- Academicians of the Russian Academy of Sciences(84 people): S. S. Averintsev , E. N. Avrorin , S. I. Adyan , Yu. P. Altukhov , Zh. F. Andreev, L. N. Andreev, D. V. Anosov, V. I. Arnold, S. N. Bagaev, N. S. Bakhvalov, O. A. Bogatikov, A. A. Boyarchuk, and E. P. Velikhov , V. A. Vinogradov , A. I. Vorobyov , E. M. Galimov , A. V. Gaponov-Grekhov , M. L. Gasparov , V. L. Ginzburg (Nobel Prize in Physics), G. S. Golitsyn , A. A. Gonchar , A. I. Grigoriev , A. A. Guseinov , M. I. Davydov , A. P. Derevyanko , N. L. Dobretsov , Yu. I. Zhuravlev , N. S. Zefirov, Yu. A. Zolotov, V. P. Ivannikov, V. T. Ivanov, S. G. Inge-Vechtomov, A. S. Isaev, V. A. Kabanov, E. N. Kablov, and S. P. Karpov , L. L. Kiselev , A. E. Kontorovich , V. M. Kotlyakov , O. N. Krokhin , E. P. Kruglyakov , A. B. Kudelin , O. E. Kutafin , N. P. Laverov , V. P. Legostaev , N. P. Lyakishev , V. L. Makarov , A. M. Matveenko , G. A. Mesyats , A. D. Nekipelov , A. V. Nikolaev , S. P. Novikov , Yu. S. Osipov (pre President of the Russian Academy of Sciences in 1991-2013), D. S. Pavlov, A. N. Parshin, N. A. Plate, N. N. Ponomarev-Stepnoy, Yu. V. Prokhorov, A. Yu. A. Rubakov , A. Yu. Rumyantsev , D. V. Rundqvist , G. I. Savin , V. A. Sadovnichiy , A. N. Skrinsky , A. S. Spirin , Yu. Stepin , M. L. Titarenko , V. A. Tishkov , Yu. D. Tretyakov , K. N. Trubetskoy , O. N. Favorsky , L. D. Faddeev , V. E. Fortov ), K. V. Frolov , Yu. I. Chernov , G. G. Cherny , A. O. Chubaryan , V. D. Shafranov , S. V. Shestakov , D. V. Shirkov .
- Corresponding members of the RAS: B. A. Babayan , V. I. Vasiliev , P. P. Gaidenko , R. V. Kamelin , M. V. Kovalchuk , N. I. Lapin , S. S. Lappo , A. V. Yablokov .
- Academician of the Russian Academy of Agricultural Sciences: V. I. Fisinin.
- Academician of the Russian Academy of Arts: D. O. Shvidkovsky.
- statesmen RF: A. A. Avdeev (Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation in 2008-2012), A. D. Zhukov (Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation in 2004-2011), A. A. Kokoshin (Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation in 1998) , S. E. Naryshkin (Head of the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation in 2008-2011; Chairman State Duma RF in 2011-2016; Director of the Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation since 2016), A. S. Sokolov (Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation in 2004-2008), A. A. Fursenko (Minister of Education and Science of the Russian Federation in 2004-2012), M. E Shvydkoy (Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation in 2000-2004), S. K. Shoigu (Minister for Emergency Situations of the Russian Federation in 1994-2012; Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation since 2012).
- As well as: A. D. Bogaturov, V. V. Grigoriev, A. I. Komech, V. A. Mau, A. Yu. Molchanov, D. L. Orlov, and S. V. Chemezov
Volume and content of the publication
K: Sites that appeared in 2016background
In 2010, there were reports in the media that on the basis of the Great Russian Encyclopedia, it is planned to open the Knowledge portal, which will be developed as part of state program"Information Society" on the basis of the scientific publishing house "Great Russian Encyclopedia". It was assumed that the portal would not have the concept of "article", instead of it there would be a certain "information slot". Each such “slot”, in addition to encyclopedic and dictionary information, was supposed to contain a number of structured materials: additional articles on certain aspects, school adapted versions, interactive maps, mathematical modeling, links to primary sources, three-dimensional models, as well as “discussion of the topic in the scientific community » . It was planned to create more than 100 thousand of these "information slots". Negotiations were held regarding the translation of the texts of the portal into English language and languages of the BRICS countries. It was assumed that access to the materials of the Knowledge portal would be paid, several different tariff plans. The publishing house spent about 10 million rubles on the development of the portal. own funds However , there was not enough money to open the portal and it was not launched .
