The Museum of Intelligence Officer Nikolai Kuznetsov displays a photograph from 1928 showing the future Hero of the Soviet Union and legendary partisan Nikolai Ivanovich Kuznetsov as a first-year student at the Talitsa Forestry College.

Nikolai Kuznetsov enrolled at the Tyumen Agricultural College in 1926. There, he joined the Komsomol and became actively involved in public life. In June 1927, he received a telegram informing him of his father’s death. Devastated by the loss, he decided to leave college to help support his family and soon returned to his native village of Zyryanka. However, his mother, Anna Petrovna Kuznetsova, urged him to continue his education — fulfilling the wish of his late father.

In September 1927, Kuznetsov enrolled at the Talitsa Forestry College. Student life there was demanding yet rewarding. Alongside specialized forestry subjects, the curriculum emphasized practical skills essential for life in the wilderness: terrain navigation, map reading, long-distance skiing, and marksmanship — abilities that would later prove invaluable in his partisan activities.

A 1929 note from the Talitsa Forestry College’s labor union characterized Nikolai Kuznetsov as follows: “…Comrade Kuznetsov has been engaged in public work since entering the college in 1927. From 1927 to 1928, he served as public secretary of the OSOAVIAKHIM [Society for the Promotion of Defense, Aviation and Chemical Construction] cell and as a member of the union, where he chaired the commission for cultural and mass activities. He currently serves as chairman of the [Talitsa Forestry College] labor union. Throughout his studies, Comrade Kuznetsov has consistently participated in grassroots campaigns both within and beyond the college, including grain requisitioning, sowing initiatives, and other essential tasks”.

P.V. Lugovykh, former head of the college’s educational department, recalled: