SOMETIMES we hear that Russian religious studies emerged only recently, and no serious religious studies were conducted during the Soviet period. However, archival research, study of university curricula, as well as a careful study of Soviet scientific periodicals of the 20s and mid-30s of the XX century completely refute this statement. One of the evidences of serious work on the study of religions in the USSR is the "Systematic Index of creeds (religions) and anti-religious groups", discovered by the author of the article in the collections of the St. Petersburg branch of the Archive of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The creation of this unique "map of religions of the USSR", a collection of data on various religious groups, many of which have now practically disappeared and are known only to specialists 1, was carried out in preparation for the All-Union census of 1937 by the staff of the Museum of the History of Religion of the USSR Academy of Sciences 2, who were able to summarize the results of research conducted in the USSR in a short time since the early 20s. The main works were carried out by employees of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR and Go- 1. As an example, we can cite the group of believers "Natalochka" mentioned in the document published in the appendix to the article, information about which the author of the article could not find. 2. The Museum of the History of Religion of the USSR Academy of Sciences was opened in Leningrad in 1932 and remained part of the USSR Academy of Sciences until 1962, when it was transferred to the Ministry of Culture of the USSR. See more Chumakova T. V. Museum of the History of Religion: academic period//Akademiya nauk v istorii kul'tury Rossii v XVIII - XX vvakh [Academy of Sciences in the history of culture of Russia in the XVIII-XX centuries]. page 106State Academy of Material Culture (GAIMK). Religious studies were conducted within the framework of programs aimed at a comprehensive study of the life of the pe ... Читать далее