As a result, 50 academicians who are members of the scientific and editorial board of the BDT sent a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin, in which they said that the project would be closed without financial assistance from the state. In addition, the academicians asked for assistance in “promoting the electronic portal Knowledge”, an analogue of Wikipedia, which they estimated at 670 million rubles.
In November 2014, the Ministry of Culture announced a tender for the creation of the BRE portal, in which the Big Russian Encyclopedia publishing house participated, but Modern Digital Technologies LLC from Yekaterinburg became the winner, estimating its services at 2.1 million rubles.
Electronic version of the Great Russian Encyclopedia
On April 1, 2016, a website was opened containing 12 thousand articles from the published volumes of the Great Russian Encyclopedia. The site has a full-text search, a rubricator and a list of articles.
The Big Russian Encyclopedia publishing house promised to add new articles daily and bring their number to 45,000 by the end of 2016. It was also promised the appearance of new articles that are not in the book version of the encyclopedia, as well as bringing some of the existing articles up to date.
On August 25, 2016, a Government Decree was signed on the creation of a working group on issues related to the creation of a "National Scientific and Educational Interactive Encyclopedic Portal" based on the Great Russian Encyclopedia with the involvement of other Russian scientific encyclopedias.
see also
Write a review on the article "Great Russian Encyclopedia"
Notes
An excerpt characterizing the Great Russian Encyclopedia
– Prince Vasily arrived in Moscow yesterday. He goes to the audit, they told me, - said the guest.“Yes, but, entre nous, [between us],” said the princess, “this is a pretext, he actually came to Count Kirill Vladimirovich, having learned that he was so bad.
“However, ma chere, this is a nice thing,” said the count, and, noticing that the elder guest did not listen to him, he turned to the young ladies. - The quarterman had a good figure, I imagine.
And he, imagining how the blockman waved his hands, again burst out laughing with sonorous and bassy laughter, shaking his whole full body, how people laugh, who always eat well and especially drink. “So, please, have dinner with us,” he said.
There was silence. The countess looked at the guest, smiling pleasantly, however, not hiding the fact that she would not be upset now if the guest got up and left. The daughter of the guest was already adjusting her dress, looking inquiringly at her mother, when suddenly from the next room there was heard running to the door of several male and female legs, the rumble of a hooked and thrown chair, and a thirteen-year-old girl ran into the room, wrapping something in a short muslin skirt, and stopped in the middle rooms. It was obvious that she accidentally, from an uncalculated run, jumped so far. At the same moment, a student with a crimson collar, a guards officer, a fifteen-year-old girl and a fat, ruddy boy in a child's jacket appeared at the door at the same moment.
The count jumped up and, swaying, spread his arms wide around the running girl.
- Ah, here she is! he shouted laughing. - Birthday girl! Ma chere, birthday girl!
- Ma chere, il y a un temps pour tout, [Darling, there is time for everything,] - said the countess, pretending to be strict. “You spoil her all the time, Elie,” she added to her husband.
- Bonjour, ma chere, je vous felicite, [Hello, my dear, I congratulate you,] - said the guest. - Quelle delicuse enfant! [What a lovely child!] she added, turning to her mother.
A dark-eyed, big-mouthed, ugly but lively girl, with her childlike open shoulders, which, shrinking, moved in her corsage from a quick run, with her black curls knocked back, thin bare arms and small legs in lace pantaloons and open shoes, was at that sweet age when the girl is no longer a child, and the child is not yet a girl. Turning away from her father, she ran up to her mother and, paying no attention to her stern remark, hid her flushed face in the lace of her mother's mantilla and laughed. She was laughing at something, talking abruptly about the doll she had taken out from under her skirt.
“See?… Doll… Mimi… See.
And Natasha could no longer talk (everything seemed ridiculous to her). She fell on her mother and burst out laughing so loudly and resoundingly that everyone, even the prim guest, laughed against their will.
- Well, go, go with your freak! - said the mother, pushing her daughter away in mock angrily. “This is my smaller one,” she turned to the guest.
Natasha, tearing her face away from her mother's lace scarf for a moment, looked at her from below through tears of laughter, and again hid her face.
The guest, forced to admire the family scene, considered it necessary to take some part in it.
“Tell me, my dear,” she said, turning to Natasha, “how do you have this Mimi? Daughter, right?
Natasha did not like the tone of condescension to the childish conversation with which the guest turned to her. She did not answer and looked seriously at the guest.
