A reference book, Vitebsk Province: The State, Religious and Social Institutions. 1802-1917, was presented to the public at the State Archives of Vitebsk Region

On 23 December 2009, the State Archives of Vitebsk Region hosted a presentation of a new directory entitled “Vitebsk Province: The State, Religious and Social Institutions. 1802-1917”, released by the National Historical Archives of Belarus and the State Archives of Vitebsk Region. This is the second volume in a series of Belarusian directories on the history of institutions in the Russian Empire; the first book entitled “Vitebsk Province: The State, Religious and Social Institutions. 1793-1917” was published in 2006.

The book consists of an introduction, four sections, and appendices with data on the governors of Vitebsk and colored illustrations.

The directory illustrates the history of institutions that operated in the Vitebsk province and its predecessors – the provinces of Pskov, Polotsk and Belarus, beginning from 1772. The institutions here described have not been previously represented in any other printed edition. The book represents not only the history of institutions, but also the history of the Vitebsk Region, which can be of great interest to regional specialists and anyone interested in the history of the Vitebsk region.

The head of the Main Administration of Justice at the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee, A.I. Leskovets, noted that the book provides readers with unbiased information and clear facts and can be of importance to historians, legal experts and anyone preoccupied with the history of judicial institutions, public prosecutor’s offices and other institutions in the Vitebsk region.