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The Great Soviet Encyclopedia was the Soviet Union’s primary universal encyclopedia. Published in three editions from 1926 to 1978, the Encyclopedia aimed to remake all of human knowledge in accordance with the principles of the Marxist philosophies of dialectical and historical materialism, creating a new, philosophically unified system of knowledge that could constitute the Soviet worldview. The Encyclopedia was the largest and most important work of knowledge and ideology produced by the Soviet state, with tens of thousands of authors contributing to its three editions and an audience of millions of readers. It continues to be read and cited today, and its publisher (which is now a state-supported nonprofit called Great Russian Encyclopedia) has continued to produce new print and digital encyclopedias. 

In his talk, Title VIII Research Scholar Michael Coates will examine the history of The Great Soviet Encyclopedia's creation and circulation, drawing on a variety of sources, including extensive archival research into the publisher’s records and the text of the Encyclopedia itself.