April 6, 2022 marked the 100th anniversary of Yuri Aleksandrovich Moshkov, PhD Candidate in History, Honored Lecturer of Moscow University, Associate Professor of the Department of Source Studies of Russian and Soviet History, Faculty of History, Lomonosov Moscow State University. He is one of the oldest lecturers of the university, his working life has almost entirely been devoted to the Faculty of History. His life and career are inseparable from the history of our country. A veteran of the Great Patriotic War, he traversed the arduous roads of war and has government awards. For many years he has been chairman of the Council of War and Labor Veterans of the History Faculty of Lomonosov Moscow State University, and has always actively participated in the patriotic upbringing of young people. Moshkov is an extremely peace-loving person, and when he talks about his military path and recalls the students and fellows of the history department who participated in the Patriotic War, he always expresses the hope that such a war will never happen again. In this article, his colleagues pay tribute to Yuri Aleksandrovich as a veteran, personality and patriot, and trace his path as a professional historian, author of a large number of scientific papers. He is a well-known specialist in the agrarian history of the Soviet period and regular participant in conferences, symposiums and scientific discussions on this issue. He is one of the architects of the development of quantitative methods used for solving a number of problems in historical research. Moshkov is a highly qualified lecturer, author of textbooks, study guides and teaching aids. Under his scientific guidance, about a hundred theses have been prepared, almost two dozen PhD theses have been defended. Through many years of work at the faculty, he has given lecture courses and conducted seminars on the historiography of national history and quantitative methods in historical research, taught students a large number of special courses on the history of the Soviet village, partisans of the Great Patriotic War, etc. On behalf of all the fellows of the university, the contributors of the present article wish our colleague, who is both wise and young at heart, to enjoy good health and to continue to have professional success.

The article characterizes the main stages of the formation and development of the Russian first special department of source study, which was established at the Faculty of History of the Lomonosov Moscow State University in September 1952. It was a beginning of a new stage in the study and teaching of special (auxiliary) historical subjects, which are a prerequisite for the professional training of historians. The authors reveal the decisive contribution of the Academy members Mikhail Nikolayevich Tikhomirov and Ivan Dmitrievich Koval’chenko, the heads of the Department, to the determination of goals and direction of its work, to the creation and development of the ideas of the programs for students of source studies, historiography, historical research methods, to the formation of the teaching staff and researchers, and to achieving significant advances in teaching and research activities. The article examines the history of the Department of Source Studies as one of the leading scientific and methodological centers. The authors highlight its contribution to the development of historical research and overview the educational and research activities of the Department during seven decades of its existence. They examine the experience of solving historical problems while developing teaching courses, educational curriculum and programs, methodical and teaching aids for students of the Faculty of History in general, and particularly of its Departments of Source Studies. The main recent directions of the departmental staff ’s research and lecturing are listed. Particular attention is paid to scientific readings in honor of colleagues and teachers, prominent professors, who established the traditions, which are preserved, maintained and developed today at the Department of Source Studies