Governor of Tomsk region Victor Kress: in public space and scientific research

Article focuses on the consideration of the formation of Governor Viktor Melkhiorovich Kress, who held this position from 1991 to 2012 in Tomsk region. As he held this position for 20 years, V.M. Kress is considered a “long-lived” governor. The period of his activity allows us to trace the origin, development, peak and decline of the public image of the governor of Tomsk region in modern Russia. The aim of the study is to identify the influence and interaction of the public image, largely formed by V.M. Kress himself, on his scientific biography. The sources of the research are presented by scientific publications in which Governor V.M. Kress is shown. On the one hand, the governor’s team and he himself created a certain image in the public regional space, and on the other hand, historians studied the formation and dynamics of executive power in the regions. In addition to historians, the image of the governor was formed in the academic environment by political scientists, economists and even representatives of technical science. Since the governor in the 1990s in Russia had to meet certain requirements that were “put forward” by influence groups, it seems important to demonstrate what image was in the regional media and what image remained in regional history. In the public space, there were various assessments of the decisions made by Governor V.M. Kress. In this study, we consciously compared the image formed by V. M. Kress and his team with the image in scientific publications. The author analyzes the image of the governor in the periodical and scientific publications, as well as the image that the governor himself recorded in his memoirs. In conclusion, it is determined that historical research reflects the image of the governor formed in the public space, but it has not been fully studied, despite the growing importance of regional history. Regional history appears in the field of scientific interest only 15-20 years after the events took place, and since the periodical publications most often serve as the main source, the idea of power moves from newspapers into science. The author declares no conflicts of interests.

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