On September 26, 2016 the session of Saint Petersburg division of the Archaeographic Commission of the RAS was held at Saint Petersburg Institute of History.

The participants were welcomed by director of the Institute N.N. Smirnov, who emphasized the importance of the recommencement of the division’s activity.

The members of the department discussed different issues concerning both current status and prospects of its work. Special attention was paid to issues of expert activities, publication of historical sources and co-ordination of the manuscript restoration.

Preliminary date of the next meeting is November 1, 2016 at SPbIH RAS.

On September 14, 2016 Saint Petersburg Institute of History of the RAS and all the academic community suffered a great loss. The leading research fellow of the Institute, D.Sc. in History, outstanding specialist in the history of Russia of the 19th-20th centuries Evgenii Mihailovich Balashov died.

On September 14-15, 2016 the Second Russian-Finnish seminar “Political elites of Russia and the Great Duchy of Finland in 1809-1918”. The sessions were held at the Conference hall of the Consulate general of Finland in Saint-Petersburg.

Deputy consul general Mikko Kivikoski, director of Saint Petersburg Institute of History of the RAS Nikolai Smirnov and D.Sc. Christine Kalleinen welcomed the participants of the seminar (scholars, professors, post-graduates from leading research and educational centers of Russia and Finland).

Reports presented at the seminar have described many-sided elite of the Russian Empire, assessed its influence on development of political, economical and cultural interaction between Russia and Finland at turning-points of history.

Saint Petersburg Institute of History of the RAS expresses deep gratitude to employees of the Consulate general of Finland in Saint-Petersburg, members of the Organizing Committee, who greatly contributed to the conducting of the seminar, and looks forward to the continuation of these meetings.