The Plekhanov House holdings comprise about 30 thousand items on the history of social movements in Russia and abroad. They includes handwritten documents, personal archives, printed and electronic materials related to the history of social thought, Russian and international labour movement. The core collection is the archive of Georgi Plekhanov (1856-1918), the founder of the social-democratic movement in Russia. The archival materials, numbering 5030 items, include authentic manuscripts of his works, extensive correspondence and other documents.
The Plekhanov House is a center of research in the history of social thought and labour movement. In addition to Plekhanov's collection, it houses archives of his relatives and associates, other figures of the Russian labour and social movements and researchers of the history of social thought, public and political organizations. Today the Plekhanov House includes 41 collections covering the period since 1799 onwards. They contain materials on Russian and foreign history, Russian and international revolutionary and social movements, culture, secular and religious education, publishing, history, art studies, local studies, studies of religion and church history, linguistics and folklore studies, philosophy, economics, ethnography etc.; as well as extensive iconography.
An important place in the Plekhanov House is occupied by G. Plekhanov's personal library consisting of 8317 items. Most of it is made up of publications in foreign languages, covering a wide range of Plekhanov's scientific and political fields of interests. The books, magazines and other materials were acquired from editors and publishers, some of them were given as a gift from authors, translators and friends. Among the latter are prominent politicians, scientists and cultural figures, known both in Russia and abroad. The library embraces publications on various topics, the works of the French materialists of the 18th century, the first 19th century editions of K. Marx, F. Engels and their followers, etc. Almost 3,000 items contain G. Plekhanov's notes supplementing the materials of the personal archive.
Users can find copies of handwritten documents by G. Plekhanov and other leaders of the social movements in the Digital Library.
The electronic collections of the Plekhanov House include materials from modern political parties and social movements, collections of informal periodicals. The electronic collections that are not part of the Digital Library are stored as archival documents. Their use is described by the general rules how to conduct research in the archives of the Russian Federation and the Reading Room of the Plekhanov House.
Plekhanov House Collection
Plekhanov House. Brief Summary
Collections