Seventy years have passed since the birth of the outstanding Soviet historian, academician Militsa Vasilyevna Nechkina.
M. V. Nechkina was born on February 12 (25), 1901 in Ukraine, in the town of Nizhyn, Chernihiv province (now Chernihiv region of the Ukrainian SSR). In 1921, she graduated from the Historical Department of the Faculty of History and Philology of Kazan University and was left with it to prepare for the professorship. At the same time, she began teaching in higher educational institutions of Kazan and at the Faculty of Kazan University.
In 1924, M. V. Nechkina moved to Moscow, completed postgraduate studies at the Russian Association of Research Institutes of Social Sciences (RANIION), completed a course in the history department of the Institute of the Red Professorship, and began working as a senior researcher at first the Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, then the Institute of History of the Communist Academy. With the establishment of the Institute of History of the USSR Academy of Sciences in 1935, M. V. Nechkina became a member of it and is still one of its leading employees.
Simultaneously with her research activities, M. V. Nechkina continued her teaching work in Moscow. In the 1920s, she taught at the rabfak, at the 2nd Moscow University, and at the Communist University of the Workers of the East. In 1934, she began teaching at the newly created Faculty of History of Moscow State University and worked there for many years. In 1935, the Higher Attestation Commission approved her as a professor. At the same time, the Presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences awarded her the degree of Doctor of Historical Sciences.
For a number of years (starting in 1946), M. V. Nechkina was a professor at the Department of History of the USSR of the Academy of Social Sciences under the Central Committee of the CPSU (at one time she was the head of this department). Since 1947. she is a full member of the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of the RSFSR (transformed into the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of the USSR in 1966). Public recognition of M. V. Nechkina's great scientific achievements was her election in 1953 as a corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Sciences, and in 1958 as an academician.
These are the external milestones of M. V. Nechkina's scientific biography.
From the first years of her scientific activity, M. V. Nechkina was actively involved in the struggle for the creation of a Marxist-Leninist historical science. A number of her articles from the 1920s and early 1930s are devoted to the theoretical legacy of the classics of Marxism-Leninism. At the same time, it examines the work of bourgeois historians (G. Evers, V. O. Klyuchevsky). Finally, M. V. Nechkina initiated the study of Soviet historiography by publishing the article "The Science of Russian History" in the collection "Social Sciences in the USSR", published in connection with the 10th anniversary of the October Revolution.
Much attention to methodological and historiographical issues was given by M. V. Nechkina to the development of the most important research problem put forward by the October Revolution - the history of the revolutionary movement in Russia. M. V. Nechkina devoted her life to studying this problem. Already in the 20s, she began to develop the theme of the Decembrists. The most significant of her works of that time is the book "Society of the United Slavs"(1927), based on a large archive material and awarded the prize of the Central Library of Ukraine.
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Since the 1920s, M. V. Nechkina began to show interest in the Raznochinsky stage of the revolutionary movement, paying special attention to the historical role of N. G. Chernyshevsky. In connection with the study of the history of the revolutionary movement, M. V. Nechkina put a lot of effort into developing the question of the struggle of the masses of the people - peasants, workmen with serfdom. It publishes a number of popular books about S. Razin and E. Pugachev, about the life and movements of serfs, publishes materials and articles about popular demonstrations on the pages of such publications as "Red Archive", "History of the Proletariat of the USSR", etc.
M. V. Nechkina took an active part in the collective works of Soviet historians devoted to the problem of the history of the working class in Russia, the priority of which was clearly shown by the October Revolution. She was one of the authors of " Essays on the History of the Proletariat of the USSR. The Proletariat of Tsarist Russia (1932). Under her editorship, A Bibliography on the History of the Proletariat in the Era of Tsarism was published. The feudal-feudal period " (1935).
