A significant part of the rare book collections on the theme of social history, now kept at the Center for Social and Political History GPIB Russia, was assembled in the 1920s at the Institute of Marx and Engels (IME). The first director of IME, David Borisovich Ryazanov (1870-1938), organized and lead the work of collecting books and documents.
Ryazanov was a prominent figure in the Russian Social-Democratic and trade union movements, an outstanding researcher of the history of social thought, especially the ideas of Marx and Engels, the first head of Glavarhiva, one of the organizers of the Socialist Academy, academician and a brilliant collector. For many years, from the 1930s to 1990s, his name was erased from the country's history.
The exhibition presents a biographical sketch, life and activites of D.B. Ryazanov, a selected bibliography of his works (some editions in the full-text version), the story of his personal library, as well as a bibliography of studies on D.B. Ryazanov. The texts are accompanied by illustrations on the personal and public life of Ryazanov, as well as on the history of IME.
http://www.shpl.ru/virtual_exhibitions/david_borisovich_ryazanov_i_koll…