Finding Biographical Information

Russia (including Siberia)

Well-annotated lists of biographical dictionaries in Maichel’s Guide to Russian reference books 98523 (v. 1, pp. 70-72; v. 2, pp. 112-120)  See the bibliography (current as of May, 1976) of biographical dictionaries (general and grouped by profession) in “Biographic aids” in The Modern Encyclopedia of Russian and Soviet History  (v. 4, pp. 140-165), which itself has numerous biographical articles. Slavic studies: A guide http://www-sul.stanford.edu/depts/hasrg/slavic/33biogra.html lists numerous print sources. Biographical sources for Russia http://door.library.uiuc.edu/spx/class/Biography/Russianbio/RussBio.htm offers an extensive annotated list of a wide variety of print sources.

Bibliography

Kaufman, I. M. (Isaak MikhaÄlovich) Russkie biograficheskie i biobibliograficheskie slovari / I. M. Kaufman. Moskva : Gos. izd-vo kul'turno-prosvetitel'noi lit-ry, 1955. 751 p.
Widener | Slav 601.806
--Offers very detailed entries for major biographical sources. Covers 18th century-1954. 1st ed., 1950. 

Collective Biography

Biographical dictionary of dissidents in the Soviet Union, 1956-1975 / compiled and edited by S.P. de Boer, E.J. Driessen, and H.L. Verhaar. The Hague ; Boston :, 1982. xviii, 679 p. ; 
Widener | WID-LC | DK275.A1 B56 1982 
--Provides biographical sketches of nearly 3400 dissidents active during the period of coverage.  Sources with a few of the articles.  Criteria for inclusion and method of presenting the biographical data are carefully spelled out in the introduction. Glossary; select bibliography.  Full text in Biographical archive of the Soviet Union

Biographisches Archiv der Sowjetunion (1917-1991). Munchen: K.G. Saur, [1999]- LOCATION: Widener: Microfiche RR 52 Library has: fiches 1-261 Library currently subscribes to this title.

Entsiklopedicheskii slovar' Brokgauz i Efron v 12 tomakh : biografii / [otvetstvennye redaktory izdaniia: V.M. Karev, M.N. Khitrov ; sostavlenie svoda biograficheskikh statei S.A. Bol'shakova ... et al.].  Moskva : "Sov. entsiklopediia", 1991- 
Widener | WID-LC | CT193 E58 1991x 
--Contains biographical articles from both Brokgauz i Efron encyclopedias: Entsiklopedicheskii slovar' (1890-1907) and Novyi entsiklopedicheskii slovar' (1911-1916).  Available on CD-ROM as Brokgauz i Efron, biografii Rossiia.277804  Online: http://www.rulex.ru/be.htm. Full text in Biographical archive of the Soviet Union.

Brokgauz i Efron, biografii Rossiia [electronic  resource]. [Moskva?]: Electro TECH 
Widener | Harvard Depository 

Deiateli revoliutsionnogo dvizheniia v Rossii : bio-bibliograficheskii slovar' : ot predshestvennikov dekabristov do padeniia tsarizma / pod redaktsiei Vl. Vilenskogo-Sibiriakova ... [et al.]. Moskva : Izd-vo politkatorzhan, 1927-1933. 
Widener | Slav 1455.75

Biographical dictionary of the Revolutionary movement, 1825-1917.  Divided into five sections with biographies alphabetical within each.  Articles with source lists. Only the following parts of the projected work were published: Vol. 1, pt 1: end of 18th century-1850s; vol. 1, pt. 2: 1860s; vol. 2: 1870s; vol. 3, 1880s in part; vol. 5: Social Democrats-1905 in part. Reprint: Leipzig: Zentralantiquariat der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik, 1974.  More information on this work in The Modern Encyclopedia of Russian and Soviet History 206630  (vol. 9, p. 30).  Part 2 (103 pp.) of The Blackwell encyclopedia of the Russian revolution 251346 comprises roughly 150 biographies.

