Anatoly Pavlovich Shikman

Biography

Anatoly Shikman was born on March 12, 1948, in Moscow to Pavel Morrisovitch and Yelena Borisovna Shikman. He went to school until eighth grade, after which he went to work as a driver, a loader, a librarian and as a theater stage hand, while stimultaneously studying at night school.

After his service in the Navy, Shikman enrolled in the History Department of the Moscow State Teacher's Training Institute, from which he graduated in 1975. During his time at the institute, he started working as a school teacher. Serious conflicts arose, when the school authorities insisted he taught history in accordance with party dogma, which prevailed in the USSR. The eventually led to Shikman frequently changing jobs: he taught art history and worked as a senior researcher at the Russian State Archive of Ancient Documents. In addition to his various jobs, Anatoly began publishing articles and books on remarkable Russians, the history of Moscow, culture, pedagogy and bibliography in 1981.

In 1986, Leonid Isidorovich Milgram, the prominent director of school N°45 in Moscow, offered Shikman a job. Milgram was one of the few who managed to create a spirit of freedom in the school, and he fostered respect towards both student and teachers.

Two years later, in 1988, he wrote his first essay on classified historical archives, initiating a number of fundamental works on the history of Soviet censorship. Since 1989, he has published seven books.

Health reasons caused him to stop teaching in 2008, and he is presently engaged in research and literary work.

Books by Shikman

7 Kirov Street, published by "Moscow Worker" as part of the series "Biography of the Moscow House" (1989).

Obelisk in the Alexander Gardens - Lives of the Great Socialists, published by "Enlightenment" (1990).

This high school text book compiled a series of essays dedicated to the thinkers and revolutionaries whose names were carved in the obelisk that stands in the Alexander Gardens, near the walls of the Kremlin.

Figures of National History, published by AST-Ltd (1997)

The Opening of History, published by "Moscow Lyceum" (2000)

The book provides answers to basic questions about the development of historical science in the form of a story.

History of Russia. Biography Dictionary for Schools, a dictionary intended for history teachers and students, published by Moscow Publishers-Press (2001)

Who's Who in Russian History (Kto est kto v rossijskoj istorii), a biographical dictionary, including over 700 articles about prominent Russian figures, published by "Vagrius" (2003)

Summary of the Time. Proceedings of the Days of Alexander Ratner” (compiled by Abram Reytblat and Anatoly Shikman) (Konspekt vremeni: trudy i dni Aleksandra Ratnera), a book devoted to the life and work of historian Alexander Ratner, published by "New Literary Review" (2007)