Vladimirsky I. «It is the West who taught it to us»: Formation of Russian Encyclopedia Studies… «IT IS THE WEST WHO TAUGHT IT TO US»: FORMATION OF RUSSIAN ENCYCLOPEDIA STUDIES IN TSARIST RUSSIA I. Vladimirsky History Department Achva Academic College Shikmim, Israel, 79800 The article analyses main stages in the development of Russian national encyclopedias. <...> The way to first Russian encyclopedias coincided with the development of Russian intellectual elite and struggle with foreign influence and spirit within Russian academia. <...> First Russian encyclopedias tried to copy the structure and the content of the famous foreign encyclopedias such as British Britannica, German Brockhaus and French Encyclopedie. <...> First Russian national Brockhaus-Efron encyclopedia was published at the end of the 19th century and immediately became the national bestseller. <...> Russia joined the row of 'encyclopedia' nations such as Britain, France, Germany and United States relatively late at the end of the XIX century with the successful completion of multi-volume Brockhaus-Efron 'Encyclopedical Dictionary' in 1890–1907. <...> Its impact on Russian intelligentsia was so significant, that in 2005 it was decided to publish a renewed printed reprint with digitized version on four CD's (1). <...> Russia's way to its own encyclopedia enterprise was not easy and subjected to several characteristic features in the creation of its national elite. <...> Formation of the new generation of the Russian nobility was initiated by the reforms of Peter the Great and the beginning of rapid 'westernization' of every sphere of life: Orthodox Church calendar was replaces by the modern one, new capital city was built and given the western name, administrative order was settled according the western pattern, foreigners from different European countries were welcomed to settle and to serve the new northern ruler (2). <...> New concept of Russian culture proposed by Peter the Great laid down on European cultural experience (3). 75 Вестник РУДН, серия История России, 2014, № 1 Education of new noble intellectual elite demanded establishing of new facilities such as schools, universities, libraries, laboratories, making of geographic and geodesic instruments, printing of text-books, books and maps. <...> Moscow University was established in 1755 and became the first <...>