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ArcheoBiblioBase: Archives in Russia: H-20

Last update of repository: 16 March 2020

Muzei-panorama “Borodinskaia bitva”


Holdings

Total: 23 fonds, 1,189 units, 1765–1914
films—5 (1960s); photographs—364 (1913–1986); sound recordings—7 (1960–1985); personal fonds—9

The museum retains documents relating to Russian social history during the first quarter of the nineteenth century, the history of the 1812 War against Napoleon (known in Russia as the Great Patriotic War—Velikaia otechestvennaia voina), and on the foreign campaigns of the Russian Army in 1813 and 1814. There is also documentation on celebrations held to mark the anniversary of victory.
        The museum holdings are divided into three thematic sections. The first contains documents on the Romanov dynasty, highest state institutions of the Russian Empire, and the supreme command of the Russian Army during the years 1806 to 1815. There are signed edicts and manifestos of Alexander I, dispatches and reports from army commanders, communiqués, and a record of military operations during the Patriotic War and subsequent foreign campaigns covering the period from October 1812 to September 1813. The most significant component in this section is the fond entitled “Communiqués from the Patriotic War Era, the Foreign Campaigns of the Russian Army, and the Russo-Persian Campaigns of 1804–1813” with printed excerpts and copies of documents printed by the field printing press under the control of military headquarters.
        There is a separate fond consisting of documents about the French imperial family and the government of France during the years1812 to 1815.
        The second section is comprised of a group of fonds consisting of documents attesting to promotions in rank and title covering the period from 1765 to 1857. These include personnel service-record files (formuliarnye spiski) of officers who fought in the 1812 Napoleonic War, officers' demobilization documents, and diplomas issued with military decorations. The earliest document in this section records the promotion of M.I. Golenishchev-Kutuzov to the rank of Premier Major in 1765 and is signed by Catherine the Great.
        The third section contains materials relating to the centennial celebrations of the victory in the 1812 War (late-19th c.–1914). There are the records of the Special Committee formed to set up an 1812 museum in Moscow (1910–1912), of the Circle of Those Dedicated to Preserve the Memory of the Patriotic War (1913–1914), and of the Society for the Preservation of Memorials (1913–1914).
        There is a separate fond for monuments to the Battle of Borodino.
        The museum holds the personal papers of those who fought in the Napoleonic War of 1812 and took part in the foreign campaigns (the documentation covers the period from 1810 to 1850). These include papers of the Alekseev Brothers, A.A. Bistrom, M.S. Vorontsov, A.A. Protasov, N.P. Antropov, S.A. Figner, and A.I. Shmakov. There is aseparate fond relating to the life and work of the famous battle painter, F.A. Rubo (Roubaud) (documents covering the period from 1903 to 1912), which includes original letters sent by the artist from Munich to P.A. Vorontsov-Vel'iaminov. The museum also has a collection of documents on the life andwork of F.A. Rubo, which were collected by M.I. Anin and donated to the museum, as well as the personal papers of A.P. Vereshchagin, who created the monuments on the field of Borodino.


ABB ArcheoBiblioBase Archeo Biblio Base Patricia Kennedy Grimsted