Meanwhile, all this young generation: Boris - an officer, the son of Princess Anna Mikhailovna, Nikolai - a student, the eldest son of the count, Sonya - the fifteen-year-old niece of the count, and little Petrusha - the youngest son, all settled in the living room and, apparently, tried to keep within the boundaries of decency animation and gaiety that still breathed in every feature. It was evident that there, in the back rooms, whence they had all come running so swiftly, they had more cheerful conversations than here about city gossip, the weather, and comtesse Apraksine. [about Countess Apraksina.] From time to time they glanced at each other and could hardly restrain themselves from laughing.
Two young men, a student and an officer, friends since childhood, were of the same age and both were handsome, but did not resemble each other. Boris was a tall, blond youth with regular, delicate features of a calm and handsome face; Nikolai was a short curly young man with an open expression. Black hairs were already showing on his upper lip, and swiftness and enthusiasm were expressed all over his face.
Nikolai blushed as soon as he entered the living room. It was evident that he was searching and did not find what to say; Boris, on the contrary, immediately found himself and told calmly, jokingly, how he knew this Mimi doll as a young girl with an unspoiled nose, how she had grown old in his memory at the age of five, and how her head had cracked all over her skull. Having said this, he looked at Natasha. Natasha turned away from him, looked at her younger brother, who, closing his eyes, was shaking with soundless laughter, and, unable to restrain himself any longer, jumped and ran out of the room as quickly as her quick legs could carry. Boris didn't laugh.
- You, it seems, also wanted to go, maman? Do you need a card? he said, addressing his mother with a smile.
“Yes, go, go, tell them to cook,” she said, pouring herself.
Boris went quietly out the door and followed Natasha, the fat boy angrily ran after them, as if annoyed at the disorder that had occurred in his studies.
Of the young people, not counting the eldest daughter of the countess (who was four years older than her sister and already behaved like a big one) and the guests of the young lady, Nikolai and Sonya's niece remained in the drawing room. Sonya was a thin, petite brunette with a soft, shaded long eyelashes a thick black slanting look that twined around her head twice, and a yellowish tint of skin on her face, and especially on her naked, thin, but graceful muscular arms and neck. With her fluidity of movement, the softness and suppleness of her small limbs, and her somewhat cunning and restrained manner, she resembled a beautiful, but not yet formed kitten, who would be a lovely kitty. She apparently considered it proper to show participation in the general conversation with a smile; but against her will, her eyes from under long thick eyelashes looked at her cousin [cousin] leaving for the army with such girlish passionate adoration that her smile could not deceive anyone for a moment, and it was clear that the cat sat down only to jump more energetically and play with your cousin, as soon as they, like Boris and Natasha, get out of this living room.
“Yes, ma chere,” said the old count, turning to the guest and pointing to his Nicholas. - Here is his friend Boris promoted to officer, and out of friendship he does not want to lag behind him; he leaves the university and the old man me: he goes into military service, ma chere. And a place in the archive was ready for him, that's all. Is that friendship? said the Count inquiringly.
“But war, they say, has been declared,” said the guest.
“They have been talking for a long time,” said the count. - They will talk again, talk, and leave it like that. Ma chere, that's friendship! he repeated. - He goes to the hussars.
The guest, not knowing what to say, shook her head.
“Not out of friendship at all,” answered Nikolai, flushing and making excuses, as if from a shameful slander against him. - Not friendship at all, but I just feel called to military service.
He looked back at his cousin and at the guest, the young lady: both looked at him with a smile of approval.
“Today, Schubert, Colonel of the Pavlograd Hussars, is dining with us. He was on vacation here and takes it with him. What to do? said the Count, shrugging his shoulders and speaking jokingly about a business that apparently cost him a lot of grief.
“I already told you, daddy,” the son said, “that if you don’t want to let me go, I’ll stay. But I know I'm no good for anything but the military; I’m not a diplomat, I’m not an official, I don’t know how to hide what I feel, ”he said, looking all the time with the coquetry of beautiful youth at Sonya and the guest young lady.
The kitty, glaring at him with her eyes, seemed every second ready to play and show all her feline nature.
- Well, well, well! - said the old count, - everything is getting excited. All Bonaparte turned everyone's head; everyone thinks how he got from lieutenant to emperor. Well, God forbid,' he added, not noticing the guest's mocking smile.
The big ones started talking about Bonaparte. Julie, daughter of Karagina, turned to the young Rostov:
- What a pity that you were not at the Arkharovs on Thursday. I was bored without you,” she said, smiling gently at him.
