Memory Fund

The Memory Fund (Russian: Фонд Памяти), formally the Foundation for the Perpetuation of the Memory of Victims of Political Repression (Фонд «Увековечения памяти жертв политических репрессий»), is a Russian non-commercial organization registered on 18 April 2016. It was founded by the State Museum of the History of the Gulag and operates within the framework of the Concept of State Policy for the Perpetuation of the Memory of Victims of Political Repression, approved by the Government of the Russian Federation on 15 August 2015 and later extended to 2029. The Fund's stated mission is to create conditions in Russia for reflecting on the history of mass repression and thereby to affirm humanistic values in society. The Fund carries out projects aimed at preserving, researching and making accessible the legacy of Soviet political repression, popularizing it among a broad audience and engaging the professional community. It also aggregates private and corporate donations and attracts targeted state financing to support third-party projects on the history of political repression in the USSR between 1918 and 1956. Its first project was fundraising for the Wall of Grief (Стена скорби), a monument to victims of political repression in Moscow. The Fund supports projects of the Association of Russian Memory Museums and the Social Volunteer Center of the State Museum of the History of the Gulag, and plans to take part in memorializing sites of memory connected with political repression, to assist in creating museums, monuments and books of memory, and to initiate and support other projects of the same orientation. The Fund's governance includes a council whose members have included Federation Council member Vladimir Lukin, Natalia Solzhenitsyn (president of the Russian Public Foundation of Alexander Solzhenitsyn), Sergei Karaganov (honorary chairman of the Presidium of the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy), Arseny Roginsky (1946–2017, chairman of the board of the Memorial society), film director Pavel Lungin, and Sergei Kapkov (head of the Center for Studies of the Economics of Culture and Urban Development at Moscow State University's Faculty of Economics). The board of trustees is headed by Mikhail Fedotov, adviser to the President of Russia and chairman of the Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights. The Fund's director is Roman Romanov, who was director of the State Museum of the History of the Gulag from 2012 to 2025. The Memory Fund is a non-profit entity rather than a commercial brand, but it functions as a branded institutional platform for memory projects, fundraising and public education in Russia. It maintains an official website at memoryfund.ru and publishes documents and work reports.

The Memory Fund was registered on 18 April 2016, established by the State Museum of the History of the Gulag. Its creation took place within the implementation of the Concept of State Policy for the Perpetuation of the Memory of Victims of Political Repression, which the Government of the Russian Federation approved on 15 August 2015 and later extended to 2029. The Fund's mission is to create conditions in Russia for comprehending the history of mass repressions and thereby to help establish humanistic values in society. The Fund's first project was fundraising for the Monument to the Victims of Political Repression, the Wall of Grief (Стена скорби), in Moscow. The Fund supports projects of the Association of Russian Memory Museums and the Social Volunteer Center of the State Museum of the History of the Gulag. It plans to participate in the memorialization of places of memory connected with political repression, to assist in the creation of museums, monuments and books of memory, and to initiate and support other projects of the same orientation. The Fund continues to raise funds for the creation of a monument in Moscow to the memory of victims of political repression. Beyond its own projects, the Memory Fund aggregates private and corporate donations and attracts targeted state financing to support third-party projects on the history of political repressions that took place in the USSR between 1918 and 1956. Its governance has included prominent public figures: the council has included Federation Council member Vladimir Lukin, Natalia Solzhenitsyn, Sergei Karaganov, Arseny Roginsky (1946–2017), film director Pavel Lungin and Sergei Kapkov. The board of trustees is headed by Mikhail Fedotov, adviser to the President of Russia and chairman of the Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights. The Fund's director is Roman Romanov, director of the State Museum of the History of the Gulag from 2012 to 2025.

• 2017

  Council member Arseny Roginsky (1946–2017) passes away.

• 2016

  The Memory Fund is registered on 18 April, founded by the State Museum of the History of the Gulag.

• 2015

  The Government of the Russian Federation approves the Concept of State Policy for the Perpetuation of the Memory of Victims of Political Repression on 15 August.

• The Concept of State Policy is extended until 2029.

A state-linked non-profit foundation dedicated to commemorating victims of Soviet political repression through memorial, educational and research projects.

• Wall of Grief monument fundraising

  The Fund's first project was raising funds for the Monument to the Victims of Political Repression in Moscow.

• Support for the Association of Russian Memory Museums

  The Fund supports projects of the Association of Russian Memory Museums.

• Social Volunteer Center of the State Museum of the History of the Gulag

  The Fund supports the Social Volunteer Center of the State Museum of the History of the Gulag.

1. 1Фонд Памяти — official websitememoryfund.ru
2. 2О Фонде — official websitememoryfund.ru
3. 3Memory Fund — Wikidatawikidata.org
4. 4Фонд Памяти — Wikipedia (Russian)ru.wikipedia.org