St. Petersburg to hold the events marking the 150th anniversary of serfdom abolition

St. Petersburg will mark the 150th anniversary of the issue of Manifesto on serfdom abolition in Russia. The Presidential Library will take part in festive events.

As a part of historical jubilee celebration the Presidential Library exhibition halls will highlight the “Authority and society on their way to peasant reform” exposition.

The exposition centerpiece is the legal documents reflecting the history of enslavement and liberation of the peasants. At the head of the list of documents will be the Russian Pravda, the oldest national law, which formally regulated relations of the state and society with diverse groups of dependent people. The final document will be an electronic copy of the Manifesto of 1861, abolishing serfdom.

An important part of the exhibition will represent the exhibits, depicting the historical and cultural atmosphere of the second half of the 19th century. Among them there are journalistic, literary materials, objects from collections of paintings and numismatic collections.

“The Manifesto was issued in St. Petersburg so it is our city which has to provide an opportunity for discussion of the significance of serfdom abolition and media coverage”, - noted the city governor V. I. Matvienko on the eve of the celebrations.

March 3, 2011 in Mariinsky palace, with informational support of the Presidential Library, will be held a theoretical and practical conference “Great reforms and modernization in Russia”. The conference, marking the 150th anniversary of the issue of Manifesto on serfdom abolition, is to be attended by famous historians, politicians and statesmen.

The Manifesto abolishing serfdom and the "Regulations on the peasants, released from serfdom" were signed by Alexander II on February 19 (March 3), 1861.