Saint Petersburg Institute of History has suffered a hard and unexpected loss. On September 14, 2015 we got information that one of the most outstanding scholars of SPbIH Sergey Viktorovich Yarov suddenly died in the age of 56 years. Sergey Viktorovich had been working in the Institute since 1988. Several scientific works recognized by both scholars and ordinary readers had been published by him in this period.

Sergey Viktorovich Yarov spent a lot of time working with post-graduate students and young scholars; he greatly contributed to their professional growth and development.

His devotion and capacity for work are to be remembered in perpetuity. Let the memory of this remarkable scholar, gifted pedagogue and extraordinary person live on forever.

The collection of articles and materials “The Decembrists: Topical course of studies” (“Dekabristy: Aktualnie napravleniya issledovanii”) composed by P.V. Il’in was published by Nestor-Istoria publishing house.

The book includes the articles by contemporary scholars on urgent issues concerning the history of the Decembrists. The papers touching upon the problems of the Decembrists’ of the ideas of European liberalism, of native tradition of palace revolutions, of Alexander I policy influence on the Decembrists are included in this collection.

Special attention is paid to study of secret societies, analysis of their leaders’ political activity, little-known personalities of the Decembrists and to attitude of society towards the Decembrists.

Background materials including complete information on topography and chronology of the Decembrists’ imprisonment in the Peter and Paul fortress based on the archive materials and unique information about the Commandant’s house of the Peter and Paul Fortress. The collection of articles concludes with the section on the Decembrists’ historiography issues.

The book is addressed to the specialists in the history of the 19th century Russia and to everyone interested in the Russian history.

The publication is done with the financial support of the Federal Agency on Press and Mass Communications of the Russian Federation within the framework of the Federal task-oriented program “The culture of Russia (2012-2018)”.

September 15-16, 2015 at Saint Petersburg Institute of History of the RAS (SPbIH) will be held the All-Russian conference “Alexander I. The tragedy of the reformer: people and the destiny of the reforms, the reforms and the destiny of people”. The conference is organized by Saint Petersburg Institute of History of the RAS and by International D.S. Likhachev charitable fund.

The opening of the conference will take place on September 15 at 10.30 a.m. in the conference hall of SPbIH (Petrozavodskaya str., 7; Chkalovskaya metro station).

The reading hall of the institute archive will be closed for visitors on September, 16 due to the conference meetings.

From September 12 till October 25, 2015 at the New building of the National library of Russia (Saint Petersburg, Moskovsky prospect, 165-2), in the hall of the second floor the exhibition “The collection of books and manuscripts of academician N.P. Likhachev (1862-1936): on the 90- year anniversary of the Paleography museum of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR establishment” will take place.

The exhibition is organized by the National library of Russia, Saint-Petersburg institute of history of the RAS, Scientific library of the SPbIH of the RAS (department of the Library of the RAS), Saint-Petersburg branch of the Archive of the RAS.

Photos, books, and copies of manuscripts from both N.P. Likhachev’s collection and personal library and funds of the Paleography museum will be presented in three sections of the exhibition: 1. N.P. Likhachev as the founder of the Paleography museum; 2. The Paleography museum in the structure of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR; 3. The displays from the Paleography museum collection.

Official opening will take place on September 18, 2015.

Welcome for all comers!

Saint Petersburg Institute of History of the RAS suffered an irreparable loss. One of the most outstanding scholars of the Institute Boris Vasilievich Ananich died on July 20, 2015 in the age of 84 years.
Boris Vasilievich has worked in SPbIH since 1956. Being a striking representative and a passionate patriot of the Petersburg school of history studies he was one of the most prominent specialists in the Russian history of the second half of the 19th – beginning of the 20th century, whose books and articles were well known by both home and foreign scholars and could be included in the capital of Russian science.

Boris Vasilievich was a wonderful man, democratic, cordial and really decent. He supported a lot of people and educated and trained a whole pleiad of progeny.

His death terminates an epoch in history of the Institute.

Let an outstanding scholar and honorable person be remembered forever.

Civil funeral will be on July 25, 2015 in the Saint Petersburg Institute of History of the RAS  at 12.00.
The funeral will take place at Smolenskoye cemetery at 14.00.

Publishing house «Al’yans-Arkheo» in a series of books “Tikhvinskii arkhiv” (“Tikhvin archive”) issued a new book “Materialy po istorii Uspenskogo Tikhvinskogo monastyrya”, vyp. 1: Akty i materialy pistsovogo dela, ch. 1: 1560—1644 gg. M., SPb., 2015 (“Materials on history of Tikhvin Assumption monastery”, issue 1: Acts and penmen materials, part 1: 1560-1644. M., SPb., 2015) compiled by O.A. Abelentseva. ISBN 978-5-98874-110-7. A series of books “Tikhvinskii arkhiv” (“Tikhvin archive”) aims to publish documents on history of age-old Russian town Tikhvin. Revealed and published documents from the fund 132 “Tikhvin Assumption monastery” of the Archive of SPbIH of the RAS on different aspects of medieval history of Tikhvin will compose this series. The book is published as a part of the grant project of Saint Petersburg State University “Monastyri Severo-Zapada Rossii: istoriya i arkhivnoe nasledie” (“Monasteries of the North West of Russia: history and archival heritage”) 5.38.680.2013.

Plenary session

19th All-Russian scientific conference “Penmen books and other mass sources of the 16th-21st centuries”, timed to the centenary of Alexander Ilich Kopanev was conducted from July 1 till July 4. Opening, plenary session and sessions of sections on July, 1 took place at Saint Petersburg Institute of History of the RAS, while on July, 2-3 the conference’s sessions and round table were conducted at the Centre of history studies of Saint-Petersburg campus of the National Research University “Higher School of Economics”. More than 50 scholars from Moscow, St Petersburg, Novgorod, Pskov and other cities participated in this conference and delivered their reports.