The investigative CASE against the state Academy for the History of material culture (1936–1937): background, formation, results

Cover Page

Cite item

Full Text

Open Access Open Access
Restricted Access Access granted
Restricted Access Subscription Access

Abstract

Political repressions against the scientific staff of academic institutions in Leningrad led to the destruction of scientific schools and the reorganization of institutes. Significant changes in the institution-building process of Russian archaeology occurred largely due to the tragic events that took place in the State Academy for the History of Material Culture (GAIMK) in 1934–1936. Personnel changes, scandals and “squabbles” that began after the death of the long-time Chairman of the Academy N.Ya. Marr were aggravated by the events of the “Kirov series” and the subsequent mass arrests among the pro-Trotsky-Zinoviev opposition. The “terrorist organization at the GAIMK” was included in the criminal “Case of a network of counter-revolutionary pro-Trotsky-Zinoviev groups in research institutions of Leningrad” framed-up by NKVD. Mass arrests within this case deprived the Academy of its entire administrative staff and became the reason for the inclusion of GAIMK in the USSR Academy of Sciences as an ordinary institute. Unpublished materials from criminal investigative cases contribute to more detailed restoration of the last chapter in the history of GAIMK.

Full Text

Restricted Access

About the authors

Evgenia G. Zastrozhnova

St. Petersburg Branch of the RAS Archive

Author for correspondence.
Email: pankratova0484@yandex.ru
Russian Federation, St. Petersburg

Maria V. Medvedeva

Institute for the History of Material Culture RAS

Email: marriyam@mail.ru
Russian Federation, St. Petersburg

Marina V. Ponikarovskaya

St. Petersburg Branch of the RAS Archive

Email: poni-marina@yandex.ru
Russian Federation, St. Petersburg

References

  1. The article “The victims of their own crimes” from the newspaper “Book Review”, No 49 of 08.12.1989 (Electronic resource). Elektronnyy arkhiv Fonda Iofe [Electronic Archive of the Iofe Fund]. URL: https://arch2.iofe.center/person/4897. (In Russ.)
  2. Berman, Boris Davydovich (Electronic resource). Kadrovyy sostav organov gosudarstvennoy bezopasnosti. 1935–1939 [Staff of State Security Agencies. 1935–1939]. URL: https://nkvd.memo.ru/index.php/Берман,_Борис_Давыдович. (In Russ.)
  3. Pankratova E.G., 2019. Terrorist organization of GAIMK (1936): a review of archival and criminal investigation materials. Ocherki istorii otechestvennoy arkheologii [Essays on the history of Russian archaeology], 5. I.A. Sorokina, ed. Moscow: Institut arkheologii Rossiyskoy akademii nauk, pp. 263–276. (In Russ.)
  4. Pankratova E.G., 2020а. Notes on the biography of “the leader of the terrorist organization of the State Academy for the History of Material Culture” A.G. Prigozhin (based on archival criminal investigation case). Arkheologicheskie vesti [Archaeological news], 29. St. Petersburg, pp. 376–384. (In Russ.)
  5. Pankratova E.G., 2020б. F.V. Kiparisov, the last Chairman of the State Academy for the History of Material Culture (new materials for the biography). Vestnik drevney istorii [Journal of Ancient History], 3, pp. 698–722. (In Russ.)
  6. Pankratova E.G. 2020в. The letter that changed the fate… (unpublished materials for the biography of V.S. Adrianov) // Rossiyskaya arkheologiya [Russian archaeology], 2, pp. 130–141 (In Russ.)
  7. Pankratova E.G., Smirnov N.Yu., 2022. To the history of the liquidation of GAIMK: the “statement” of V.F. Zybkovets to A.A. Zhdanov. Rossiyskaya arkheologiya [Russian archaeology], 1, pp. 174–186. (In Russ.)
  8. Zastrozhnova E.G., Tikhonov I.L., Tikhomirov I.S., 2023. S.N. Bykovsky: from a Red Commander to Deputy Chairman of GAIMK. Arkheologicheskie vesti [Archaeological news], 39. St. Petersburg, pp. 292–310. (In Russ.)
  9. Zastrozhnova E.G., Medvedeva M.V., 2023. The fate of the GAIMK is at turning point: an unsent letter from F.V. Kiparisov to S.M.Kirov. Rossiyskaya arkheologiya [Russian archaeology], 3, pp. 198–208. (In Russ.).

Supplementary files

Supplementary Files
Action
1. JATS XML
2. Fig. 1. Nikolai Yakovlevich Marr in his office, GAIMK (Marble Palace, 1925). Photo archive of the Institute for the History of Material Culture RAS. L. 1067-42

Download (405KB)
3. Fig. 2. Fyodor Vasilievich Kiparisov (Moscow, 1920s). Photo from the family album of F.V. Kiparisov’s granddaughter – A.A. Volkova-Kiparisova

Download (193KB)
4. Fig. 3. Sergey Nikolaevich Bykovsky. [1915] Photo from the personal archive of the Bykovsky-Tikhomirovs family

Download (198KB)
5. Fig. 4. Abram Grigorievich Prigozhin (late 1920s). Archive of the Institute for the History of Material Culture RAS. F. 2. L. 3. Case 535. P. 3a

Download (338KB)
6. Fig. 5. Project of the new structure of GAIMK, 1934. Manuscript Dept. of the Archive of the Institute for the History of Material Culture RAS. F. 2 L. 1 1934 Case 259 P. 1

Download (447KB)
7. Fig. 6. Carrying out the coffin with the body of N.Ya. Marr. Marble Palace, 1934. St. Petersburg Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. F. 800. L. 3. Case 294. P. 130

Download (383KB)
8. Fig. 7. Kerch expedition of GAIMK, 1935, Kamysh-Burun (Tyritake). A group of researchers and trainees. From right to left: V.A. Lavrov, L.F. Silantyeva, V.P. Lisin, O.P. Kalistov, V.Ya. Shvarts, S.F. Strzheletsky, O.O. Kryuger, L.M. Slavin, A.P. Ivanova. Photo archive of the Institute for the History of Material Culture RAS. II.20517

Download (393KB)

Copyright (c) 2024 Russian Academy of Sciences