A. Yu. Suslov. Vladimir Nikolaevich Ginev (1932–2025) as a Historian of Populism // Petersburg
Historical Journal, no. 1, 2026, pp. 171–183.
DOI: 10.51255/2311–603X_2026_1_171
Abstract:
This article examines the issues of populism and neo-populism in the creative legacy of the
prominent Russian historian Vladimir Nikolaevich Ginev (1932–2025). The article analyzes the scholar’s career at the Leningrad Branch of the Institute of History of the USSR Academy of Sciences (St. Petersburg Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences), his key studies on populism in the Middle Volga region in the 1870s, the struggle of neo-populist parties for the peasantry in 1902–1914, and the agrarian question in the theory and practice of socialist parties after the February Revolution of 1917. V. N. Ginev’s dissertation research is given special consideration. The article demonstrates the historian’s contribution to the development of research, the introduction of new sources into scientific circulation, and the analysis of the
issues within a broader thematic and chronological framework. Individual reviews of V. N. Ginev’s works in domestic and foreign publications are noted. This article examines V. N. Ginev’s contribution to the publication of documents in the collections “Revolutionary Populism of the 1870s”, “Library of Revolutionary Memoirs”, and “From the History of ‘Land and Freedom’ and ‘People’s Will’. Debates on Tactics”. The significance of V. N. Ginev’s creative legacy for modern historical scholarship is emphasized.
Key words: Vladimir Nikolaevich Ginev, science, Russia, history, revolutionary movement, populism, neo-populism, historiography, source studies.
Author:
Suslov, Aleksei Yuryevich — Dr of Sci. in History, Professor, Kazan (Volga Region) Federal University (Kazan, Russia).
E-mail: AYSuslov@kpfu.ru
ORCID: 0000-0002-2926-8102
References:
Chernyaev, V. Yu. (ed.) Anatomiya revolyutsii. 1917 god v Rossii: massy, partii, vlast’ [Anatomy of the Revolution. 1917 in Russia: Masses, Parties, Power. In Russ.]. St. Petersburg, Glagol publ., 1994. 443 p.
Berzina, A. A. Obshchestvenno-politicheskaya deyatel’nost’ I. I. Bunakova-Fondaminskogo [Social and Political Activities of I. I. Bunakov-Fondaminsky. In Russ.]: dis. … kand. ist. nauk. Orel, 2005. 212 p.
Chernobaev, A. A. (ed.) Istoriki Rossii XX veka. Biobibliograficheskii slovar’ [Historians of Russia in the 20th Century: A Biographical Dictionary. In Russ.]. Vol. 1. Saratov, 2005. 576 p.
Garmiza, V. V. [Rev.]: Ginev V. N. Bor’ba za krest’yanstvo i krizis russkogo neonarodnichestva, 1902–1914 gg. [The Struggle for the Peasantry and the Crisis of Russian Neo-Populism, 1902–1914. In Russ.]. Leningrad, Nauka publ., 1978. In Voprosy istorii. 1985. No. 9, pp. 123–125.
Ginev, V. N. (ed.) Iz istorii “Zemli i voli” i “Narodnoi voli”. Spory o taktike [From the History of “Land and Freedom” and “People’s Will”. Debates on Tactics. In Russ.]. Moscow; St. Petersburg, Al’yans-Arkheo publ., 2012. 751 p.
Ginev, V. N. (ed.) Revolyutsionery 1870-kh godov: Vospominaniya uchastnikov narodnicheskogo
dvizheniya v Peterburge [Revolutionaries of the 1870s: Memories of Participants in the Populist Movement in St. Petersburg. In Russ.]. Leningrad, Lenizdat, 1986. 437 p.
Ginev, V. N. Agrarnyi vopros i melkoburzhuaznye partii v Rossii v 1917 g.: K istorii bankrotstva
neonarodnichestva [The Agrarian Question and Petty-Bourgeois Parties in Russia in 1917: On the History of the Bankruptcy of Neo-Narodnichestvo. In Russ.]. Leningrad, Nauka publ., 1977. 295 p.
Ginev, V. N. Agrarnyi vopros i melkoburzhuaznye partii v Rossii v 1917 g. [The Agrarian Question and Petty-Bourgeois Parties in Russia in 1917. In Russ.]: avtoref. dis. … d-ra ist. nauk. Leningrad, 1978. 48 p.
Ginev, V. N. Bor’ba za krest’yanstvo i krizis russkogo neonarodnichestva, 1902–1914 gg. [The Struggle forthe Peasantry and the Crisis of Russian Neo-Populism, 1902–1914. In Russ.]. Leningrad, Nauka publ., 1978. 335 p.
Ginev, V. N. Iz zhizni LOII 1980-kh gg. “Biblioteka revolyutsionnykh memuarov”. Ideya i voploshchenie [From the Life of the Leningrad Institute of Historical and Cultural Studies in the 1980s. “Library of Revolutionary Memoirs”. The Idea and Implementation. In Russ.]. In Peterburgskii istoricheskii zhurnal. 2016. No. 1, pp. 247–262.
Ginev, V. N. Narodnicheskoe dvizhenie v Srednem Povolzh’e. 70-e gg. XIX veka [The Populist Movement in the Middle Volga Region. 1870s. In Russ.]. Moscow; Leningrad, Nauka publ., 1966. 154 p.
Ginev, V. N. O starom i novom v sovremennom narodnikovedenii [On the Old and the New in Modern Populist Studies. In Russ.]. In Vestnik Rossiiskogo universiteta druzhby narodov. Ser. Istoriya Rossii. 2014. No. 2, pp. 167–175.
