PARTICIPATION OF ACADEMIC LIBRARIES IN PREPARATION FOR CELEBRATING THE 220th ANNIVERSARY OF THE RUSSIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES IN 1945

Here the authors present another article from the series devoted to the work of libraries of academic institutions and their staff during the Great Patriotic War. The article bases on the documents found in the archive of the Library for Natural Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow and St. Petersburg Archives of the Academy of Sciences. The authors used the general scientific methodology, applying source study, archaeographic and analytical-synthetic methods of work with archival documents. This work is devoted to the grandiose event, preparation to which took place in in the last war months – the 220th anniversary of the USSR Academy of Sciences celebration. Preparation for this jubilee celebration was complex one, engaging various specialists and reflecting different directions of scientific development in the country. Large-scale book and rare archive documents exhibitions in which the best library specialists of the USSR Academy of Sciences took part displayed successes of the Russian science. These jubilee arrangements were to demonstrate the history of the development of science in Russia and the Soviet state power having won the severe war. When arranging jubilee celebrations the USSR Academy of Science librarians used the experience acquired while organizing famous scientists books’ exhibitions in the most difficult period of the Great Patriotic War. There were exhibited book treasures from the collections of academic libraries and archives as well as the results of studies of soviet scientists, foreign scientific publications that included native scientists’ articles. These exhibitions took place in Moscow and Leningrad – the cradle of the Russian Academy of Sciences. During this hard war period, the State allotted considerable resources for the jubilee arrangements, attaching great importance to international contacts of native scientists, showing their impact into the global science. The jubilee exhibitions revealed the big potential of the USSR Academy of Science libraries in spite of the enormous stuff and resources loss during the war. The experience of holding events on celebrating the anniversary of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR in 1945 may be useful in organizing work on the upcoming 300-th anniversary of the Russian Academy of Sciences in 2024.

1. Arkhiv Rossiiskoi akademii nauk. Sankt-Peterburgskii filial [Archive of the Russian Academy of Sciences. St. Petersburg branch]. F. 3. Op. 1. D. 1. L. 204 ob. Cases prior to the AS establishment. (In Russ.).

2. Steklov V. A. Perepiska s otechestvennymi matematikami. Vospominaniya [Correspondence with Russian mathematicians. Memoirs]. Leningrad, Nauka, 1991. 373 p. (In Russ.).

3. Arkhiv Rossiiskoi akademii nauk [Archive of the Russian Academy of Sciences]. F. 519. Op. 1. D. 23. L. 37, 45, 58, 58 ob., 69, 75, 77, 78. Plans for events of the anniversary session. (In Russ.).

4. Arkhiv Rossiiskoi akademii nauk [Archive of the Russian Academy of Sciences]. F. 519. Op. 1. D. 20. Lists of foreign scientists who attended the Anniversary session of the USSR Academy of Sciences. (In Russ.).

5. Arkhiv Rossiiskoi akademii nauk [Archive of the Russian Academy of Sciences]. F. 519. Op. 1. D. 5. L. 16. Materials for the meeting of the Jubilee Committee, February 1945. (In Russ.).

6. Arkhiv Rossiiskoi akademii nauk [Archive of the Russian Academy of Sciences]. F. 519. Op. 1. D. 44. L. 42. Correspondence on economic issues in connection with the 220th anniversary of the USSR Academy of Sciences. (In Russ.).

7. Arkhiv Rossiiskoi akademii nauk [Archive of the Russian Academy of Sciences]. F. 1845. Op. 1. D. 25. L. 42, 45, 46, 48, 49. A report on the sector activity for 1945 (In Russ.).

8. Arkhiv BEN RAN [Archive of the Library for Natural Sciences RAS]. Op. 4. D. 7. L. 17, 21. Orders on personnel for 1945. (In Russ.).

9. Arkhiv Rossiiskoi akademii nauk. Sankt-Peterburgskii filial [Archive of the Russian Academy of Sciences. St. Petersburg branch]. F. 158. Op. 3. D. 8. L. 59. Correspondence on organizing and participating exhibitions including the anniversary exhibition of the Academy of Sciences. (In Russ.).

10. Arkhiv Rossiiskoi akademii nauk [Archive of the Russian Academy of Sciences]. F. 519. Op. 1. D. 13. L. 9. A note on preparations to celebrate the 220th anniversary of the USSR Academy of Sciences. (In Russ.).

11. Arkhiv Rossiiskoi akademii nauk [Archive of the Russian Academy of Sciences]. F. 519. Op. 1. D. 48. L. 39+ob. Correspondence on tools and materials related to the 220th anniversary of the USSR Academy of Sciences. (In Russ.).

12. Arkhiv Rossiiskoi akademii nauk [Archive of the Russian Academy of Sciences]. F. 519. Op. 1. D. 41. L. 27, 31, 44. Correspondence about exhibitions in connection with the 220th anniversary of the USSR Academy of Sciences. (In Russ.).

13. Arkhiv Rossiiskoi akademii nauk [Archive of the Russian Academy of Sciences]. F.519. Op.1. D.37. Correspondence with the Council of Ministers, Ministry of Defence, and Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the USSR on administrative-economic issues related to the 220th anniversary of the USSR. (In Russ.).

14. Vavilov S. I. 220 years of the USSR Academy of Sciences. Istoricheskii zhurnal, 1945, 5: 70–74. (In Russ.).

15. Arkhiv BEN RAN [Archive of the Library for Natural Sciences RAS]. Op. 7. D. 56A. L. 122, 123. Documentary materials on the history of the Library for Natural Sciences. (In Russ.).

16. The exhibition "The Academy of Sciences for two hundred and twenty years". Krasnaya Zvezda, 1945, June 20: 2. (In Russ.).

17. Arkhiv Rossiiskoi akademii nauk. Sankt-Peterburgskii filial [Archive of the Russian Academy of Sciences. St. Petersburg branch]. F. 158. Op. 3. D. 9.38. Correspondence on organizing the exhibition for the 220th anniversary of the USSR Academy of Sciences. (In Russ.).

18. Arkhiv Rossiiskoi akademii nauk [Archive of the Russian Academy of Sciences]. F. 519. Op. 1. D. 50. L. 4. Minutes of the solemn meetings of the Jubilee Session of the USSR Academy of Sciences in Moscow and Leningrad. (In Russ.).

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