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Great Russian Encyclopedia

Universal encyclopedia in Russian

Summary

Universal encyclopedia in Russian

FieldValue
nameGreat Russian Encyclopedia
imageGreat Russian Encyclopedia in Vilnius University Library.jpg
captionGreat Russian Encyclopedia in Vilnius University Library
editorYury Osipov (editor-in-chief)
illustratorSeveral
countryRussia
languageRussian
subjectGeneral
genreReference encyclopaedia
publisherGreat Russian Encyclopedia
release_date2004–2017
pagesVolume "Russia" – 1008, other volumes – on average 768
URL

The Great Russian Encyclopedia (GRE; , БРЭ, transliterated as Bolshaya rossiyskaya entsiklopediya or academically as Bol'šaja rossijskaja ènciklopedija) is a universal Russian encyclopedia, completed in 36 volumes, published between 2004 and 2017 by Great Russian Encyclopedia, JSC (, transliterated as Bolshaya rossiyskaya entsiklopediya PAO). A successor to the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, it was released under the auspices of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) after President Vladimir Putin signed a presidential decree №1156 in 2002.{{cite web | access-date=2014-10-31 | archive-date=2017-10-10 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010011236/http://www.greatbook.ru/catal/bre.html | url-status=dead |script-title = ru:Сергей Кравец: Российская энциклопедия — это и есть мы |access-date = 2014-05-02 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131109103700/http://vmdaily.ru/news/sergei-kravec-rossiiskaya-enciklopediya--eto-i-est-mi--1339530563.html |archive-date = 2013-11-09

The chief editor of the encyclopedia was Yury Osipov, the president of the RAS. The editorial board had more than 80 RAS members.

The first, introductory volume, released in 2004, was dedicated to Russia. Thirty-five volumes were released between 2005 and 2017, covering the range from "A" to "Яя" (Yaya).{{cite web | access-date=2017-10-31 | archive-date=2017-08-09 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170809164035/http://greatbook.ru/component/docman/doc_download/95-roznichnyj-prajs-ot-05-07-2017-skidki.html?Itemid= | url-status=dead

On 17 June 2024 the project was suspended due to discontinued funding from the Russian government and by October 2024, its materials are being transferred to Ruwiki.

In December 2024 it was decreed to liquidate the "Great Russian Encyclopedia" by October 20, 2025. In September 2025 the Russian government allocated over 300 million rubles to complete the liquidation. In particular, this money will be used to pay the unpaid salaries, for layoff payments, and for debt repayments.

Personnel and management

Editorial board

Yury Osipov, a mathematician, President of RAS (1991–2013), is the GRE Editor in Chief and Chairman of the Scientific Editorial Board.

Managing editor is , journalist, editor and cultural figure.

Also in the scientific editorial board are or were:

  • RAS Academics: Sergey S. Averintsev, Eugene N. Avrorin, Sergei I. Adian, , Zhores I. Alferov, , Alexander F. Andreev, , Dmitry V. Anosov, Vladimir I. Arnold, , Nikolai Bahvalov, , Alexander A. Boyarchuk, Evgeny Velikhov, , , Eric M. Galimov, , Mikhail L. Gasparov, Vitaly L. Ginzburg, Georgy S. Golitsyn, , , , , , , Yuri I. Zhuravlev, , , Viktor P. Ivannikov, , , , , , Sergei P. Karpov, , , , , , , , , , , , , Gennady A. Mesyats, , , Sergey P. Novikov, Yuri S. Osipov, , , , , Yuri V. Prokhorov, , , Alexander Y. Rumyantsev, , , Victor A. Sadovnichii, , Alexander S. Spirin, Yuri S. Stepanov, Vyacheslav S. Stepin, Michael L. Titarenko, Valery A. Tishkov, Yuri D. Tretyakov, Kliment N. Trubetskoy, Oleg H. Favorsky, Ludvig D. Faddeev, Vladimir Ye. Fortov, Konstantin V. Frolov, Yuri I. Chernov, Gorimir G. Chernii, Alexander O. Chubarian, Vitaly D. Shafranov, Sergey V. Shestakov, Dmitry V. Shirkov.
  • RAS Corresponding Members: Boris A. Babayan, Vladimir I. Vasiliev, Piama P. Gaidenko, Rudolf V. Kamelin, Michael V. Kovalchuk, Nikolai I. Lapin, Sergey S. Lappo, Alexey V. Yablokov.
  • Russian Academy of Agricultural Sciences Academician: Vladimir I. Fisinin.
  • Russian Academy of Arts Academician: Dmitry O. Shvidkovskiy.
  • Russian Federation Statesmen: :Aleksandr A. Avdeyev (Culture Minister in 2008–2012), :Andrei A. Fursenko (Minister of Education and Science of the Russian Federation in 2004–2012), :Andrei A. Kokoshin (Secretary of the Russian Security Council in 1998), :Sergey E. Naryshkin (Head of the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation in 2008–2011, Chairman of the State Duma of the Russian Federation since 2011), :Alexander S. Sokolov (musicologist, Culture Minister in 2004-2008), :Sergey K. Shoigu (Minister of Emergency Situations of the Russian Federation in 1994–2012, Defense Minister from 2012), :Mikhail E. Shvydkoi (Culture Minister in 2000–2004), :Alexander D. Zhukov (Deputy Prime Minister in 2004–2011).
  • and also: Alexei D. Bogaturov, Sergey V. Chemezov, Vladimir V. Grigoriev, Alexei I. Komech, Vladimir A. Mau, D. L. Orlov.

