The Presidential Library donated unique documents on the history of the republic to the Presidential Library of Republic of Belarus

Digital copies of unique archival documents related to the history of Belarus were donated by the Presidential Library to the Presidential Library of Republic of Belarus, which this year celebrates the 90th anniversary of its foundation.

Director of the Presidential Library of Republic of Belarus, Sergei Kvachan, and the staff of the institution were congratulated on the anniversary by the head of the Information and Communication Technologies Department of the Administrative Directorate of the President of the Russian Federation, Sergei Grinevich, and Director General of the Presidential Library, subordinate to the Administrative Directorate of the President of Russia, Yuri Nosov. They expressed the hope that the strong friendly ties that have been established between the libraries will become the basis for fruitful cooperation and numerous joint projects. 

On the occasion of the anniversary, the Presidential Library of Republic of Belarus was donated digital copies of archival documents from the collections of the first electronic national library of Russia - maps of the Minsk province of the 19th century, ethnographic research, including photographs of the ethnographer and folklorist of the early 19th century Alexander Serzhputovsky, depicting the life and way of life of the Belarusian villages, a handwritten collection of 1892 Belarusian folk legends, epics and songs, with a description of some rituals, customs, and holidays. Of particular interest are documents on the history of the famous Radziwill dynasty, which were associated with the territory of modern Belarus: historical essays and genealogical diagrams of the Radziwills, compiled by archaeologist and historian Konstantin Borozdin in the second quarter of the 19th century. 

In addition, the publication of a manuscript of Belarusian folk songs specially prepared for the anniversary of the Presidential Library of Republic of Belarus was donated. They were collected and recorded on the instructions of the Russian Geographical Society by Grigory Ivanovich Kulzhinsky in the Minsk province in the middle of the 19th century. This manuscript has not been published previously.

On the Presidential Library portal you can familiarize yourself with the electronic collection Russia – Belarus. the History of Relations. It includes official documents and archival materials,  research papers, cartographic and visual materials that illustrate Russian-Belarusian interaction.