A page from the history of Russian etymology at the turn of the twenty-first century

This article summarizes the work of Etymological Dictionary Group set up in the Vinogradov Russian Language Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences in 1986 and dismantled in 1994. The Group produced an extensive card catalogue and two books: “Materials for Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language. Issue 1” and “From the History of Russian Words. A Manual Dictionary”. The latter was published in 1993, the former only in 2003, under the title “New Findings in Russian Etymology. Issue 1”. The article is completed by three reviews of the manuscript of “Materials…” written in 1992 by renowned scientists, Vladimir N. Toporov, Anatoly F. Zhuravlev and Oleg N. Trubachev. The expertise and output of the Group, as well as comments and observations contained in the above mentioned reviews are considered by Alexander E. Anikin in his work on “Russian Etymological Dictionary”. In that connection some passages of the article deal with the current situation in Russian etymological lexicography.