The Presidential Library’s video lecture spotlighted the personality and state activities of Pyotr Stolypin

On April 14, 2022 the Presidential Library hosted a video lecture “…We need a great Russia!” as part of the Knowledge of Russia project. The event marking the 160th anniversary of the birth of Pyotr Arkadyevich Stolypin was attended by authoritative Russian historians.

Stolypin found himself at the pinnacle of his political career during the difficult time for Russia of the first Russian revolution (1905-1907). His work has been criticized and praised. Stolypin himself was sure: "The motherland requires a service so sacrificially pure that the slightest thought of personal gain darkens the soul and paralyzes work" and was true to this principle throughout his life. “The tragic death in office was, as it were, the apotheosis of all the activities of Pyotr Stolypin”, – this is how his contemporary publicist Alexander Izgoev summed up the public service of the prime minister in his book “Pyotr Stolypin: essay about life and career” (1912). The publication is available on the Presidential Library’s portal.

Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor of the Department of Russian History from Ancient Times to the Beginning of the 20th Century of the Institute of History of St. Petersburg State University Mikhail Florinsky considered Stolypin's activities as Prime Minister of the Russian Empire as part of the lecture “Pyotr Stolypin at the head of the government of the Russian Empire”.

The issue of Stolypin's relationship with Emperor Nicholas II is still debatable and remains one of the key issues in the study of Russian history at the beginning of the 20th century. Candidate of Historical Sciences, Senior Research Fellow of the Department of New Russian History of the St. Petersburg Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences Sergey Kulikov revealed this topic in his lecture "Stolypin and Nicholas II: rivalry and cooperation?"

Additional information about the life and career of Stolypin is available in numerous sources on the Presidential Library’s portal in the collection Pyotr Stolypin (1862–1911) which contains various documentary materials including correspondence and texts of speeches by Stolypin, in particular, as chairman of the Council of Ministers before the members of the State Duma as well as studies and essays dedicated to him. Documents related to the assassination of Stolypin and photographs from the collections of the Russian State Archive of Film and Photo Documents are highlighted.

The video lecture is available on the institution's YouTube channel.

Interactive lessons and video lectures are regularly held at the Presidential Library. Detailed information is available on the institution's portal in Multimedia Lessons section and in the Video lecture - for school section, which features records of lectures and open lessons held at the Presidential Library.