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ArcheoBiblioBase: Archives in Russia: G-4Last update of repository: 15 February 2021Vserossiiskaia gosudarstvennaia biblioteka inostrannoi literatury im. M.I. Rudomino (VGBIL)Previous names
The All-Russian State Library for Foreign Literature was formed in 1921 as the Neophilological Library of the Department of Pedagogical Education (Otdel pedagogicheskogo obrazovaniia) of the Main Administration for Professional Training (Glavnoe upravlenie professional'nogo obrazovaniia—Glavprofobr), which was under the authority of the People’s Commissariat of Education (Narkompros) of the RSFSR. It subsequently came under the control of the Academic Center of the commissariat. In 1924 it was renamed the State Library for Foreign Literature; in 1927 the State Library for Foreign Literature; and in 1932 the State Central Library for Foreign Literature, still remaining under Narkompros RSFSR. In the aftermath of World War II, the library’s collections were significantly enriched by a large number of “trophy” books brought to Moscow from Germany and Eastern Europe. In 1948 it received All-Union status and its name was changed accordingly, and from then until 1957 it was under the authority of the State Foreign Languages Publishing House (Gosudarstvennoe izdatel'stvo innostrannoi literatury), which itself was under the control of the Council of Ministers of the USSR. In September 1957, the library was transferred to the control of the Ministry of Culture of the USSR. In 1973 it was given the status of a scientific research institute, and in 1990 it was renamed in honor of its founder and long-time director, Margarita Ivanovna Rudomino. The archive was organized in 1950. |