Memories of graduates of the Faculty of History and Philology (History) of Tomsk State University as a historical source

The purpose of the article is to provide a brief overview of published memoirs of domestic researchers who studied at the Faculty of History and Philology and the Faculty of History of TSU in different years and at the beginning of the XXI century. The aim is to characterise the image of a graduate as a set of mental, psychological and social traits of a modern humanitarian intellectual. The favourable coverage of the selected topic provides additional material for the study and comprehension of the personalities of graduates, the peculiarities of their character, and allows us to highlight the facts that demonstrate the culture and specificity of the perception of events by the authors of memoirs. Considering scholarly importance of the subject, the authors aimed to provide a concise overview of published memoirs, enabling the reader to gain insight into the author's linguistic style, worldview, communication style, social interactions, and the psychological portrait of that time. The study's source base was comprised of a diverse range of materials, including collective monographs of Russian historians, scientific articles, and conference proceedings. The principal sources are the published memoirs of graduates of the Faculty of History and Philology and the Faculty of History of TSU (N.V. Blinov, V.P. Zinoviev, L.I. Galliamova, V.P. Boiko, Yu.A. Sorokin, etc.). The methodology employed in this research adheres to the principles of objectivity and historicism. The source study, historical-comparative, historical-genetic and bibliographic methods were employed in order to achieve the desired results. The research conducted by the authors revealed the existence of two distinct types of memoirs. The first type is charac-terised by an emphasis on the anniversaries of the authors themselves (V.P. Zinoviev, V.P. Boiko). The second type, in contrast, focuses on the authors’ lives and work, serving as a testament to the passed away (N.V. Blinov, A.M. Sagalaev, A.Kh. Ehlert). One of the key points addressed in the memoirs is the review of the conditions of education and living conditions of students in dormitories. The memoirs provide a comprehensive account of the lives of students, their interactions with teachers and their peers. Nevertheless, most of memoirs focus on significant events occurring within the country and internationally. Memoirs by N.V. Blinov provide insight into the events of the Great Patriotic War, particularly the final stage in the Far East. Memoirs by V.P. Zinoviev and V.P. Boiko offer a multifaceted perspective on the process of collectivization and deku-lakization. Memoirs by S.I. Anufriev document the experiences of undergraduate and graduate students at the end of the XX century, exploring both everyday and ideological aspects of their lives.