Deiateli revoliutsionnogo dvizheniia v Rossii : bio-bibliograficheskii slovar' : ot predshestvennikov dekabristov do padeniia tsarizma / pod red.Vl. Vilenskogo-Sibiriakova ... [et al.] ; sostavlen A. A. Shilovym ... [et al.]. Leipzig : Zentralantiquariat der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik, 1974. v. in : ports. ;
Widener | Slav 1455.73

The Blackwell encyclopedia of the Russian revolution / edited by Harold Shukman. Rev. and updated. Oxford, UK ; Cambridge, Mass. : Blackwell Reference, 1994, 425 p  RR3871.14.2  (1988) 

Deiateli SSSR i revoliutsionnogo dvizheniia Rossii : ntsiklopedicheski slovar Granat. Reprintnoe izd. Moskva : Sov. ntsiklopediia, 1989. 831 p.
Widener | WID-LC | DK266 .E562 1989

Reprints pts 1-3 of vol. 41 of the Granat Entsiklopedicheskii slovar'  556877 (7th ed.). Contains 289 biographies of individuals prominent between 1917-1927, many not appearing in later Soviet-era sources.  Over 55 Granat articles are available in English in Makers of the Russian revolution: biographies of Bolshevik leaders. 289237 There are biographical articles in other volumes as well; see Encyclopedias for Russia. http://www.library.uiuc.edu/spx/class/Encyclopedias/Russia/russenc.htm  in Guide to Slavic, Eurasian, and East European information resources 

Entsiklopedicheski slovar Russkogo bibliograficheskogo instituta Granat. [7. nerer. izd.] Do 33 toma nod red. IU. C. Tambapova [i dr.] Moskva [1910-1948]
Widener | Slav 253.5

Makers of the Russian revolution : biographies of Bolshevik leaders / Georges Haupt and Jean-Jacques Marie. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1974. 452 p. 
Widener | Slav 1715.69.31

Muscovite Biographical Database (MBD)  http://www.westminster.edu/staff/martinre/MBD.htm

Nezabytye mogily : RossiÄskoe zarubezh'e ; nekrologi 1917-1997 v shesti tomakh / sostavitelÊ1 V. N. Chuvakov. Moskva : Ros. gos. b-ka, 1999-<2006> 6 v. 
Widener | WID-LC | DK510.36 .N49 1999x 
--Biographical information and lists of obituaries of Russian émigrés of all occupations compiled from over 150 periodicals, newspapers and other sources.  Vol. 1, A-B; v. 2, G-Z; v. 3, I-K; v. 4, L-M; v. 5, N-P; v. 6, pt. 1, Pos-Skr; v. 6, pt. 2, Skr-F.  SUBMITTED

Russian biographical archive 

Russkii biograficheskii slovar'... S.-Peterburg (-Petrograd) [etc.]: Izdanie Imperatorskago Russkago istoricheskago obshchestva, 1896-1918.  27 v.
Slav3975.2

Contains lengthy signed articles with source lists. Especially strong for upper and ecclesiastical classes of pre-Revolutionary Russia, deceased by 1892. Publication terminated in 1918 due to Russian Revolution. Parts of the alphabet had not been covered when work was discontinued.  These are V, Gog-Gia, E, M, Nik-Nia, Tk-Tia, U; and parts of P.  Several of the unpublished vols. were later found in Russian manuscript repositories.  The unfinished V and T Russkii biograficheskii slovar' vols. were published in 1991 by Norman Ross.  A reprint of the Russkii biograficheskii slovar' by Aspekt-Press 379964 contains new material from T, V, G, M, and N. Material from the unpublished vols. bound in red.  The Norman Ross vols. have a useful introduction describing the preparation, context and limitations of the Russkii biograficheskii slovar'.

A preliminary list of names for inclusion in Russkii biograficheskii slovar'  was issued by the same society (Russkoe istoricheskoe obshchestvo) in its Sbornik, vols. 60, 62 (1886-87) under the title: Azbuchnyi ukazatel imen russkikh dieiatelei dlia russkago biograficheskago slovaria. 379939 It includes about 10,000 persons not included in the Russkii biograficheskii slovar'. The Aspekt-Press version includes the Azbuchnyi ukazatel'.

Available online as Russkii biograficheskii slovar 373389 together with two other major Russian biographical dictionaries: Entsiklopedicheskii Slovar Brokgauz i  Efron (1890-1907) and Novyi entsiklopedicheskii slovar

(1911-1916), both also available in print version, 277797 as Entsiklopedicheskii slovar’ Brokgauz i Efron: biografii and as CD-ROM asBrokgauz i Efron, biografii Rossiia.