Edition summary

Publication schedule and contents of volumes:

Vol.Title (translit - translation)Publication yearISBNpages
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35

Electronic version

In 2022, an electronic version, the was launched at , described as a Russian government alternative to Wikipedia. Some assumed that this will be associated with blocking Wikipedia or competing with it, however Russian officials disavowed this claim.

Criticism

While it was widely recognized that the Great Soviet Encyclopedia needed a replacement, the need for a print encyclopedia has been questioned, since many other analogues have now moved online, such as the Encyclopædia Britannica and the Brockhaus Enzyklopädie.

Critics complain that many of the biographies, historical entries, and cultural articles are narrow and biased: according to writer and literary critic , several of the articles are "quite superficial" and "the lists of references at the end were often extremely biased". While admitting that some of the articles in the encyclopedia were "excellent", Podosokorsky still stated that he maintained a generally negative view of the project.

References

References

  1. (2024-06-14). "Большая российская энциклопедия приостановила работу на неопределенный срок".
  2. (17 July 2024). "The death of the 'Wikipedia killer'". [[Meduza]].
  3. (2024-10-04). "В Большую энциклопедию перестают вписывать деньги".
  4. (16 July 2024). "В России закрылся проект, которым Путин предлагал заменить Википедию. Почему власти перестали его финансировать? И кто еще конкурирует с «Вики»? Материал T-invariant". [[Meduza.
  5. (29 October 2025). "Илон Маск запустил Grokipedia — онлайн-энциклопедию на основе ИИ. Многие статьи в ней позаимствованы из «Википедии» (которую Маск так яро хочет заменить) А среди источников встречаются пропагандистские российские СМИ". [[Meduza.
  6. [https://www.mk.ru/social/2025/09/04/raskryta-mnogomillionnaya-stoimost-likvidacii-rossiyskogo-analoga-vikipedii.html Раскрыта многомиллионная стоимость ликвидации российского аналога Википедии], September 4, 2025
  7. [http://publication.pravo.gov.ru/document/0001202509030020 Decree of September 3, 2025 no.2436-p]
  8. "Title page of BDT Volume 1".
  9. "Title page of BDT volume 21".
  10. "Title page of BDT volume 23".
  11. "Title page of BDT Volume 27".
  12. [https://archive.today/20160606093821/http://www.greatbook.ru/images/joomgallery/originals/___2/___30-_1679-___93/bre-tom30_forz-full_1_20160129_1909264985.png Title page of BDT Volume 30]
  13. [http://www.encyclopedia.ru/cat/books/book/8710/ Great Russian Encyclopedia. Volume 24. Oceanarium - Oyashio] {{Webarchive. link. (2017-01-13 (in Russian).)
  14. [http://www.encyclopedia.ru/cat/books/book/31677/ Great Russian Encyclopedia. Volume 25. P - Perturbation] {{Webarchive. link. (2016-12-02 (in Russian).)
  15. [http://www.encyclopedia.ru/cat/books/book/24147/ Great Russian Encyclopedia. Volume 26. Peru - Semitrailer] {{Webarchive. link. (2016-12-02 (in Russian).)
  16. [http://www.encyclopedia.ru/cat/books/book/40657/ Great Russian Encyclopedia. Volume 27. Semiconductors - Desert] {{Webarchive. link. (2016-12-02 (in Russian).)
  17. [http://www.encyclopedia.ru/cat/books/book/49465/ Great Russian Encyclopedia. Volume 28. Motherwort - Rumcherod] {{Webarchive. link. (2016-12-02 (in Russian).)
  18. [http://www.encyclopedia.ru/cat/books/book/49464/ Great Russian Encyclopedia. Volume 29. Romania - Saint-Jean-de-Luz] {{Webarchive. link. (2016-12-02 (in Russian).)
  19. [http://www.encyclopedia.ru/cat/books/book/65396/ Great Russian Encyclopedia. Volume 30. Saint-Germain World 1679 - Social Security] {{Webarchive. link. (2016-12-02 (in Russian).)
  20. [http://www.encyclopedia.ru/cat/books/book/68145/ Great Russian Encyclopedia. Volume 31. Social partnership - Television] {{Webarchive. link. (2016-12-02 (in Russian).)
  21. [http://www.encyclopedia.ru/cat/books/book/68835/ Great Russian Encyclopedia. Volume 32. TV Tower - Ulaanbaatar] {{Webarchive. link. (2017-01-13 (in Russian).)
  22. [http://www.encyclopedia.ru/cat/books/book/71430/ Great Russian Encyclopedia. Volume 33. Uhland-Khvatsev] {{Webarchive. link. (2017-11-07 (in Russian).)
  23. [http://www.encyclopedia.ru/cat/books/book/8100/ Great Russian Encyclopedia. Volume 34. Khvoyka-Shervinsky] {{Webarchive. link. (2018-01-17 (in Russian).)
  24. [http://www.encyclopedia.ru/cat/books/book/2943/ Great Russian Encyclopedia. Volume 35. Uhland-Khvatsev] {{Webarchive. link. (2018-01-16 (in Russian).)
  25. (2019-11-21). "Russian alternative to Wikipedia to be fully launched by summer of 2022, says publisher".
  26. (8 November 2019). "Песков заявил, что о запрете доступа к "Википедии" речь не идет". РИА Новости.
  27. (26 September 2019). "Кравец: Большая Российская энциклопедия не соревнуется с "Википедией"".
  28. Weir, Fred. (23 March 2017). "Russia set to unveil the world's newest print encyclopedia – and its last?". [[The Christian Science Monitor]].
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