The flattered young man with the coquettish smile of youth moved closer to her and entered into a separate conversation with the smiling Julie, not at all noticing that this involuntary smile of his with a knife of jealousy cut the heart of Sonya, who was blushing and pretending to smile. In the middle of the conversation, he looked back at her. Sonya looked at him passionately and vexedly, and, barely able to keep the tears in her eyes and a feigned smile on her lips, got up and left the room. All of Nikolai's animation was gone. He waited for the first break in the conversation and, with a distressed face, went out of the room to look for Sonya.
- How the secrets of all this youth are sewn with white thread! - said Anna Mikhailovna, pointing to the exit of Nikolai. - Cousinage dangereux voisinage, [Disaster business - cousins,] - she added.
“Yes,” said the countess, after the ray of sunshine that had entered the living room with this young generation had disappeared, and as if answering a question that no one asked her, but which constantly occupied her. - How much suffering, how much anxiety endured in order to now rejoice in them! And now, really, more fear than joy. Everything is afraid, everything is afraid! It is the age at which there are so many dangers for both girls and boys.
“It all depends on upbringing,” said the guest.
“Yes, you are right,” continued the Countess. “Until now, thank God, I have been a friend of my children and enjoy their full confidence,” the countess said, repeating the error of many parents who believe that their children have no secrets from them. - I know that I will always be the first confidente [attorney] of my daughters, and that Nikolenka, in her ardent character, if she is naughty (the boy cannot do without it), then everything is not like these St. Petersburg gentlemen.
“Yes, nice, nice guys,” the count confirmed, always resolving questions that were confusing for him by finding everything glorious. - Look, I wanted to be a hussars! Yes, that's what you want, ma chere!
“What a lovely creature your little one is,” said the guest. - Gunpowder!
“Yes, gunpowder,” said the count. - She went to me! And what a voice: even though my daughter, but I'll tell the truth, there will be a singer, Salomoni is different. We took an Italian to teach her.
- Is not it too early? They say it is harmful for the voice to study at this time.
- Oh, no, how early! the count said. - How did our mothers get married at twelve thirteen?
“She is in love with Boris even now!” What? said the countess, smiling softly, looking at Boris's mother, and, apparently answering the thought that always occupied her, she continued. - Well, you see, if I held her strictly, I forbid her ... God knows what they would do on the sly (the countess understood: they would kiss), and now I know her every word. She herself will come running in the evening and tell me everything. Maybe I spoil her; but, really, it seems to be better. I kept my elder strictly.
“Yes, I was brought up in a completely different way,” said the eldest, beautiful Countess Vera, smiling.
But a smile did not adorn Vera's face, as is usually the case; on the contrary, her face became unnatural and therefore unpleasant.
The eldest, Vera, was good, she was not stupid, she studied well, she was well brought up, her voice was pleasant, what she said was fair and appropriate; but, strange to say, everyone, both the guest and the countess, looked back at her, as if surprised why she had said this, and felt awkward.
“They are always wise with older children, they want to do something extraordinary,” said the guest.
- What a sin to conceal, ma chere! The countess was wiser with Vera, said the count. - Well, yes, well! all the same, she came out glorious,” he added, winking approvingly at Vera.
The guests got up and left, promising to arrive at dinner.
- What a manner! Already sitting, sitting! - said the countess, seeing off the guests.
When Natasha came out of the living room and ran, she only ran as far as the flower shop. In this room she stopped, listening to the conversation in the living room and waiting for Boris to come out. She was already beginning to get impatient and, stamping her foot, was about to cry because he was not walking right away, when not quiet, not quick, decent steps of a young man were heard.
Natasha quickly rushed between the tubs of flowers and hid.
Boris stopped in the middle of the room, looked around, brushed a speck off the sleeve of his uniform with his hand, and went up to the mirror, examining his Beautiful face. Natasha, hushed, peered out of her ambush, waiting for what he would do. He stood for some time in front of the mirror, smiled and went to the exit door. Natasha wanted to call him, but then changed her mind. Let him search, she told herself. As soon as Boris left, a flushed Sonya came out of another door, whispering something angrily through her tears. Natasha refrained from her first movement to run out to her and remained in her ambush, as if under an invisible cap, looking out for what was happening in the world. She experienced a special new pleasure. Sonya whispered something and looked back at the drawing-room door. Nicholas came out of the door.
– Sonya! What happened to you? Is it possible? Nikolay said, running up to her.
“Nothing, nothing, leave me!” Sonya sobbed.
- No, I know what.
- Well, you know, and fine, and go to her.
