About the Laboratory
In 1973, the idea arose at the history faculty of Ural State University to organise regular archaeographical field trips. This was supported by Professor V. Ia. Krivonogov, who led the archival studies section of the historical faculty, and Prorector B. A. Sutyrin. R. G. Pikhoia, senior teacher in the cathedra of pre-Soviet history, undertook the task of directly realising this idea.
In the summer of 1974, the first expedition was organised. From this moment until 1982, R. G. Pikhoia was the leader of the expeditions. From 1983 to the end of the 1990s, V. I. Baidin directed the field work: he was succeeded by I. V. Pochinskaia. The participants in the first expeditions were students and young fellows in the cathedra of pre-Soviet history: O. A. Lysova (Mel’chakova), N. P. Parfent’ev, N. A. Litvinova (Mudrova), V. I. Baidin, A. G. Mosin, L. A. Brutskaia, A. T. Shashkov, A. A. Grinenko, E. P. Pirogova, L. A. Dashkevich, and others.
In 1975, on the initiative of R. G. Pikhoia, the Laboratory of Archaeographical Studies was created as an academic structure within the framework of the pre-Soviet history cathedra. From 1975 to 1988, the creator of the Laboratory was its leader. Later, after his move to Moscow at the end of 1990, he occupied an informal post as academic supervisor.
The Laboratory was created with the aim of organising archaeographical expeditions and studying the written artefacts of the Cyrillic tradition. For many years, the Laboratory did not have its own independent staff roster: its team consisted of fellows from the cathedra. In order to guarantee the constant function of the Laboratory, four laboratory assistant positions were established: in the first few years, these were predominantly occupied by graduates of the history faculty who had taken part in expeditions (Iu. N. Sharapov, N. A. Mudrova, L. A. Dashkevich, E. K. Samatova, and A. A. Grinenko).
In 1981, LAI was introduced into the regulations of Ural State University as an academic structure (order no. 19 from 31.03.1981). This allowed for the creation of an independent staff roster budgeted for by the university’s financial authorities. The first paid fellows of the Laboratory were I. V. Pochinskaia, I. L. Man’kova, E. M. Glavatskaia, M. G. Kazantseva, N. A. Mudrova, A. V. Poletaev, and S. A. Galishev: later, they were joined by P. I. Mangilev and S. A. Beloborodov.
In 1988, an agreement was concluded between the rector of Ural State University and the directorate of the Institute of History and Archaeology (Urals branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences). LAI thus became an academic laboratory under the joint administration of two institutions (see order no. 81 from 01.08.1988): it was withdrawn from the aegis of the cathedra of pre-Soviet history. Some fellows transferred to the academic section of LAI. From this time until the beginning of 1991, A. G. Mosin was the leader of the Laboratory: he was a fellow of the Institute of History and Archaeology.
In 1991, in connection with the creation of the Central Academic Library of the Urals branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences (and the transfer to it of key archaeographical specialists from the Institute of History and Archaeology), LAI became a joint structure of Ural State University and the Central Academic Library. In this year, A. G. Mosin was replaced by L. S. Soboleva, who was a fellow of the Laboratory’s academic section. In May 1992, I. V. Pochinskaia became the leader of the academic section, a position she has held until the present day. At the beginning of the 1990s, the fellows of the Laboratory were I. L. Man’kov, M. G. Kazantseva, N. A. Mudrova, A. V. Poletaev, S. A. Galishev, P. I. Mangilev, S. A. Beloborodov, N. V. Anufrieva, E. V. Poletaeva, N. A. Borisenko, O. Borisova, and S. Iachevskii. In 1995, Iu. V. Kliukina (Borovik) also joined the Laboratory.
In 1998, the joint work of the two parts of LAI (library and university) ended: LAI at Ural State University continued its activities independently. Its new status was affirmed by rectorial order no. 42/a from 03.03.1998. Those archaeographers who had been part of the Central Academic Library returned to the university. From 1998, the Laboratory’s team consisted of I. V. Pochinskaia, P. I. Mangilev, S. A. Beloborodov, N. V. Anufrieva, Iu. V. Borovik, and S. A. Kudriavtsev. In the beginning of the 2000s, they were joined by N. A. Iakushina, who was then replaced in 2007 by P. V. Gol’tsova. By the beginning of the 21st century’s second decade, the team now working in the Laboratory had taken shape: I. V. Pochinskaia, P. I. Mangilev, S. A. Beloborodov, N. V. Anufrieva, Iu. V. Borovik, A. S. Palkin, and N. S. Shcherbakova.
During its years of activity and the expeditions it organised (in which around 300 students took part), the Laboratory gathered a unique collection of Cyrillic written artefacts, numbering around 6,000 individual items. This is the largest collection of medieval Russian books outside of Moscow and St Petersburg and forms an invaluable basis for scholarly research. By rectorial order no. 302 from 23.07.2003, the status of the manuscript and old book collection was conclusively defined: a structure called the Drevlekhranilishche (archive) was created under LAI which unified the collection (previously, it had been formally divided between the library and the Laboratory). N. V. Anufrieva was appointed as the senior archivist, a position she has held until the present day.
In 2009, a restoration workshop with modern equipment was created under the aegis of the Laboratory. The restorers N. S. Shcherbakova and Iu. V. Borovik studied under both Russian and foreign specialists on the conservation of paper-based documents.
The activities of the Laboratory form the academic school of Urals archaeography, which brings together specialists both from Russia and abroad. Over the years, the fellows of the Laboratory have prepared and published around 30 monographs and more than 1,000 articles: they have also defended a range of doctoral and candidate dissertations. The Laboratory’s collection is used for lectures and practical work supervised by the fellows: it is thus the basis for student coursework. An exposition on the development of the medieval Russian book and manuscript tradition is permanently open in the Laboratory.
Created / Updated: 20 October 2017 / 20 October 2017
© Federal State Autonomous Educational Institution of Higher Education «Ural Federal University named after the first President of Russia B.N.Yeltsin»
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Portal design: Artsofte
Contacts:
Tel.+7(343) 389 94 69
e-mail: lai@urfu.ru
Post address:
620083, Russia, Ekaterinburg,
Lenina str., 51
Address of the Laboratory:
Ekaterinburg, Turgeneva str., 4, room 478.