After the well-known decisions of the Communist Party and the Soviet Government on issues of history (1934-1936), M. V. Nechkina took a lively part in all the initiatives of Soviet historians aimed at raising the theoretical level and professional skills of research and improving the teaching of historical disciplines. For further development of the problem of peasant wars and the revolutionary movement in Russia, the articles published by M. V. Nechkina in the collection "Against the Historical concept of M. P. Pokrovsky" (1939) were important: "The Razin and Pugachev Uprising in the concept of M. N. Pokrovsky" and "The Decembrist Uprising in the concept of M. N. Pokrovsky".
M. V. Nechkina has done a lot in the field of creating history textbooks for both secondary and higher schools. "Elementary course of the history of the USSR", written by the author's team, which included M. V. Nechkina, was awarded the government prize. She was also the editor and author of a number of sections of the second volume of the textbook for historical faculties of universities and pedagogical institutes - "Russia in the XIX century". The textbook was awarded a certificate of honor by the Presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences. It went through three editions (1940, 1949, 1954), and for each new edition it was revised in connection with new requirements imposed by the development of science.
During the Great Patriotic War, M. V. Nechkina devoted herself with her characteristic purposefulness to propaganda work, giving lectures in the Soviet Army, publishing articles and pamphlets about outstanding Russian commanders and significant events in military history. The researcher devoted her masterful pen and bright, lively word to the ideological struggle for the defeat of fascism.
M. V. Nechkina's activity in the post-war years is very versatile. Her research interests continue to focus on the Decembrist movement. With its active assistance, the publication of the documentary series "The Decembrist Uprising. Materials", which includes the cases of the investigative commission and the Supreme Criminal Court over the participants of the uprising. Volumes VII, IX-XII (1950-1969) of this series are published under the editorship of M. V. Nechkina and with her prefaces. She also owns a number of other publications of materials and articles about the Decembrists.
In 1951, M. V. Nechkina's book "The Uprising of December 14, 1825" was published. Based on a thorough and comprehensive analysis of the sources, the author has reconstructed the picture of the events of this significant day in history. The result of many years of hard and fruitful work was M. V. Nechkina's fundamental, generalizing two-volume monograph " The Decembrist Movement "(1955). It examines from what roots the movement grew, what stages it went through, what were the Decembrist organizations, how the idea of the uprising was created, and what is the objective significance of the Decembrists in the history of the Russian revolutionary movement.
Of the topics related to Decembrist studies, M. V. Nechkina is very concerned with two: "Pushkin and the Decembrists "and"Griboyedov and the Decembrists". She paid particular attention to the second topic, devoting to it the books " The Investigative Case of A. S. Griboyedov "(1945) and " A. S. Griboyedov and the Decembrists "(1947, 2nd ed. - 1951). For the latter work, the author was awarded the M. V. Nechkina State Prize.
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to trace the writer's ideological affinity with the leaders of the advanced social movement of his time. She also managed to connect the ideas of the comedy "Woe from Wit"with this movement.
While studying the history of Russian social life in the early 19th century, M. V. Nechkina approached the topic "Voltaire and Russian Society". In an article published under this title, she speaks about the versatility of the topic raised: Voltaire's works on Russia, his personal connections with Russian people, and, finally, most importantly, the role of Voltaire's ideas in the Russian social movement, the significance of Russian Voltaireism.
One of the important aspects of studying the history of advanced social thought and social movement in Russia is to clarify the role of Moscow as a national center in their formation. Having taken part in the preparation of the collective work "History of Moscow", M. V. Nechkina wrote a number of essays for the third volume, where she developed the themes of ideological struggle, the growth of anti-serf ideology against the broad background of the social, political, and cultural life of the ancient capital of the state.
