Boris Yeltsin and constitutional reform of 1993

February 1, 2011 the Presidential Library opened an exposition in honor of the 80th anniversary of the first publicly elected Russian President B. N. Yeltsin. The core of the exhibition is represented by the materials on elaboration of the current “Yeltsin’s” Constitution of 1993.

A part of the exposition covers the event which determined the unique character of the Russian Federation Constitution. In 1990 the Head of Constitutional Committee B. N. Yeltsin announced a public contest for the best project of the new Constitution. Every Russian citizen could take part in the contest.

In all there were 40 projects submitted. A draft of the Constitution of the Russian Federation was published the same year in a special issue of “Arguments and facts” paper. The exposition presents the Constitution projects submitted for the contest, press publications dating to the period of discussion and adoption of the Basic Law of the state.

In the center of the exposition is the fundamental work “From the history of creation of the RF Constitution. Constitutional Committee: shorthand reports, materials, documents (1990-1993)”.  Besides official publications of 1990s the book includes documents from personal archives of members, experts and employees of the Constitutional Committee.

The exhibited historic and legislative documents reflect the stages of creation of the Constitution of the Russian Federation. Photographs, memoirs, shorthand reports of the Constitutional Committee sessions illustrate the work of B. N. Yeltsin as the leader and ideological inspirer of the Constitutional reform.

Worthy of mentioning are the documents provided by the A. Sobchak Museum of democracy formation in modern Russia: the Constitution of the Russian Federation presented to A. A. Sobchak by B. N. Yeltsin, President’s instruction on the establishment of the Public Chamber. Notes made during the working meetings by members of the Public Chamber are also exhibited.

For the first time are exposed rare photographs from the personal archive of Valery Lozovsky depicting the first inauguration of B. N. Yeltsin on June 12, 1991.

The place of honor is given to the copy of the Constitution of the Russian Federation used by Russian president to take oath during the inauguration. Electronic copy of the Basic Law of the state can be leaved through on multimedia screen.

The materials for the exposition on the history of the RF Constitution are provided by libraries of St. Petersburg, the Fund of the First Russian President B. N. Yeltsin, A. Sobchak Museum of democracy formation in modern Russia.

The exhibition is part of the Presidential Library project “History of constitutional ideas in Russia”.