems.
Another technique - mosaic art in traditionally used for decoration of table chimney clock, columns and vases. There are several unique artifacts in Pelepenko exhibit, made in the best traditions of world stone carving and architecture art of mosaic.
Vladimir is constantly in search for new specimens, traveling and traveling over pits, deposits and quarries.
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Vladimir & Yulia PELEPENKO Click On Picture To Go Back.
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