Presidential Library's video lecture told about St. Petersburg historian Mikhail Sverdlov

On October 22, 2024, the Presidential Library hosted a lecture dedicated to Mikhail Sverdlov (1939 - 2022), a prominent Russian historian and author of more than 300 scientific works on the history of ancient and medieval Russia. This year Mikhail Sverdlov would have turned 85 years old. 

The lecture will be part of the series Knowledge of Russia and will be delivered by Alexey Vovin, a candidate of historical sciences and senior researcher at the St. Petersburg Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

The lecture will focus on the contribution of Mikhail to the development of Russian historical science and his concept, which is rooted in the works of B. Grekov and S. Valk. The speaker will also discuss the long-standing debate between Mikhail and his colleague, Igor Froyanov, which has been a topic of heated discussion for many years.

Natalia Eilbart, a Doctor of Historical Sciences and Professor of the Department of Russian History from Ancient Times to the Beginning of the 19th Century at the Herzen Russian State Pedagogical University, will share her memories of working with Mikhail Sverdlov. Anton Druzhevsky, a methodologist at the Department of Educational and Training Programs of the Presidential Library, told about what kind of teacher Sverdlov was and how he taught.

The video lecture Mikhail Sverdlov and History continued a series of lectures on Outstanding Historians of the 19th-20th Centuries, which the Presidential Library is hosting in collaboration with the St. Petersburg Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Mikhail Sverdlov's lecture The Prince and Princely Power in Russia from the 9th to the First Third of the 13th Century is available in the collection of the Presidential Library. Mikhail Borisovich has also contributed to the creation of an educational film that is shown as part of a multimedia lesson for schoolchildren on Russian Truth: The Law of Ancient Russia.

Recording of the meeting is availbale on the Rutube-channel of the Library, as well as on the social networks VKontakte and Odnoklassniki.