The article highlights questions related to the history of “Slavic collection” at Alexander University in Helsingfors in the first half of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Particular attention is paid to the professional activities of S. V. Solovyov, J. K. Grot, S. I. Baranovsky, M. Akiander, F. Nordqvist, I. E. Mandelstam, S. A. Korff, A. V. Igelstrom in the case of consolidating the Slavic book collection of the Russian library and turning it into a leading center of European culture.