International scientific conference “Historical memory of Russia and the Decembrists. 1825-2015” timed to 190-year anniversary of the uprising which took place in the Senate square on December 14, 1825 has become the only remarkable international scientific forum on issues concerning the history of the Decembrist movement. Its organizers struggled to attract to participation all well-known specialists in social and political history of the 19th-century Russia, problems of historical memory, leading scholars in the sphere of source studies, historiography and biographic studies. Total number of conferees counts to more than 80 researchers from different regions of Russia (Moscow, St. Petersburg, Arkhangelsk, Tver, Saratov, Yekaterinburg, Ufa, Novosibirsk, Irkutsk, etc.) and foreign countries (Georgia, Ukraine, Germany and Japan).
The conference went on for three days: on December 14 its sessions took place at the State Museum of the History of St. Petersburg at the Peter and Paul Fortress, on December 15 the meetings were held at the Institute of History of Saint Petersburg State University and on December 16 it was housed by Saint Petersburg Institute of History of the RAS.
Apart from plenary and closing meetings the conference had eight workshops where the following problems were discussed: power, society and historical memory; historical memory and memory of the location; importance of museums, archives and private collections for preservation of the historical memory; historical perception, historical memory and the document; new approaches to the phenomenon of the Decembrist movement and traditions and innovations in Decembrist historiography and biographic studies of this historical period. Totally 67 papers and reports have been delivered.
The main feature of this scientific forum was that attention of scholars was focused not only on the history of the Decembrists and methods of its study but also on wide historical background of this period, a range of discussed issues included problems of historical memory, contemporary historical perception, special aspects of biographic studies, source studies and historiography. The conference was carried out according to high scientific standards, and it showed to the participants the actual tendencies and new courses of research and contributed to enlivening of scientific connections and cooperation between scholars.