"Non-party Bolshevik" or "True Russian Intelligent": Academician M.V. Nechkina's Participation in the Soviet Elections

Introduction. The article is devoted to the participation of the famous Soviet historian M.V. Nechkina in Soviet elections and Soviet elected bodies. The study of this aspect of her activities allowed us to touch upon the issue of the scientist's civic position, the knowledge of which contributes to understanding the foundations and motives of the historian's research activities. This is all the more important because Soviet historians rarely shared their opinions on the political and ideological structure of the country at the time. An analysis of M.V. Nechkina's observations on the elections to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR (February 10, 1946) and the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR (February 9, 1947) reveals her perspective on Soviet democracy. The article compares this unofficial image of the famous historian with her official portrait, which was featured in an election article dedicated to her on the eve of the elections to the Moscow Regional Council of Workers' Deputies (1947). Methods. Sources. Literature. The study is based on historical-genetic, historical-comparative, and historical-typological methods, as well as methods of intellectual history and historical anthropology. The main source is M.V. Nechkina's diary entries, as well as the materials from the election article dedicated to her. The article takes into account the experience of studying M.V. Nechkina's scientific activities in Russian historiography.