The Central Archive of Nizhny Novgorod Region (TsANO) is a state archival institution preserving the documentary heritage of the region. According to available information, its holdings contain materials from the pre-revolutionary and Soviet periods, including records of organizations, institutions, and private individuals connected with the history of Nizhny Novgorod Governorate and Region. The Archive was established in 1919 as the Nizhny Novgorod Gubernial Archive on the basis of documentary collections assembled by the Nizhny Novgorod Gubernial Learned Archival Commission (NGUAK) between 1887 and 1918[1]; among its original holdings are acts from the 16th–18th centuries from the Pechersky and Makaryev monasteries, manuscript and early printed books, and acts of the Nizhny Novgorod, Arzamas, Alatyr, and Balakhna chancellery offices.

The TsANO reference and information collection (SIF) contains more than 58,000 books from the late 18th to the early 21st century, over 2,000 annual runs of newspapers (including pre-revolutionary ones), and approximately 3,000 annual runs of journals on archival studies, history, and local history.[2] In the 1920s–1930s the archive was divided into two independent units: the Historical Archive ("IstArkh", documents predating 1917) and the Archive of the October Revolution and Socialist Construction ("AOR", documents post-1917); in 1941 both units were merged under the name "State Archive of Gorky Region" (GAGO), with the photo archive of the NKVD directorate incorporated into its holdings, and since 1990 the institution has borne its current name.

The Archive holds approximately 4,000 fonds and 1,800,000 storage units; among the most significant fonds are that of the Krasnoye Sormovo Plant (river shipbuilding) and the fond of the Gorky Automobile Plant, built in 1932 with the participation of American specialists.[3] Since 1959 the archive has been housed in a purpose-built building at 15 Studencheskaya Street, and in 2011 it was granted the status of a state казённое institution (GKU TsANO). In the 2020s the archive is headed by director Lyubov Zarubina.[4] The TsANO reading room receives thousands of visitors annually: according to data for one of the most recently recorded years, 7,871 visits were logged.[2] The archive's staff numbers 66 employees; the document preservation department alone carries out more than 70 types of work.[2] Twenty TsANO documents have been included in the State Register of Unique Documents of the Russian Federation; among them is the correspondence of Peter I with Nizhny Novgorod Bishop Pitirim concerning the affairs of the schismatics.[2] According to the official portal of the regional archival service, the archive holds 4,656 fonds and more than 2.07 million files covering the period from the second third of the 15th century to the early 21st century.[1]

Fond Composition

TsANO preserves architectural drawings of Nizhny Novgorod buildings: in particular, copies of drawings of the Bugrov apartment building with its Volga-Kama Bank branch, designed by academician of architecture Vladimir Petrovich Tseidler.

The archive holds the personal collection of philologist Fyodor Vyacheslavovich Rzhiga, donated by his heirs. The collection comprises approximately 400 paper documents — predominantly manuscripts — and 32 photographic prints dating from 1871 to 1930. A distinctive feature of the collection is the considerable number of materials in foreign languages: German, Czech, Serbian, Ancient Greek, and Latin. The NGUAK collection includes original charters of the papal curia and Catholic parishes in Latin and Polish (16th–17th centuries), documents from the Napoleonic Wars period in French, as well as a collection of autographs of Russian emperors from Peter I to the last Romanovs and several foreign figures.[3] The earliest identified document is a certificate in German dated 12 April 1871, issued to Franz Rzhiga.

Among the personal-origin collections, materials of noble families stand out: those of the Panin counts, the Sheremetevs, the Princes Lieven, as well as the family of the naval architect Admiral Krylov and the Chaadaev family — including several original documents of the philosopher P. Ya. Chaadaev. The personal-origin collections at TsANO number 324 fonds spanning the 18th to the early 21st century and include materials of prominent Nizhny Novgorod residents — figures from science and culture, local historians, and collectors.[2][3]

A portion of the documents of the Arzamas Catherine Women's Gymnasium — 15 storage units covering 1886–1914 — is also held at TsANO; the main body of the gymnasium's materials (1,852 storage units covering 1868–1932) is kept at the State Archive of Nizhny Novgorod Region in Arzamas.

Links

Sources

  1. archiv.nobl.ru — Central Archive of Nizhny Novgorod Region (GKU TsANO): page on the official portal of the Committee for Archival Affairs… (archive)
  2. opentextnn.ru — Makarov V.I. A Tour of the Central Archive of Nizhny Novgorod Region (for Archives Day) — OPEN TEXT — The Reference and Information Fund of TsANO (SIF) contains over 58,000 books from the late… (archive)
  3. opentextnn.ru — Central Archive of Nizhny Novgorod Region — OPEN TEXT — TsANO was established in 1919 as the Nizhny Novgorod Gubernia Archive on the basis of documentary collections gathered… (archive)
  4. nne.ru — Nizhny Novgorod Metropolis — In the 2020s the archive is headed by director Lyubov Zarubina. (archive)
  5. opentextnn.ru — Central Archive of Nizhny Novgorod Region — OPEN TEXT — After 1991, TsANO received archival criminal investigation files from the holdings of the KGB Directorate for Gorky Region (f.… (archive)
Materials from the following articles were used (3)

Bugrov's Apartment Building with the Volga-Kama Bank Branch, Rzhiga Fyodor Vyacheslavovich, Catherine's Women's Gymnasium (Arzamas)