A reference book, The Vitebsk Province. Government, Social and Religious Institutions. 1802-1917, has been published

A new reference book, entitled “The Vitebsk Province. Government, Social and Religious Institutions. 1802-1917” (Minsk, BelNIIDAD, 2009-524 pp.) has been published.

The book has been prepared by the National Historical Archives of Belarus and is the second in a series of directory books on the institutions of the Minsk, Vitebsk and Mogilev provinces of the Russian Empire. This volume makes known the history of the government, social, scholarly, medical, educational, religious and other institutions which were active in the Vitebsk Province between 1802 and 1917.

The book consists of a preface, four sections, and supplements. Each section begins with an introduction describing the administrative system in the Vitebsk province at that period; sub-sections provide information about its various institutions; and supplements about governor-generals and generals, as well as illustrations.

The directory contains articles on the history of the institutions, based on the documents from the National Historical Archives of Belarus, the Complete Collection of Laws of the Russian Empire, the Code of Laws of the Russian Empire, the Collection of Laws and Instructions of the Workers and Peasants Government for 1917-1918, the Laws and Instructions of the Provisional Government for 1917, the Memory Books of the Vitebsk Province, etc. The articles highlight the issues of the institutions’ creation, structure, functions, reorganization, liquidation etc.

The edition is intended for employees of government institutions and archives, specialists in various fields of knowledge, as well as anyone interested in his country’s past.