The article deals with the so much featured reform of the Russian Academy of sciences (the RAS). Whatever may happen in the future, any person sensitive and partial to destiny of the Russian science has to side with the Russian Academy of sciences. This institution represents and embodies the history of all Russian science while those who wish to privatize the RAS property are agents of the criminal capital. It is necessary to withstand all attempts to convert the RAS reform into an enormous raider takeover. Though the RAS in its present condition is a far cry from what it used to be, it as well as its staff is, no doubt, more close to Russia’s interests than those who plan takeover of property. However, the future of the RAS depends on the RAS itself and on the society at large.

The Pushkin-Decembrist myth of the Soviet times, according to which the national poet did not find his way into the conspirator ranks solely due conspirators' careful attitude to Pushkin’s literary genius, is being subject to a comprehensive revision nowadays. The higher power and Orthodox monarchists who enjoy the power’s support are creating an image of a consistent and coherent admirer of the empire and the loyal son of the Church. Such person could have only short-term and superficial relations with Freemasonic Decembrists. The intelligentsia is also creating a new design of the myth, and this design provides no place to revolutionary moods. Liberal Pushkin does not share his more resolute friends' opinions about a coup d’etat and even more so their ideas about a regicidal dagger. Though Pushkin’s opinions diverged from opinions of his friends he had friendly feelings to them and called upon harsh but just Czar Nicholas to demonstrate mercy to them. In this interpretation interrelation of the Soviet myth characters is being changed. Pushkin is no longer a younger friend and a like-minded man of revolutionary Decembrists. Vice versa, now Decembrists are considered as an element of Pushkin’s environment. Indifference to self-giving Decembrists (as they were presented by A.I.Herzen and since his times had been seen as the archetype of the Russian intelligentsia) is an evidence of rapid estrangement of the current ‘creative class' from the tradition of a selfless life for the sake of the people’s enlightenment. Properly speaking, intelligentsia as a social group which unites people who are ready to sacrifice their time, money, freedom and even their lives for the sake of social interests and common good does not exist any longer. Heroic loners are unable to influence a demoralized majority of ‘very special people' (as A.I.Herzen defined them) of creative professions who are absorbed, along with ‘the trash' they despise so much, in the values of comfort.

The article revisits the image of Sheikh-Mansour one of the most enigmatic figures of the Chechen history, who by the close of the 18-th century, to quote John Baddeley, «dropped, as it were, from the clouds full grown, a warrior, preacher and prophet» to lead the resistance movement against Russia. The mere fact that Mansour gave an armed response to the advent of the Russians serves for many scholars an irresistible temptation to cast him both as a precursor of the 19-th century Caucasus War and a typological predecessor of the renowned Imam Shamyl. The author of this essay argues against what seems to him a far-fetched comparison between the two mountaineers' leaders belonging to different epochs and having different kinds of perception of their political, ideological, and military missions.

The article covers the phenomenon of scientific congresses organized by Russian émigré scientists during the 1921−1930 years. These congresses combined Russian academic community abroad, coordinated scholars’s activities, regulated system of education and scientific manpower training. The article is devoted to the congresses organized in Prague (1922), Belgrade (1929) and Sofia (1930). A.A.Kizewetter, A.V.Florovsky, A.S.Lomshakov, N.O.Lossky, M.M.Novikov, P.B.Struve and others were members of congresses. Congresses have played a huge role in the development of scientific communication between Russian émigré scientists.

The author deals with one of the most dramatic and new social phenomena the Russian empire encountered during the World War I, i.e. massive flow of refugees. The author considers various aspects of a female refugee as these are represented by results of new document studies. The main types of new documents are newspaper publications and some female refugees' letters kept in archives. The author describes a wide range of a female refugee’s fears and alarms, difficulties of such females' life at new places of residence in the escape.

This article is devoted to the biography of Markel Atmakin, socialist-revolutionary and journalist, who was governor of Irbitskii uezd in 1918−1919. The article is focusing on activity of Atmakin during the period of Russian Civil war. With use of various archival documents, the background of conflicts between civil and military authorities of Kolchak regime is described in the article. According to the author’s opinion, such conflicts bring the White movement in the East of Russia to defeat.

The article brings to life a fulcrum moment in history of Russian-American relations in XX century which took place at the very time of the Great Depression and when it was recognized in full the seriousness of the Japanese threat in Asia and the reality of the Nazi menace in Europe. In Autumn 1933 the new president of the United States Franklin D. Roosevelt fully appreciated the gravity of these development and initiated the recognition of the USSR. As a result of the negotiation with the Soviet foreign commissar M. Litvinov the establishment of relations between the United States and the Soviet Union was announced in November 16, 1933. Thus the sixteen years long, notorious non-recognition was closed and the path to more or less durable relationship between the two countries was opened. The article reveals not only the historical significance of the Roosevelt-Litvinov meeting as one of the first indications of the two states' marked solicitude for the precarious position of the peace-loving nations in the face of the Nazi menace and Japanese militarism. It was also a clear recognition of the Russia’s role in international relations and seriousness of Soviet offer to prevent attacks of the aggressors at the first sign. The efforts to stop the war failed but the ordeal of WWII proved definitely that the personal relationship of confidence between leaders and diplomats of the Big Three was entirely necessary and possible. M. Litvinov in his quality as a soviet envoy to Washington (1941−1943) was successful in gaining Roosevelt’s sympathy and involving him in talks concerning the postwar international security and world structure.

The author considers problems of engineering and technical personnel training in the 1920s. In particular, the author investigates principal guidelines of the Soviet system devised for the purpose of cadre question solution in metallurgy. The greatest attention is paid to analysis of metallurgical high quality engineer training system ich was suggested by the prominent metallurgical scientist, the Associate Member of the USSR Academy of sciences Vladimir Efimovich Groum-Grzhimailo who was the father of hydraulic theory of flame furnace computation and the author of works on physical and chemical fundamentals of steel-smelting processes, size-grading of forming rolls and refractory materials making.