M. V. Nechkina put a lot of effort into studying the revolutionary movement of the 60s of the XIX century. It has published a number of materials and articles related to the activities of N. P. Ogarev, A. I. Herzen, and N. G. Chernyshevsky. Under the direction of M. V. Nechkina, a facsimile edition of the journal of Herzen and Ogarev "Polyarnaya Zvezda" for 1855-1869 and the newspaper "Kolokol" for 1857-1867 was carried out. Since 1958, the Institute of History of the USSR Academy of Sciences has created a group of researchers who study the revolutionary situation of 1859-1861 under the leadership of M. V. Nechkina. The group includes scientists from different institutions and different cities of the USSR. In 1960, the group decided to honor the 90th anniversary of Lenin's birth by publishing a collection of works devoted to the theme set by Lenin - "the revolutionary situation of 1859-1861". That was the title of the collection. In the future, as the group's work accumulated, four more collections were published under the same title (1963-1969). M. V. Nechkina is the responsible editor of the publication. She is also the author of a number of articles: "The emergence of the first Zemlya I Volya", " The reform of 1861 as a product of the revolutionary struggle. (On the methodology of studying the reform)" , etc.
M. V. Nechkina continuously works on the general concept of Russian history in the era of feudalism and capitalism. She took a lively part in the preparation of a new textbook on the history of the USSR for higher educational institutions as an author and member of the editorial board of the first volume, covering material from ancient times to 1861. This volume has already gone through two editions (1954, 1964). M. V. Nechkina is also a member of the Main Editorial Board of the 12-volume History of the USSR from Ancient Times to the Present Day and the editorial committee of the first series of this publication (before the Great October Socialist Revolution). Finally, she wrote sections on Russian history up to the mid-19th century. for the first book of the Concise History of the World (1966).
Reflecting on the regularities of the development of feudal society, M. V. Nechkina made a discussion report in 1954 at the Institute of History of the USSR Academy of Sciences on the topic "On the two main stages of the development of the feudal formation. (To raise the question)". A discussion began, which was continued in the magazine "Voprosy Istorii", where M. V. Nechkina published two articles on the same issue: the opening discussion on the pages of the press and the final one. The exchange of opinions on this topic was undoubtedly important for the theoretical understanding of the laws of feudalism development. Reflections on the laws of the historical process are inextricably linked for M. V. Nechkina with the theoretical justification of the idea of the people as the driving force of historical development, with the creative perception of Lenin's statements about the role of the masses in history. She has repeatedly spoken both orally and in the press on these issues.
M. V. Nechkina's attention to the issues of historiography continues unabated. Her monograph on V. O. Klyuchevsky is nearing completion. Some of its sections have already appeared in print. Thanks to M. V. Nechkina, the hitherto unknown manuscripts of Klyuchevsky were published: notes on universal history (from lectures given by him in Moscow).
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Alexander Military School), as well as letters, diaries, aphorisms, thoughts on history.
Under the leadership of M. V. Nechkina, volumes II - IV of "Essays on the History of Historical Science in the USSR" (1960 - 1966) were written and published, covering the time from the 60s of the XIX century to the mid-30s of the XX century. Volumes V-VII are ready for printing. This is the first generalizing work on Russian historiography. Its creation required the development of complex theoretical problems. The center of such development was the sector of the History of Historical Science in the USSR of the Institute of the History of the USSR of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR and the Scientific Council on the Problems of the History of Historical Science, headed by M. V. Nechkina.
In 1960-1962, the journal "History of the USSR" hosted a discussion on the periodization of the history of Soviet historical science, which was opened and completed with articles by M. V. Nechkina and gave fruitful results. M. V. Nechkina was a member of the editorial board of two collections of articles "Soviet Historical Science from the XX to the XXII Congress of the CPSU "(1962-1963). In the essay" On the path taken", prefixed to the first collection, she (in collaboration with other historians) outlined the main content of the main periods in the development of Soviet historical science since 1917 G. before the XX Congress of the CPSU.
At the initiative of M. V. Nechkina, two collections of articles "History and Historians" were prepared and published, the first of which is devoted to the historiography of the history of the USSR (1965), the second-to the historiography of general history (1966). At present, on her own initiative, a permanent scientific body of the USSR Academy of Sciences ("Yearbook")has been created on problems of historiography. A very useful work was the publication, jointly by the Institute of History and the State Public Historical Library of the RSFSR, edited by M. V. Nechkina, of a bibliography on the history of historical science in the pre-October period (1965).