Russkii biograficheskii slovar' / [otv. za vyp. E. Kudriavtseva].  Moskva : Aspect Press LTD, 1991- 
Widener | WID-LC | CT1203 .R7 1991x 

[Russkii biograficheskii slovar'] / introduction by Edward Kasinec, Robert H. Davis, Jr. ; [foreword by Norman A. Ross]. New York, N.Y. : Norman Ross Pub., <[c1991]- > 
Widener | Slav 3975.2.1 

Soviet biographical service. Vol. 1, no. 1 (Jan. 1985)-2002. Minneapolis, MN: J.L. Scherer, 1985- 
LOCATION: Widener: RR1613.15 Harvard Depository DK290.S66 = Earlier
--English-language biographies (paragraph-2 pp.) of political, military, academic, and cultural figures of former Soviet Union countries. Each quarterly issue includes new entries for emerging leaders and updates for subjects previously covered. References to English and Russian sources. Each updated biography lists previous SBS entries. Issue and annual indexes. Last issue (v. 18, no. 4, Sept. 2002) is cumulative index (1985-2002). 

The Soviet biographic archive, 1954-1985. [Cambridge, Cambridgeshire]: Chadwyck-Healey Ltd. in association with RFE-RL Inc. and the Hoover Institution, 1986. 
LOCATION: Microforms (Lamont): Microfiche W 3017

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty clippings file (around a million clippings from over 35 newspapers, periodicals, biographical handbooks) on microfiches.  Includes over 50,000 government, military, scientific, and cultural figures. Mainly in Russian, with some English, German, and French.  Each item with source citation. Alphabetical order by name.  Covers 1950-1985.

Continued by Public Figures in the CIS and the Baltic States: A Biographical Index, 1984 - June 1993 397693 which cumulates Public figures in the Soviet Union (1984-91) 397687 and Public figures in the C.I.S. and Baltic States (1992-94) 397679.  Contains references to Russian-language periodical/newspaper articles and speech transcripts on about 100,000 people.  Also compiled by Radio Liberty Research.

Public figures in the C.I.S. and Baltic States. Jan.-June 1992-1993/94 [Cambridge, England]: Chadwyck-Healey, [1992?-1994? LOCATION: Widener: Microfiche RR 23

Public figures in the Soviet Union. 1984-June 1988-Jul[y]-Dec. 1991. Cambridge, England: Chadwyck-Healey, 1988-[1992?]. LOCATION: Widener: Microfiche RR 23

Tsentral'nyi Komitet KPSS, VKP(b), RKP(b), RSDRP(b): 1917–1991: Istoriko-biograficheskii spravochnik. Avtor-sost. Iu. V. Goriachev  [Goriachev, Iurii]. 2005. 495 p. 

A biographical dictionary of the former Soviet Union: prominent people in all fields from 1917 to the present, by Jeanne Vronskaya. 2nd ed. London; New Providence, N.J.: Bowker-Saur, 1992.
LOCATION: Widener: RR 1613.16.5 F
--Includes about 7,000 persons covering the full range of occupations, with emphasis on fine and performing arts, less on literary, academic and political figures. Includes émigrés. Occupational index under 41 categories. Full text in World Biographical Information System.

The Soviet Union : a biographical dictionary, ed. by Archie Brown. New York: Macmillan, 1991. 489 p.
Widener WID-LC CT1213 .S65 1990x
--Covers 1400 individuals with good coverage of perestroika and glasnost-associated figures and list of biographees by subject/profession (full text in World Biographical Information System).

Who's who in Russia since 1900, by Martin McCauley. London ; New York: Routledge, 1997, 268 p.
Widener | RR 1613.30

Prominent personalities in the USSR. A biographic directory containing 6,015 biographies of prominent personalities in the Soviet Union. Comp. by the Institute for the Study of the USSR, Munich, Germany, ed. by Edward L. Crowley et al. Metuchen, N.J., Scarecrow Press, 1968. 792 p.
Widener | WID-LC | DK275.A1 W534
--Covers the era shortly before the collapse of the Communist regime. Good representation of academic, cultural, and resistance figures. Occupational index under broad categories. Terminal section, “Key Personnel of Major Party, Government, Military, Scientific and other Organizations”, lists names under organization. Full text in World Biographical Information System.

Who was who in the USSR; a biographic directory containing 5,015 biographies of prominent Soviet historical personalities. Compiled by the Institute for the Study of the USSR, Munich, Germany.
Widener | RR1613.12
--Covers deceased persons active 1917-1967, including dissidents, with index by broad occupational categories and Party/governmental affiliation. Full text in World Biographical Information System

Who was who in the Soviet Union : a biographical dictionary of more than 4,600 leading officials from the central apparatus and the republics to Widener  |  RR 1613.13 F 
--Largely consists of lists of names of current and past officials arranged by agency, organization, or republic, with position, birth date, and start/end dates of employment/affiliation.  For some agencies, only current members are listed. Brief biographical data with detailed chronological career summary for current leaders of each agency (but not the republics). Name index. Full text in Biographical archive of the Soviet Union. 281796

Continued by Who's who in Russia today: a biographical dictionary of more than 2,100 individuals from the Russian Federation including the other fourteen former USSR Republics 523159 which consists entirely of entries, alphabetical by person, with biographical data and chronological career summaries. Covers largely governmental officials but some academic, religious, media, etc. figures, about half with photographs. 

