The Presidential Library: New acquisitions

The Presidential Library collection has been enriched with video materials of its own production presented as part of the educational project "Video lecture "Knowledge about Russia". The project aims to reflect the anniversaries of Russian history and general issues related to Russian statehood. The main objective of video materials is the development of cultural and spiritual potential of youth, awakening the desire for a deeper study of the history of the Fatherland.

New acquisitions include video lectures (2014), dedicated to the 215th anniversary of the birth of Alexander Pushkin, the 140th anniversary of the birth of Alexander Kolchak, the centenary anniversary of the First World War and the 50th anniversary of coming to power of L. I. Brezhnev.

Candidate of Philology, Honored Worker of Higher Professional Education of the Russian Federation, the leading researcher of the Presidential Library Rustem Anasovich Gimadeev dedicated his lecture Pushkin: service to the Fatherland (35 min 25 s) to the life and work of the great Russian poet. The lecturer presented the way of life of the poet, in the context of the era in which Alexander Sergeevich lived and worked. A particular attention was paid to the outlook of Pushkin and his reflection in the works.

Video lectures A. V. Kolchak: portrait on the background of the era (114 min 21 sec), timed to the 140th anniversary of the birth of Alexander Kolchak, includes newsreels, report of the Director of the Omsk branch of "Russian Cultural Foundation", the historian, local historian Alexei Petrovich Sorokin "A. V. Kolchak. Experience in understanding personality" and the report of the doctor of historical sciences, associate professor, Institute of History St. Petersburg State University Ilya Sergeyevich Ratkovsky «A. V. Kolchak: pro et contra». The subject of discussion was the controversial personality of Admiral and its role in Russian history.

Report of the researcher of the Presidential Library Radomir Sergeyevich Susorov The Russian Empire on the eve and in the first months of the "Great War" (28 min 21 s) is dedicated to the military and economic potential of Russia in the initial period of the First World War.

Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor STU, Scientific Research Institute (VI) of the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Russian Federation Andrey Aleksandrovich Mikhailov timed his lecture Pskov during the First World War (46 min 21 sec) to the centennial of the beginning of the war of 1914-1918. According to the lecturer, the period of the military history of Russia is underestimated, despite the considerable number of works published on this subject. As a rule, this war is seen as imperialist as the prologue to the events of the socialist revolution of 1917, and least of all was a speech about patriotism and the exploits of the soldiers and the population. Recently there have been published many publications devoted to the regions during this period. The author spoke about the heroism and courage of Pskov examples, help the population of veterans and the fate of the city in the difficult years of war. 

Several lectures are devoted to the 50th anniversary of the coming to power of Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev, the 18-year rule of who has not yet received an unambiguous assessment of how professional historians, and not specialists. On the one hand, during this period the Soviet Union reached its economic and military-technical power, on the other - the country to the top of the 1980s was in a state of crisis. For some - a period of "stagnation" without serious upheavals, but also significant achievements, while others remember 1960-80s with nostalgia, as a period of stability and confidence in the future. These and other contradictions "of the Brezhnev era", said Dr. of historical sciences, professor of the Institute of the History of the St. Petersburg State University Matvey Fedorovich Polynov in his lecture Brezhnev era in Soviet history (107 min 48 sec).    

One of the important milestones of political development of "the Brezhnev era" was the adoption of a new constitution, which went down in history as the "Constitution of developed socialism". Adopted October 7, 1977 it has incorporated the basic provisions, developed in the early 1960s. The new law was supposed to fix the basic features of a socialist society, its political system. For the first time the Constitution has been fixed leading and guiding role of the CPSU. There were prescribed new forms of "direct democracy" - public discussion and a referendum, the new civil rights. The law emphasized the "unbreakable bond" the rights and duties of citizens. Constitution of the USSR in 1977 brought closer to the jurisprudence of the law of his time. History of the Constitution of 1977, its structure and essential provisions, as well as the main differences and similarities with the Constitution of 1993 is devoted to a lecture Doctor of Law, Professor, Dean of the Faculty of Law SPbGEU Vadim Vasilyevich Mamonov - Constitution of the USSR of 1977 - the basis of the Soviet state and society (61 min 56 sec).

The preparation of new materials is continued.