Ginev, V. N. Ob odnom neizdannom sbornike dokumentov o “Narodnoi vole” [About One Unpublished Collection of Documents about the “People’s Will”. In Russ.]. In Osvoboditel’noe dvizhenie v Rossii. Vyp. 19. Saratov, 2001, pp. 146–154.
Ginev, V. N. Reformatory i revolyutsionery v rossiiskikh realiyakh i otechestvennoi istoriografii. Vtoraya polovina XIX veka — 1918 god: izbrannye stat’i [Reformers and Revolutionaries in Russian Realities and National Historiography. Second Half of the 19th Century — 1918: Selected Articles. In Russ.]. Moscow; St. Petersburg, Al’yans-Arkheo publ., 2018. 423 p.
Ginev, V. N. Revolyutsionnaya deyatel’nost’ narodnikov 70-kh godov sredi krest’yan i rabochikh Srednego Povolzh’ya [Revolutionary Activities of the Narodniks in the 1970s among the Peasants and Workers of the Middle Volga Region. In Russ.]. In Istoricheskie zapiski. Vol. 74. Moscow, 1963, pp. 220–244.
Ginev, V. N. Revolyutsionnaya propaganda v Povolzh’e nakanune “khozhdeniya v narod” [Revolutionary Propaganda in the Volga Region on the Eve of the “Going to the People”. In Russ.]. In Vestnik Leningradskogo universiteta. Ser. Istoriya, yazyk, literatura. 1963. Iss. 1, no. 2, pp. 40–50.
Ginev, V. N. Vospominaniya M. P. Leshern fon Gertsfel’d o narodnicheskoi propagande sredi krest’yan Samarskoi i Saratovskoi gubernii v 1877–1879 gg. [Memories of M. P. Leschern von Herzfeld about Populist Propaganda among the Peasants of the Samara and Saratov Provinces in 1877–1879. In Russ.]. In Sankt-Peterburgskii institut istorii RAN v dokumentakh XIX–XX vekov. St. Petersburg, 2016, pp. 377–427.
Ginev, V. N., Tsamutali A. N. (ed.)“Narodnaya volya” i “Chernyi peredel”: Vospominaniya uchastnikov revolyutsionnogo dvizheniya v Peterburge v 1879–1882 gg. [“People’s Will” and “Black Redistribution”: Memories of Participants in the Revolutionary Movement in St. Petersburg in 1879–1882. In Russ.]. Leningrad, Lenizdat, 1989. 413 p.Ginev, V. N., Volk S. S. (ed.) Revolyutsionnoe narodnichestvo 70-kh godov XIX veka [RevolutionaryPopulism of the 1870s. In Russ.]. Vol. 2. Moscow, 1965. 472 p.
Goldin, V. I., Kondrashin, V. V. (eds.). Istoriya Rossii: v 20 t. T. 12: Grazhdanskaya voina v Rossii. 1917–1922 gody. Kn. 2: Vlast’. Ekonomika. Obshchestvo. Kul’tura [History of Russia: in 20 vols. Vol. 12: The Civil War in Russia. 1917–1922. Book 2: Power. Economy. Society. Culture. In Russ.]. Moscow, Nauka publ., 2024. 919 p.
Jackson, G. [Rev.]: Ginev V. N. Agrarnyi vopros i melkoburzhuaznye partii v Rossii v 1917 g.: K istoriibankrotstva neonarodnichestva [The Agrarian Question and Petty-Bourgeois Parties in Russia in 1917: On the History of the Bankruptcy of Neo-Narodnichestvo. In Russ.]. In American Historical Review. 1980. Vol. 85, no. 2, pp. 436–437.
Kastornov, S. N. Narodniki-reformisty o sotsial’nykh i obshchestvenno-politicheskikh problemakh Rossii vtoroi poloviny XIX — nachala XX vv. (sravnitel’nyi analiz) [Populist Reformists on Social and Socio-Political Problems of Russia in the Second Half of the 19th — Early 20th Centuries (comparative analysis). In Russ.]: dis. … kand. ist. nauk. Orel, 2002. 313 p.
Leonov, M. I., Morozov, K. N., Suslov, A. Yu. (eds.). Narodnichestvo i narodnicheskie partii v istorii Rossii v XX v.: biobibliograficheskii spravochnik [Populism and Populist Parties in the History of Russia in the 20th Century: A Biographical Reference. In Russ.]. Moscow, Novyy khronograf publ., 2016. 544 p.
Litvin, A. L., Litvin, A. A. Iz istorii “Zemli i voli” i “Narodnoi voli”. Spory o taktike [From the History of “Land and Freedom” and “People’s Will”. Debates on Tactics. In Russ.]. In Ab Imperio. 2016. No. 3, pp. 424–429.
Mestkovskii, D. A. Agrarnyi vopros v partii sotsialistov revolyutsionerov vesnoi 1917 g. [The agrarian question in the Socialist Revolutionary Party in the spring of 1917. In Russ.]. In Vestnik MGPU. Ser. Istoricheskie nauki. 2025. No. 2 (58), pp. 133–134.
Romanov, V. V. Obshchestvenno-politicheskaya i nauchnaya deyatel’nost’ V. G. Bogoraza-Tana [Social, political and scientific activities of V. G. Bogoraz-Tan. In Russ.]: dis. … kand. ist. nauk. Orel, 2005. 282 p.
