“You are immortal, Great Peter”: the Presidential Library’s event dedicated to the first Russian emperor

On May 30, 2022 the Presidential Library hosted event dedicated to the 350th anniversary of the first Russian emperor. It has been organized by the Presidential Library together with Kostyor literary and art magazine for schoolchildren, the editors of the Rossiyskaya Gazeta as well as Rodina popular science and history magazine.

Acting Director General of the Presidential Library Yuri Nosov noted that the date of the event was not chosen by chance. It is held on the birthday of Peter the Great according to the old style. The head of the institution also expressed his hope that the exhibition "My Peter I" and video lectures with the participation of experts from the magazine Rodina and the editors of Rossiyskaya Gazeta, which will focus on little-known facts from the life of Peter the Great, will be useful and interesting to the guests.

The exhibition "My Peter I" is available both in digital and traditional formats. The exposition is dedicated to the contest of school essays, which from January 1 to November 15, 2022 is held by the Kostyor magazine together with the Presidential Library.

Nikolay Kharlampiev, editor-in-chief of the Kostyor magazine, noted the wide geography of the contest - "from almost all corners of Russia", and the age range of participants - "from 6 to 17 years old". “And not only children admire the personality of Peter, but also their parents and grandparents”, - Nikolai Kharlampiev emphasized. The conditions of the contest require providing the materials of the Presidential Library, and the older generation, helping the young contestants, is also involved in this project. Detailed information about the course of the contest is available at the link https://www.prlib.ru/news/1334967.

On plasma panels visitors have opportunity to see the best works submitted to the contest "My Peter I" and already published in the magazine Kostyor. The original illustrations for them are nearby. The author, artist Elena Erhardt, stylistically combined them with the image of a popular print. The simplicity and accessibility of images of this kind, from the Fryazh sheets in the 16th century to the engravings of the early 20th century, has always attracted the Russian people. Lubok used to be available in a peasant's hut, in a monastery and in the royal chambers. Tsarevich Peter had about a hundred of them. Later, in 1711, the emperor founded a special engraving chamber in St. Petersburg. But it all started with those first simple pictures - the prototypes of textbooks, newspapers, calendars and even...comics.

Member of the St. Petersburg Union of Artists, laureate of international book illustration contests Elena Ergardt said that when she learned about the essays sent to the contest, she was struck by the words of one of the participants, seventh-grader Maxim Isaev. He wrote about Peter I: "It seems to me that this is the first tsar in the history of Russia, whom we perceive as a modern person".

"Our contemporary Peter the Great" - this headline was placed on the cover of the May issue of the Rodina popular science and history magazine. The video lecture, within the framework of which its presentation took place, continued the event at the Presidential Library.

Igor Kots, editor-in-chief of Rodina magazine, deputy editor-in-chief of Rossiyskaya Gazeta, devoted his speech to the topic “A look at the personality of Peter I through the prism of the values ​​of modern school and student audiences”.

Director of the Russian State Naval Archives, Doctor of Historical Sciences Valentin Smirnov spoke about the Petrine era based on archival documents from the RGAVMF collections, as well as the way this historical period is reflected in book editions of the 21st century.

The centerpiece of the speech of Peter Bazanov, Doctor of Historical Sciences, a regular contributor to Rodina magazine, was the events in the Ukrainian city of Baturyn during the Russo-Swedish War (1700–1721). In 1708, the city, which was the residence of the Ukrainian hetman, was taken by the troops of Peter I. A lot of myths and conflicting legends have developed around this historical episode. The listeners of the Presidential Library’s video lectures learned what really happened in Baturyn, and what role Hetman Mazepa played in this, who went over to the side of the Swedish king.

Director of the North-Western Branch of Rossiyskaya Gazeta Anzhelika Gurskaya noted in her speech that the long-term cooperation with the Presidential Library is now of an unlimited nature - the new agreement signed between the organizations in 2021 has no end date. Anzhelika Gurskaya expressed confidence that the important, consistent work of Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Rodina magazine and the Presidential Library to promote the most important historical events and personalities that make up the glory and pride of Russia will definitely be continued.

A video recording of the event "You are immortal, Great Peter": marking the 350th anniversary of the birth of Peter I" is available on the Rutube-channel of the Presidential Library.