Science at "Electrosila": The Activities of the General Plant Research Bureau and Factory Laboratories in the 1930s

The object of the research is factory science in the field of electrical engineering, exemplified by the Leningrad plant "Elekrosila." The subject of the research is a little-studied aspect of the functioning of the "Elekrosila" plant – the scientific-production work of the General Plant Bureau of Research and Laboratories of the enterprise. The source base consists of archival materials of personal origin from the Museum of the History of "Elekrosila," which are being introduced into scientific circulation for the first time. These materials were created by the plant's workers in the second half of the 20th century. In addition, the authors utilized document management sources from the Central State Archive of Historical and Political Documents of St. Petersburg and materials from Soviet periodicals. The main focus of the authors' collective is on the most important structure of the enterprise – the General Plant Bureau of Research (OBIS), as well as the electrical engineering laboratory and the metallurgical profile laboratories. The methodological foundation of this article is based on the principles of historicism and scientific objectivity. The main method chosen by the authors was the historical-genetic method, which allowed tracking the reasons for the emergence of important research structures at the plant. The authors identified key figures who played a significant role in the development of the plant's scientific potential and the age composition of laboratory workers in the 1930s. Specific achievements of the "Elekrosila" plant's laboratories are presented both during the existence of the OBIS and after its abolishment in 1933. It is noted that the scientific research activities of "Elekrosila" allowed the plant to become one of the leaders in electrical engineering in Leningrad; however, the preservation of the General Plant Bureau of Research and more attentive attention from the plant's management to laboratory work could have turned "Elekrosila" into a model enterprise of its time. At the same time, the authors question the complete reliability of the preserved personal origin sources regarding the history of scientific life at "Elekrosila" in the 1930s, as there is virtually no criticism of the plant's activities during that time in these sources.