- Sooonya! One word! Is it possible to torment me and yourself like that because of fantasy? Nikolai said, taking her by the hand.
Sonya did not tear her hand away from him and stopped crying.
Natasha, without moving or breathing, looked from her ambush with shining heads. "What will happen now"? she thought.
– Sonya! I don't need the whole world! You alone are everything to me,” Nikolai said. - I'll prove it to you.
“I don't like it when you talk like that.
- Well, I won’t, sorry, Sonya! He pulled her towards him and kissed her.
"Oh, how good!" Natasha thought, and when Sonya and Nikolai left the room, she followed them and called Boris to her.
“Boris, come here,” she said with a significant and sly air. “I need to tell you one thing. Here, here,” she said, and led him into the flower shop to the place between the tubs where she had been hidden. Boris, smiling, followed her.
What is this one thing? - he asked.
She was embarrassed, looked around her and, seeing her doll thrown on a tub, took it in her hands.
“Kiss the doll,” she said.
Boris looked into her lively face with an attentive, affectionate look and did not answer.
- You do not want? Well, then come here, - she said and went deeper into the flowers and threw the doll. - Closer, closer! she whispered. She caught the officer by the cuffs with her hands, and solemnity and fear were visible in her reddened face.
- Do you want to kiss me? she whispered in a barely audible voice, looking at him from under her brows, smiling and almost crying with excitement.
Boris blushed.
- How funny you are! he said, leaning towards her, blushing even more, but doing nothing and waiting.
She suddenly jumped up on the tub, so that she stood taller than him, hugged him with both arms, so that her thin bare arms bent above his neck, and throwing her hair back with a movement of her head, kissed him on the very lips.
She slipped between the pots to the other side of the flowers and, head down, stopped.
“Natasha,” he said, “you know that I love you, but ...
- Are you in love with me? Natasha interrupted him.
- Yes, I am in love, but please, let's not do what is now ... Four more years ... Then I will ask for your hand.
Natasha thought.
“Thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen…” she said, counting on her thin fingers. - Good! Is it over?
And a smile of joy and reassurance lit up her lively face.
- It's over! Boris said.
- Forever and ever? – said the girl. - Until death?
And, taking him by the arm, with a happy face she quietly walked beside him into the sofa.
The countess was so tired of the visits that she did not order to receive anyone else, and the porter was only ordered to call everyone who would still come with congratulations to eat without fail. The Countess wanted to talk face to face with her childhood friend, Princess Anna Mikhailovna, whom she had not seen well since her arrival from Petersburg. Anna Mikhailovna, with her tearful and pleasant face, moved closer to the countess's chair.
"I'll be completely frank with you," said Anna Mikhailovna. “There aren’t many of us left, old friends!” That's why I treasure your friendship.
Anna Mikhailovna looked at Vera and stopped. The countess shook hands with her friend.
“Vera,” said the countess, turning to her eldest daughter, who was obviously unloved. How do you have no idea? Don't you feel like you're out of place here? Go to your sisters, or...
Beautiful Vera smiled contemptuously, apparently not feeling the slightest insult.
“If you had told me long ago, mother, I would have left at once,” she said, and went to her room.
But, passing by the sofa, she noticed that two couples were sitting symmetrically in it at two windows. She stopped and smiled contemptuously. Sonya was sitting close beside Nikolai, who was copying for her the poems he had composed for the first time. Boris and Natasha were sitting at the other window and fell silent when Vera entered. Sonya and Natasha looked at Vera with guilty and happy faces.
It was fun and touching to look at these girls in love, but the sight of them, obviously, did not arouse a pleasant feeling in Vera.
“How many times have I asked you,” she said, “not to take my things, you have your own room.
She took the inkwell from Nikolai.
“Now, now,” he said, wetting his pen.
“You know how to do everything at the wrong time,” Vera said. - Then they ran into the living room, so that everyone felt ashamed for you.
In spite of the fact, or precisely because what she said was perfectly true, no one answered her, and all four only looked at each other. She hesitated in the room with an inkwell in her hand.
- And what secrets can there be between Natasha and Boris and between you at your age - all just nonsense!
“Well, what do you care, Vera? - Natasha spoke intercessively in a quiet voice.
She, apparently, was to everyone even more than always, on this day kind and affectionate.
“It’s very stupid,” Vera said, “I’m ashamed of you. What are the secrets?...
- Everyone has their own secrets. We don’t touch you and Berg,” Natasha said, getting excited.
