The 250th anniversary of the USSR Academy of Sciences (1974–1975) became a landmark event in both the scientific and socio-political life of the Soviet Union. Held between the XXIV and XXV Congresses of the CPSU and presented as a review of the achievements of Soviet science, this celebration was seen as a triumph of Soviet scientific thought, embodying the superiority of the socialist system over the capitalist one. Organizationally, the anniversary drew on the experience of jubilee celebrations accumulated throughout the 20th century, while at the same time becoming one of the most bureaucratically elaborate among them. In addition to scientific events, the program devoted a large part to party rituals, which emphasized the Sovietization of the jubilee canon and its increased politicization. The awarding of the Order of Lenin to the USSR Academy of Sciences, which became the central public ceremony of the anniversary, served as a visible demonstration of the implementation of party policy in science. The speech delivered by General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU L.I. Brezhnev on this occasion functioned as a kind of programmatic manifesto declaring the progress of science and its inextricable link with production; this unity of scientists working for the benefit of socialist society was repeatedly invoked in responses to his address. The documents relating to the 250th anniversary of the USSR Academy of Sciences held in the Russian State Archive of Modern History, here introduced into scholarly circulation, expand our understanding of the development of the anniversary concept and the format of its celebration, and constitute important sources for the study of the history of science and Soviet political history.
Academy of Sciences of the USSR; Central Committee apparatus of the CPSU; anniversary; science; celebrations; L.I. Brezhnev; Russian State Archive of Contemporary History (RGANI).