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The National
Library of Russia which in May 1995 entered its third
century of existence is one of the largest book
repositories in the world and occupies an exceptional
place in the history of Russian culture. Founded by the
Enlightener Empress Catherine 11 with a dual purpose,
"for a complete collection of Russian books'' and
"for general public usage", it has never
deviated from its fundamental principle - accessibility
at no charge. Soon after its formal opening in 1814 the library
had become already a genuine seat of Russian
enlightenment, a center for the cultural and scholarly
life of the northern capital. Prominent statesmen and
scholars, the most renowned men of learning of their
time, worked within its walls: Alexander Stroganov and
Alexei Olenin, Ivan Krylov and Alexander Yermolaev, Alexander
Vostokov, Modest Korff and Afanasy Bychkoy, Vladimir
Stasoy, Vasily Sobolshchikov, Nikolai Schilder and many
others who did much to boost the authority of the
national book repository and to expand its role in
Russian social life. For generations of the Russian intelligentsia,
the library truly did become a "second
university". |
