2020 marks the 100th birth anniversary of Ms Genya Antipova, a veteran of the National Library of Belarus, First Head of the Rare and Old-Printed Book Department.
Ms Antipova was born in 1920 in Dnepropetrovsk. Left without a father, the one-year-old Genya and her mother moved to Bobruysk. There, she successfully finished school and graduated from the workers' faculty and the Minsk Teachers Institute. The first place of work for Ms Antipova was Osipovichi Secondary School No. 2, where she taught Russian language and literature in grades 5-7.
In 1941, she entered the Faculty of Philology of the Belarusian State University. However, the plans were disrupted by the Great Patriotic War. The university was evacuated to Kazan, where Genya worked at a light industry plant. As soon as the university resumed work, she returned to studies.
After graduating from the university in 1946, she continued her career as a librarian in the foreign department of the BSSR State Library named after V.I. Lenin (now the National Library of Belarus). Then she was transferred to the post of Senior Librarian the same year.
From 1962, Ms Antipova worked with the collection of rare and old-printed books. Many years of experience, professional knowledge and skills, work ethics and responsibility in fulfilling assignments allowed her to lead the Rare and Old-Printed Book Sector of the BSSR State Library. In 1979, the sector was transformed into a department and Ms Antipova became its first Head.
Subsequently, her career led her to the selection of manuscript, rare and most valuable books, which she headed for three years until her retirement.
In 1981, Ms Genya Antipova together with her colleague Ms Kushnerova released a bibliographic publication, "The Consolidated Catalogue of Illegal and Prohibited Printing of the 19th Century Available in Large Libraries of Belarus."
In addition to her professional activities, she took an active part in the public life of the team: she was repeatedly elected a member of the local committee and was a treasurer.
Ms Antipova repeatedly received awards for her work. She was awarded Certificates of Merit by the Ministry of Culture of the USSR and BSSR, the Central Committee, the Belarusian National Committee and the Regional Committee of the Cultural Worker Trade Unions.
Ms Genya Antipova devoted 37 years of her life to the Library.
After reaching retirement age, Ms Antipova took a well-deserved rest in 1983.
Unfortunately, the documents preserved in the National Library of Belarus do not allow determining the exact dates of Ms Antipova's life. We continue our search work and we will be grateful for any information from people who knew Ms Genya Antipova.
Bibliology Research Department