“I think you don’t touch it,” Vera said, “because there can never be anything bad in my actions. But I'll tell my mother how you get along with Boris.
“Natalia Ilyinishna treats me very well,” said Boris. “I can't complain,” he said.
typeface: kudryashevskaya;
size: 9 × 10;
text in three columns;
illustrated edition in full color;
hardcover, composite (type No. 8), dark blue spine, beige main field of the cover, ivory color with gold foil stamping; binding designer: Viktor Kuchmin
Great Russian Encyclopedia(abbreviated BDT) is a universal encyclopedia in Russian. The publication consists of 35 numbered volumes and the volume "Russia", and contains more than 80 thousand articles. The encyclopedia was published from 2004 to 2017 by the scientific publishing house Big Russian Encyclopedia. Since 2016, there is an online version of the encyclopedia.
Story
background
In 1978, the last volume of the third edition of the Great Soviet Encyclopedia (BSE) was published. Until 1990, inclusive, the publishing house "Soviet Encyclopedia" every year published the "Yearbook of the Great Soviet Encyclopedia", which published updated data for the articles of the TSB. In 1991, the publishing house "Soviet Encyclopedia" was renamed into "Scientific Publishing House" Great Russian Encyclopedia "", although the encyclopedia with that name did not yet exist. In 1994, Alexander Gorkin became the director and editor-in-chief of the Big Russian Encyclopedia publishing house, who tried to draw the attention of the country's leadership to the problems of the publishing house, which was then in a difficult financial situation.
BDT as an encyclopedia about Russia
On January 13, 1995, President of Russia B.N. Yeltsin instructed the Government to provide for the publication in 1996-2001 of the Great Russian Encyclopedia in the Federal Book Publishing Program in Russia as a presidential program. And on May 2, 1996, B.N. Yeltsin signed presidential decree No. 647 "On the publication of the Great Russian Encyclopedia". According to this decree, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Nobel Prize winner in physics A. M. Prokhorov, who was the editor-in-chief of the third edition of the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, published from 1969 to 1978, was appointed editor-in-chief of the encyclopedia. The Big Russian Encyclopedia Publishing House was granted privileges for renting premises, and the federal budget for 1997 included funding for the editorial and publishing preparation of the first volume of the encyclopedia. A. P. Gorkin, Doctor of Geographical Sciences, became the executive editor of the new encyclopedia.
Under the name "Great Russian Encyclopedia", the publishing house began to create not a universal encyclopedia following the example of the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, but a 12-volume encyclopedia about Russia. A.P. Gorkin considered it as an analogue of national encyclopedias published earlier in the USSR - Ukrainian Soviet Encyclopedia, Moldavian Soviet Encyclopedia, etc., but about Russian Federation. According to A.P. Gorkin, in 1999 he met with the Prime Minister of Russia V.V. Putin, to whom he told that “there was nothing Russian in Soviet times”, as it was considered chauvinism, but right now the publishing house is doing a multi-volume encyclopedia about Russia; this concept of publishing BDT was approved by the Prime Minister and, after Putin became president, led to an increase in state funding for the publication.
During the work on the first volume of the encyclopedia, it became clear to many employees of the publishing house that the criteria for including information in such a “Russian” encyclopedia are non-systematic, illogical and exclude Russia from the world context. This was one of the reasons for the conflict between the labor collective and the director and editor-in-chief of the publishing house A.P. Gorkin, who insisted on a multi-volume encyclopedia about Russia instead of the universal encyclopedia that the collective wanted to do. On March 19, 2001, five of Gorkin's seven deputies wrote and handed him a letter in which they proposed to separate the posts of director and editor-in-chief of the publishing house, and A.P. Gorkin to resign as director. The letter also said: “While realizing the need to prepare a new universal edition, which should replace TSB-3, no steps are being taken to find ways and means to put this idea on a practical track. The essence of the matter does not change the recent initiatives. Gorkin did not respond to the letter, and then on March 27, 2001, a meeting of the labor collective was held, where a majority of votes expressed no confidence in Gorkin as a director.
Four deputy directors of the publishing house, as well as representatives of all scientific and branch editions, editions of biodictionaries and reference books, literary control and cartography, sent a letter to the Deputy Minister of Press Vladimir Grigoriev, in which they defended the need to publish a universal encyclopedia instead of the encyclopedia "Russia", for which Gorkin. And on April 19, 2001, a draft of the universal "Great Russian Encyclopedia", consisting of 30 volumes, was sent to Grigoriev. The work was supposed to be completed in 7.5 years. On June 9, 2001, Deputy Minister of Press Vladimir Grigoriev introduced to the team a graduate of the Faculty of Journalism of Moscow State University, who does not have a degree, the head of the Orthodox Church Research Center "Orthodox Encyclopedia" Sergei Kravets as the new director and editor-in-chief of the publishing house instead of Alexander Gorkin.
