Аннотация:G.I. Fischer von Waldheim in 1804 invited to Moscow by the patron of the Moscow University M.N. Muravyov to take the chair in natural history of the new Physical and Mathematical Department of the University and the post of director of the university Natural History Museum. He contributed heavily to organization and development of Russian science and education, as well as to the progress of museum studies/ But he is most famous as the founder and the first director of the one of the oldest Russian scientific societies – the Moscow Society of Naturalists. Critical analysis of the available literature on the history of this society reveals certain contradictions and discrepancies related to dating of actual events and to the role of the patron of the Moscow University M.N. Muravyov, the first president of the society count A/K/ Rasumovskii, and Fischer von Waldheim himself in creating organizational and scientific principles of the society. In the present paper an attempt is made to reconstruct the course of events that have led to the foundation of the society, to understand to what extent his original plan was brought to life, and what part of his plan was never realized.