Veniamin Iofe Memorial Conference "The Right to a Name"

The "The Right to a Name" Conference is the only annual interdisciplinary scientific and practical forum dedicated to the issues of compiling and publishing biographies.

"Today, historical scholarship finds itself at a complete loss when it comes to what is conventionally called biography. There is a crisis in approaches, methods, forms, and modes of presentation — both in reconstructing biographies, restoring names and life stories, and in using biographical material (autobiographies, service records, memoirs, interviews, etc.) in further research. Established mechanisms, techniques, and methods for combining the diverse factors of public and private life are virtually absent. The aim of the Conference is to explore ways to address this situation and to support and develop biography as a historical scholarly discipline."

The Conference has been held since 2003 and represents the full contemporary diversity of biographical research across history, sociology, anthropology, psychology, political science, literary studies, and other disciplines, practices, and arts. Key themes include: "Autobiography", "Hagiography", "Ego Documents", "Biographies of Biographers", "Biographical Sources", "Collective Biography", "Theory of Biography", "Biographical Narratives", "Political Biography", "Biographical Dictionaries", "Biography and Myth", "Death in Biography", and more.

Over the years, the Conference has become well-known and in-demand in the academic world. The range of disciplines and cultural practices united by an interest in biography has grown significantly. In the past ten years, more than 400 specialists in history and sociology, as well as museum and archive professionals, have participated. A collection of proceedings is published annually based on the Conference.