History and Culture: Ceremony of presentation of Official certificate for Ostromir Gospel’s inclusion in UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register

On January 26th 2012 at 4.30 p.m. the National Library of Russia (St. Petersburg) (Main Building) will run a ceremony of presentation of the Official certificate for inclusion of the Ostromir Gospel - one of the NLR’s treasures - into the UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register.

The certificate will be presented by the Head of the Federal Archival Agency of Russia, the Chair of the Russian Committee of UNESCO’s Memory of the World Program – Andrei Artizov.

The Ostromir Gospel – is the world’s earliest dated East Slavonic manuscript book to date. Its historical and cultural value is exceptional – this is the First Russian Book. The Ostromir Gospel marks the beginning of Russian written language and nowadays is believed to be the symbol of the 1000-year-long history of Russian culture.

The Ostromir Gospel was made in 1056-1057. It was commissioned by the eminent Novgorod Governor Ostromir and was intended as a donation to St. Sophia Cathedral in Veliky Novgorod. The text is written in Old Russian in large script. The manuscript is richly decorated with miniatures, headpieces and initials. Judging by the note made by scribe Gregory, this book had a special genuinely national importance.

The valuable manuscript was kept in St. Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod for several hundred years, and then removed to Moscow Kremlin, while in 1720 by the order of Peter the Great the book was dispatched to St. Petersburg. In 1806 the Ostromir Gospel was deposited in the Imperial Public Library (currently the National Library of Russia). Electronic copy of the Ostromir Gospel is available at the Presidential Library.

In 2011 UNESCO Committee took a decision to include the Ostromir Gospel in the Memory of the World Register.

The UNESCO’s Memory of the World Program aims at preserving and disseminating of valuable archive holdings and library collections worldwide. It reflects the diversity of languages, peoples and cultures and is the mirror of the world and its memory. However, this memory is fragile: every day irreplaceable parts of this memory disappear forever. Nowadays Memory of the World Register (established in 1992) includes 193 entries – archive and library collections as well as manuscripts which make the documentary heritage - in 83 countries.