Synopsis
Formerly titled Biographical Dictionary of the Soviet Union , this vast and invaluable reference features personal profiles on some 6,700 individuals that have been created from both unofficial and official sources, including personal interviews with well-known former Soviet citizens such as Russian President Boris Yeltsin, Chairman of the Moscow Stock Exchange Konstantin Borovi, artist Garif Basyrov, and leading TV program-maker Alexander Radov. Arranged alphabetically, listings (some 1,200 new and more than 5,000 revised) include birth and death dates, education, professional accomplishments, and other little-known facts, many never before made public. Entries portray 20th-century business leaders, Czarist statesmen, scientists and engineers, economists and philosophers. All of the Russian, European, and Asiatic republics are covered. Bowker-Saur deserves praise for the splendid production values heavy stock and rugged binding as well as the scholarly value of this compendium. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.
Reviews
The dramatic social, economic, and political upheavals beginning to transform the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe will continue to generate heightened interest in the personalities behind the headlines. These two complementary works make a major contribution toward satisfying that demand. A Biographical Dictionary provides some 5000 alphabetically arranged sketches covering all fields over the entire Soviet period, with about half representing those who died after 1917. Entries include name, birth and death dates as appropriate, and a brief biography emphasizing career and achievements. Vronskaya, a Russian emigre, drew upon her personal file of biographical information, published materials, and interviews to pen the seemingly balanced entries, which range from a few brief sentences to more than a page for major figures such as Lenin. While there are some personal comments and biases evinced, Vronskaya does not appear too intrusive in the text. Many of those included also appear in either Who's Who in the Soviet Union , edited by Borys Lewytzkyj (K.G. Saur, 1984) or Who Was Who in the USSR , edited by Heinrich E. Schulz & others (o.p.), but the information presented in this volume is both more relevant to contemporary interests and more current--some entries reflect events as recent as June 1988. Who's Who in the Socialist Countries of Europe lists approximately 13,000 "eminent individuals from the sphere of party, government, military, diplomacy, economics, sciences, literature, religion, art and press," plus 350 dissidents from European socialist states other than the Soviet Union. The alphabetically arranged entries provide full name, nationality, profession, date and place of birth, family background, biographical sketch, publications, honors, decorations, and prizes in a format similar to that of the Marquis Who's Who series. The set's "Name Index by Country" reveals a preponderance (approximately 65 percent) of entries from Poland, the German Democratic Republic, and Hungary. Stroynowski, a Polish emigre, also drew upon personal archives for this compilation, which updates his earlier Who's Who in the Socialist Countries ( LJ 9/1/78), which also covered socialist states outside Europe. Both titles make substantial scholarly contributions in an area where current biographical information is difficult to locate. Recommended for large public libraries and most academic collections.
- James R. Kuhlman, Univ. of Georgia Lib., Athens
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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