In recent years, the scientific Council headed by M. V. Nechkina has done a lot of work, celebrating a significant anniversary - the 100th anniversary of the birth of V. I. Lenin. In 1965, this council, together with the Council for the History of Historical Science of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR, organized an all-Union session on the problem of "Lenin and Historical Science"in Kiev. The materials of the session were then published in a special collection (1968). M. V. Nechkina made a report in Kiev "Lenin-the historian of the revolutionary movement in Russia". In December 1969, an all-Union session was held in Moscow on the theme "V. I. Lenin-the founder of Soviet historical science". Here M. V. Nechkina made a report "Lenin's concept of the history of Russia as a historical justification of the socialist revolution". In 1969, M. V. Nechkina's book "Artistic Images of Russian Literature in the Works of V. I. Lenin"was published. It deals with an important topic - the function of artistic images in the historical process.
M. V. Nechkina does much to expose the perversions of history that are taking place in the reactionary bourgeois press abroad. In 1960, under the leadership of M. V. Nechkina, the staff and post-graduate students of the Academy of Social Sciences under the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Institute of History of the USSR Academy of Sciences prepared and published the collection "Against Bourgeois Falsification of the History of Soviet Society". M. V. Nechkina published an article "Criticism of foreign bourgeois literature on the history of Soviet Historical science". On the methodology of history, M. V. Nechkina spoke at two international congresses of historians: the XI in Stockholm (1960) and the XII in Vienna (1965).
M. V. Nechkina repeatedly participated in periodic traditional meetings of Soviet historians with historians of France, Italy, and England. In 1964, at the Soviet - Italian conference in Moscow, she made a report "Ten years of work of Soviet historians on the history of Russia from the end of the XVIII century to 1917". The name of M. V. Nechkina is well known abroad. A number of her works have been translated into foreign languages.
An outstanding research scientist, M. V. Nechkina is keenly interested in setting up school education. Together with A.V. Fadeev, she wrote a textbook on the history of the USSR for the 7th grade, reprinted five times (1962-1965).
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After the death of A.V. Fadeev, M. V. Nechkina continued further work on improving the textbook, in collaboration with P. S. Leibengrub, and this new text has already passed through five editions (1966-1969).
It is not easy to give a general assessment of M. V. Nechkina as a researcher, organizer of science, and teacher. This is a scientist of great erudition, broad interests. The creative image of M. V. Nechkina is diverse. Her scientific research is aimed at solving large theoretical problems. But it also has the ability to reproduce historical reality in all its concreteness, to recreate images of living people and events of the past. She knows the value of historical sources, and all her works are distinguished by their source study skills. M. V. Nechkina's books awaken the mind and give artistic pleasure.
M. V. Nechkina is a researcher who constantly searches; in creative searches, she is always driven by the desire for new things. M. V. Nechkina's books are polemical, because new things are born in polemics. M. V. Nechkina considers monographs to be the main type of scientific research and vigorously defends its place of honor in science. Without monographic research, M. V. Nechkina writes, there can be neither good popular works, nor full-fledged multi-volume generalizing works.
M. V. Nechkina is a patriotic scientist who loves his homeland, a social scientist who lives by the needs, requests, and interests of his people. M. V. Nechkina's services to the Motherland and to science were highly appreciated by the Soviet government, awarding her the Order of Lenin, the Red Banner of Labor and medals. Muscovites have repeatedly placed their trust in M. V. Nechkina by electing her to the Moscow Regional and City Councils of Workers ' Deputies, and she has always responsibly and honestly carried out these honorary duties.
M. V. Nechkina brought up a large number of students, including many well-known scientists-doctors and candidates of sciences. A whole school has been created, and its seal marks a number of monographs, the responsible editor of which is M. V. Nechkina.
I would like to wish M. V. Nechkina good health and preserve for many years the irrepressible creative energy that she brings to science and which infects everyone who comes into contact with her.
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