Who's who in Russia today : a biographical dictionary of more than 2,100 individuals from the Russian Federation including the other fourteen Widener | RR 1613.14

Who's who in Russia and the new states / edited by Leonard Geron and Alex Pravda. [Rev. ed.] London ; New York : I.B. Tauris & Co., c1993. 1 v. (unpaged) ; Widener | RR 1613.15.10
--Part 1 (40 pp.) lists major government officials for 15 countries under their ministries, committees and other organizational entities. Part 2 provides biographies for almost 7000 individuals. Political emphasis but with some coverage of non-governmental/military figures. Biographies 3-50 lines depending on prominence and available information. One of the most carefully prepared of the books in this field. Earlier ed.: Tauris Soviet Directory  (1989; full text in Biographical archive of the Soviet Union). 

Several other books on the immediate post-Soviet period have more detailed entries on fewer figures:

Longman biographical directory of decision-makers in Russia and the successor states 585018 includes initial list of biographees by subject (e.g., dissident, writer) under each nation and terminal name index. Indexed in Biography and genealogy master index.

Who's who in Russia and the CIS Republics 585029 is especially good on periodical editors and sports figures and so helps balance the political/military emphasis of other sources.  Appendix A lists biographees by occupation; Appendix B by organization of government affiliation; Appendix C lists recipients of honors and awards; Appendix D lists books mentioned in articles by title.  Indexed in Biography and genealogy master index.

Encyclopedia of contemporary Russian culture 469508 covers artists, writers, performers, journalists, some politicians, etc.  Includes living and deceased persons. Many articles with references. List by area of activity. 

Longman biographical directory of decision-makers in Russia and the successor states. Harlow: Longman; Detroit: Distributed in the United States by Gale, c1993. 
LOCATION: Widener: RR 1613.20 

Who's who in Russia and the CIS Republics / Vladimir Morozov, editor. New York : Henry Holt, 1995. 328 p.  Widener | RR 1613.25 

Encyclopedia of contemporary Russian culture, ed. by Tatiana Smorodinskaya, Karen Evans-Romaine and Helena Goscilo. London; New York : Routledge, 2007, 727 p.
Widener | WID-LC | DK510.32 .E53 2007x
​--Covers artists, writers, performers, journalists, some politicians, etc. Includes living and deceased persons. Many articles with references. List by area of activity.

Russian prose writers after World War II, ed. by Christine Rydel. Detroit: Thomson Gale, 2005, 532 p.
Widener Library RR 3129.5 vol. 302 (Loker Reading Room, Widener 2nd floor)

Who's who in the Soviet Union: a biographical encyclopedia of 5,000 leading personalities in the Soviet Union, by Borys Lewytzkyj. 1984.
--Useful source for late Soviet figures. Features extensive indexes of party, government, and military leaders (including officials of the individual republics), and of authors, scientists, artists, etc. Also includes lists of persons who died or were relieved or dismissed since publication of the earlier volume. Full text in World Biographical Information System. 

???????Useful source for late Soviet figures. Features extensive indexes of party, government, and military leaders (including officials of the individual republics), and of authors, scientists, artists, etc.  Also includes lists of persons who died or were relieved or dismissed since publication of the earlier volume.  Full text in Biographical archive of the Soviet Union.  Comprises a 2nd ed. of the Soviet material in Who's who in the socialist countries.  Who’s who in the socialist countries of Europe updates information for non-Soviet figures. 

Contemporary

Kto estʹ kto v Rossii. Moskva : Olimp : ĖKSMO-Press, 1997-
Widener  |  WID-LC    |  DK510.765 .K75x  
About 800 entries, with chronological career summaries. Apparently only 1997 ed. published. Numerous other who’s who type sources are listed on the Eastview web site (www.eastview.com/russian/books/index.asp). Use Quick search (all fields): who’s who. 

Who's who in Russia. Moscow : Who's Who Strategic Area, 1998- (Sutter's international red series ) 
Widener | WID-LC | CT1203 .W56x 
--Current (7th ed., 2007) has 2,700 biographical entries and 2,200 company and institutional profiles. Who's who in Russia also in print.