In Irkutsk, as part of the library tour Time to Read, a creative meeting We are faithful to this memory was held, dedicated to the 90th anniversary of historian Ilya Innokentyevich Kuznetsov. Participants recalled his contribution to studying the combat feat of Irkutsk residents, heard memories of his life and work, and how his legacy is linked to the citys history and the Great Victory. The event marked the start of a series of local history events dedicated to the 70th anniversary of Victory, and showed that Irkutsk municipal libraries remain important cultural centers for residents.

The Public Chamber of the city of Irkutsk continued its acquaintance with Irkutsk municipal libraries as part of the library tour “Time to Read.”
On January 13, the creative meeting “We Are Faithful to This Memory,” dedicated to the 90th anniversary of the birth of Irkutsk historian Ilya Innokentyevich Kuznetsov, took place at the “Innokentyevskaya Library” No. 5 of the centralized library system of the city of Irkutsk. He is the author of the books “Generals of the Irkutsk Land,” “Golden Stars of Irkutsk Residents,” “Defending the Fatherland,” and more than 250 scholarly publications devoted to the military feats of Irkutsk residents in the Civil War and the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.
The school choir of School No. 34, under the direction of Tatyana Burdukovskaya, opened the meeting with songs about the feat of the Russian soldier in the Great Patriotic War. Elena Smaglo, head of the local history section of the “Innokentyevskaya Library” and the “Heritage” club, presented the main biographical milestones in the life of Ilya Innokentyevich.
Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor Yuri Petrushin shared his student memories of the Irkutsk historian and his legacy: “Thanks to his extensive work with sources in the Central and local archives, and his broad personal correspondence with prominent Soviet commanders—G. Zhukov, A. Yeremenko, K. Rokossovsky—and military commissariats, a scholarly direction began to take shape in Soviet historical science about the heroic feat of the Russian people and, above all, the Siberians, who not only fought on the front lines but also worked selflessly in the rear.”
Rimma Mikheeva, Honored Worker of Culture of the Russian Federation, historian, and chief bibliographer of the Centralized Library System of the city of Irkutsk, spoke about Ilya Innokentyevich’s childhood and youth. He lived on the outskirts of Irkutsk—in the Innokentyevsky settlement of the Leninsky District. The everyday life of its residents during the war years was preserved in the diary entries and recollections of the young Ilya Kuznetsov from 1938-1945. “From an early age he was passionate about reading and scholarly knowledge, and was a regular reader of the ‘Innokentyevskaya’ library, which at that time was located in the building of a former Orthodox church. At the age of just 15, he received his first fee for publishing an article in an Irkutsk newspaper,” Rimma Mikheeva said. At his initiative, a detailed front-line map was installed in the building of Irkutsk University, on which Ilya Innokentyevich and like-minded people marked the movements of Soviet troops and changes in the front line according to the daily reports of the Soviet Information Bureau. Also unique are his recollections of Victory Day in Irkutsk.
This meeting opens a series of local history events dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the Great Victory. According to Alexey Petrov, chairman of the “Cultural Policy” commission of the Public Chamber of the city of Irkutsk, it is very important that Irkutsk municipal libraries have already become cultural centers for residents of the city’s outskirts, where people meet, communicate, and gain new knowledge. “We would like the series of events on the occasion of the anniversary of the Great Victory to be very rich, including thanks to such events held in the city’s outlying districts,” Alexey Petrov noted.
Based on materials from the press service of the Irkutsk city administration.