The Presidential Library commemorates Daniil Granin’s centenary

January 1, 2019 marks the centenary anniversary of the birth of an outstanding Petersburg resident, writer, thinker, public figure, blockade and war veteran Daniil Granin (1919–2017). At the end of 2017, President of Russia Vladimir Putin signed a decree “On the perpetuation of the memory of Daniil Granin and the celebration of the centenary anniversary of his birth”. The Presidential Library’s portal provides electronic version of this document.

On December 27, 2018 the Presidential Library’s collections provides access to a new collection dedicated to the centenary anniversary of the classic of contemporary Russian literature, an honorary citizen of St. Petersburg, laureate of literary and state awards, Daniil Granin. It includes photographic materials reflecting his social activities, photographs from the presentation of the book “Alien Diary” in 2018 and other documents.

The Presidential Library has timed a series of memorable events to the centenary anniversary of the writer. On December 11, 2018, a multimedia exhibition and video lectures under the general title “Daniil Granin and the Youth” was opened. The guests were presented the book of the St. Petersburg University of the Humanities and Social Studies (SPbGUP) “Daniil Granin and the Youth: University Texts”. The writer visited the Senate Square, 3 many times. He became a reader of the Presidential Library in June 2011. A special excursion was held for Granin at the end of which he received a library card. He came to the Senate Square, 3 not only at major events, but also to communicate with the specialists of the institution who knew and loved his books, to share creative plans, views on literature and to discuss the acute issues of our society.

One of these meetings formed the basis of the documentary “Time to Remember. Daniil Granin”. Answering questions from specialists of the Presidential Library, the writer shared facts from his biography, spoke about literature, science, politics and others.

On November 15, 2018, within the framework of the VII St. Petersburg International Cultural Forum, the Presidential Library hosted a meeting of the organizing committee chaired by the President of the Russian Book Union, Sergei Stepashin, at which an action plan to perpetuate the memory of Daniil Granin in 2019 was discussed.

With the assistance of the administration of St. Petersburg, the Presidential Library plans to create a large collection dedicated to the life and work of Daniil Alexandrovich, which will also include the writer's archive.

The new multimedia lesson of the Presidential Library, dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the complete liberation of Leningrad from the fascist blockade, will be based on the works and military memories of Granin. In general, in 2019, the Presidential Library will become one of the main sites for events within the framework of the anniversary of Daniil Granin.

Today the name of Daniil Granin is associated primarily with the blockade. In the building on Senate Square, 3 in St. Petersburg, as well as in more than 800 centers of access to the resources of the Presidential Library in all 85 regions of Russia and in 38 countries of the world, you can learn about the famous “Siege Book” - a documentary chronicle of the Leningrad blockade by Daniil Granin and Ales Adamovich in the 70-80s of the last century.

When Granin and Adamovich began this work, they did not have a firm belief that it would be printed. There was only an insurmountable need to tell people the truth about the events of 1941–1944: “The only thing we were sure of was the intrinsic value of the “material” that determined the character itself, the genre of the book, - the co-authors noted. - The future sometimes throws stones into the past. You should always be ready for this. Ready for the fact that, collecting the "stones" of truth about yourself and your time, you prepare them for yourself. But this is how a person is arranged - the pain of truth, of the whole truth for him is ultimately more important, more precious than the dubious "bliss" of ignorance or lie".

For the first time, a part of the censored “Siege Book” was published in the Novy Mir journal in 1977. The publication of the book in Leningrad was banned, and only in 1984 it was published in the northern capital. Subsequently, director Alexander Sokurov filmed the documentary “We Read the Siege Book” based on his work.