If government support is not urgently provided to the Big Russian Encyclopedia publishing house, then this is fraught with the dismissal of the publishing house's employees and the suspension of the release of subsequent volumes of the fundamental work published over the past ten years. To support the work of the project for three years, BDT experts expect to receive 670 million rubles.When I was a schoolboy, I was fascinated by the blue volumes of the Great Soviet Encyclopedia (hereinafter - TSB) in our school library. It was the second edition of the TSB of the 1950s, and there I searched and read with rapture the biographies of great historical figures. They were written terribly, in such an impossible clerical language, but at least some facts about little-known popes, Western European kings, etc. were cited in the work. At home, from encyclopedias at that time (mid-1990s), I had only a one-volume Great Soviet Dictionary (green, published in 1980) and a three-volume Soviet dictionary in black cover, published shortly after Stalin's death, in 1954-1956. He seemed like a rarity to me at the time. The Internet was not so widely developed then, especially in the provinces. In my second year at the institute, I already bought CDs with the third edition of the TSB of the 1970s, but I only used them for a few years - now they are gathering dust in a box.
At that time, popular disks with the encyclopedia of Cyril and Methodius were still in use - a kind of analogue of Wikipedia, which was updated every year. Then I bought myself disks with the Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron and some others. In the mid-90s, it was my dream to buy all 86 volumes of the Brockhaus Dictionary. Just in time, the book catalog of the publishing house "Terra" came to our house by mail, where the reprint edition of this dictionary was advertised in every possible way. In Terra I bought a small Brockhaus (4 volumes) and Dictionary IN AND. Dahl.
I managed to buy a separate one, the so-called. the "introductory" volume of the Great Russian Encyclopedia (hereinafter referred to as BRE), dedicated to Russia as a whole; I didn’t even bother with the whole encyclopedia because of 1) its high cost, 2) because of the ever-decreasing space for books in my home library, which were in ever-increasing numbers, 3) because of the uncertain schedule of the entire publication. By the way, a similar separate volume about Russia was also in the Brockhaus dictionary of the late 19th century - in 2001 I bought its reprinted version of 1991.
Somewhere from 2007-2008. Wikipedia in everyday circulation began to displace almost all other encyclopedias, and electronic copies of the three editions of the TSB, and Brockhaus, and all kinds of dictionaries from different eras and countries began to massively appear on the Internet. Spending money on something that can be viewed much faster and more conveniently on a computer, found on the Internet and that does not take up so much space at home has become pointless. Still, encyclopedias are not fiction books that are much more pleasant to read in paper form.
And now, I am reading the news that yesterday the academicians who are members of the scientific and editorial board of the Great Russian Encyclopedia asked President Vladimir Putin for state financial support for the project. By the way, it was under him that the publication of this project began. Putin's July 7, 2004 address to BDT readers in the volume devoted to Russia contains the following words: "I expect that the Great Russian Encyclopedia, based on unique material, will be in demand by a wide readership." If you look at the list of members of the scientific editorial board of BDT in the mentioned 2004 volume, you can see how many of them are no longer alive: S.S. Averintseva, V.I. Arnold, M.L. Gasparova, V.L. Ginzburg, E.P. Kruglyakova, A.A. Fursenko and others. There is no Russian Academy of Sciences itself in its former form, but there is only a club of scientists, FASO and institutes of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the number of which they want to reduce and optimize the activities of their employees.
In the same address, Putin spoke about the rich encyclopedic tradition in our country and, it is clear that the BRE project was conceived as an unspoken "fourth edition" of the TSB, continuing the Soviet tradition of publishing fundamental multi-volume works, in which the ruling leader was glorified and imprinted historical era in all solemn officialdom. However, in terms of release dates, the current BDT has already outdone both the second and third editions of the TSB (the publication of both took 9 years each). Only the first edition of the TSB was released longer - 21 years - but one must understand that it was an extremely difficult time - 1926-1947. - which fell, including the years of the Great Patriotic War. Now there is no war, and the pace of work and the level of funding are inferior to Soviet times.
