Obichkin, Gennadii

Born Aug. 31 (Sept. 12), 1899, in the village of Sinitsino, in what is now Vologda Raion, Vologda Oblast. Soviet historian. Professor (1949) and doctor of historical sciences (1962); Honored Scholar of the RSFSR (1964). Member of the CPSU since 1927. Son of a peasant.

Obichkin served in World War I (1914–18) on the Thessaloniki (Macedonia) front. After the October Revolution of 1917 he was interned by French authorities and sent to perform forced labor in Algeria. In 1920 and 1921 he served in the Red Army.

After graduating from the Second Moscow University in 1928 and completing graduate study at the Institute of Philosophy of the Communist Academy in 1931, Obichkin taught and was involved in party work. Since 1945 he has held administrative positions at the Institute of Marxism-Leninism of the Central Committee of the CPSU (director, 1952–61). From 1957 to 1959 he was editor in chief of the journal Voprosy istorii KPSS (Problems of the History of the CPSU). His principal works are devoted to the history of the party and the history and theory of Marxism-Leninism. He is a joint author of a scholarly biography of V. I. Lenin and of V. I. Lenin: A Concise Biography. He worked on the fourth and fifth editions of V. I. Lenin’s Works and on the second edition of the Works of K. Marx and F. En-gels. He also helped prepare and edit a number of studies on the history of the Civil War (1918–20) and the Great Patriotic War (1941–45). Obichkin was a member of the editorial board for the second edition of the Great Soviet Encyclopedia and is a member of the editorial board for the third edition. He is also on the editorial board of the Soviet Historical Encyclopedia. Obichkin has been awarded the Order of Lenin and the Order of the October Revolution, as well as three other orders and a number of medals.