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Abstract: The article covers little-known episodes of the history of the Great Dictionary Card Index of the Institute for Linguistic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The article focuses on the history of the might-have-been “Lenin Dictionary”, the creation of which was initiated by V. I. Lenin in 1920 and the work on which was supervised by D. N. Ushakov. The dictionary was intended to become a reference book for the elimination of illiteracy in post-revolutionary Russia but because of complicated historical, political and economic reasons it had never been published, and in different documents is titled as “Lenin” (after the author of the idea), “Moscow” (after the place where it was being created, chiefly in the documents of the Petrograd team of the dictionary) and “Ushakov” (after its editor-in-chief). The work on the card index creation in 1921-1923 was headed by Ushakov, and the Leningrad group of collaborating scholars was headed by L. V. Scherba. The card index of this dictionary, sent from Leningrad to Moscow in 1934, was considered to be lost. The article has collected and summarized many facts on the history of this card index published earlier and has presented the data, and specifically those from the Institute archives, concerning the history of discovery of the card index in question in the funds of the Great Dictionary Card Index of the Institute for Linguistic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The article publishes for the first time two letters of Ushakov to V. M. Istrin written in 1925 (slightly abridged), which briefly describe the situation of the possible loss of the fund and its subsequent discovery by Ushakov and discuss the prospects of its transfer to the Academy of Sciences in Petrograd. The article dwells on the card index plight and oblivion taking into account the controversial and dynamic cultural and socio-political situation of the 1920s. The article provides a brief description of the fund and its basic characteristics (vocabulary, sources, extent of material, and selected personalia) on the material of the card index fragment Kolupat’-Kommfraktsiya. An attempt is made to restore the probable appearance of the dictionary entry.

About the author(s) :

Marina N. Priemysheva

The Institute for Linguistic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences
(Saint Petersburg, Russia)

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9423-3486

 

Ekaterina G. Stukova

The Institute for Linguistic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences
(Saint Petersburg, Russia)

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0532-340X

Publication Timeline:

Date of receipt: 19.10.2023; date of publication: 30.12.2023

References:

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