The BDT situation is in many ways idiotic and ridiculous. In the era of the Internet and digital technologies, a period of ten years is a lot. During this time, important changes occur in almost all branches of science. And now, nevertheless, this project is published on paper, and even the already released volumes, as far as I know, have not yet been posted on the Internet in the public domain, that is, it is extremely difficult to call this project educational. All this drags on for too long, is very expensive, looks archaic and ends up being inaccessible, useless waste paper. The question is: is there any sense in this publication at all? Well, except for the symbolic one, such as Stalin and Brezhnev had their own TSB, which means that Putin should have his own TSB!
The circulations of TSB and BDT are also incomparable. Circulation of the third edition of the TSB in 30 volumes 1969-1978. amounted to about 630 thousand copies (which is on average 8-12 times more than the first edition and 2-2.5 times more than the second). The circulation of BDT, which has been published since 2004, ranges from 25,000 to 60,000 copies. With the number of volumes, it's still more interesting. At present, the introductory volume "Russia" (2004) and 24 numbered volumes of the encyclopedia have been published. According to Wikipedia, in the output data of all volumes up to the 21st inclusive, it was indicated "In 30 volumes", starting from the 22nd volume, "In 35 volumes" is indicated. At the same time, the Pro-books.ru portal in a publication from June 17, 2014 notes that with additional state support, the BRE publishing house is ready to release the "remaining 12 volumes" not in 4 years, as usual, but in 3. At the same time, 124 million rubles will be required from the ministry for this matter. In parallel with this, BDT plans to fill the Knowledge portal. One more question: if 24 volumes have already been published, then plus 12 more - it turns out to be 36, not 35 volumes? That is, will it not appear from some 30th volume instead of the inscription "in 35 tons." the inscription - "in 40 tons"? In a word, the publication dragged on to the point of impossibility and, God forbid, that the remaining members of the editorial board of 2004 did not die before the release of the last volumes.
Yesterday's publication on Pro-books.ru says that the lack of funds is fraught with the dismissal of some of the publishing house's employees and the suspension of the release of subsequent volumes of fundamental work. Cause financial crisis was a notification from the Ministry of Culture that this year BDT purchases for school libraries can be significantly reduced or even stop completely (!). Previously, budget purchases brought the publishing house 100 million rubles a year, and allowed the release of three new volumes of BDT during the specified period.
50 academicians of the scientific and editorial board of the BDT sent a letter to Vladimir Putin explaining that the project will be closed without financial assistance from the state. State support is also requested for the academic electronic encyclopedia "Knowledge", Izvestia reports. The publishing house allocated 10 million rubles of its own funds for the development of the portal, but there was not enough money to launch the resource. To support the work of the project for three years, BDT experts expect to receive 670 million rubles.
Sergey Kravets, executive secretary of the BRE publishing house, says that public procurement is the main source of income for the publishing house. “If the Ministry of Culture stops purchasing publications, then BDT will have to dissolve the editorial office. The money from the previous state contract is only left to cover the salaries of workers for May-June, then the publishing house cannot continue to work, ”says the BDT representative.
According to financial reporting company, its annual revenue in 2009-2012 was about 130-140 million rubles; net profit until 2012 exceeded 3 million rubles, and in 2012 - 558 thousand rubles. Last year, the Ministry of Culture has already reduced the volume of purchases of the encyclopedia: instead of 50 thousand Russian libraries new volumes of the publication arrived only in 17.5 thousand. At the last collegium of the Ministry of Culture, Deputy Minister Grigory Ivliev announced that the department would continue to purchase the paper version of the encyclopedia only after BDT launched the electronic version.
“The motivation of the Ministry of Culture is clear: no one needs a paper encyclopedia and it is necessary to make an electronic one. We are not against it, we even developed a concept. But now we are talking about completing its publication in paper and providing the libraries with the missing volumes,” Kravets explained in turn.
In connection with all of the above, I have other questions: is BDT in this form even needed? And if so, who needs it? Putin? Academics? To whom? Because it is practically inaccessible to the general reader and of little interest, besides, everyone knows how to use Wikipedia (actual changes appear immediately in it). And experts will prefer to use the latest scientific publications on the topic, but not a dictionary that has been published for more than 10 years. Do we need to end this disastrous publication? Or maybe it is better to focus on creating a universal scientific Russian encyclopedia on the principle of Wikipedia, but which will be edited and updated only by researchers? Or maybe Wikipedia is enough, and for these millions of rubles it’s better, finally, to publish an academic complete collection works of the same A.S. Pushkin in 20 volumes, which has been published by the Pushkin House since 1999, and so far less than 10 volumes have been published ...