The Great Russian Encyclopedia (GRE; , БРЭ, transliterated as Bolshaya rossiyskaya entsiklopediya or academically as Bolšaja rossijskaja enciklopedija) is a universal Russian encyclopedia, completed in 36 volumes, published between 2004 and 2017 by Great Russian Encyclopedia, JSC (, transliterated as Bolshaya rossiyskaya entsiklopediya PAO). It was released under the auspices of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) after President Vladimir Putin signed a presidential decree №1156 in 2002. The complete edition was released by 2017. The chief editor of the encyclopedia was Yury Osipov, the president of the RAS. The editorial board had more than 80 RAS members, including the Nobel Prize laureates Zhores Alferov and Vitaly Ginzburg. The first, introductory volume, released in 2004, was dedicated to Russia. Thirty-five volumes were released between 2005 and 2017, covering the range from "A" to "Яя" (Yaya). The RAS plans to publish an updated version every five years, although it may not be issued in print after the first edition. Personnel and management Contributors The GRE print version has many contributors eminent in their fields, such as Nobel Laureate physicist Zhores Alferov, theoretical physicist and astrophysicist Vitaly Ginzburg. Editorial board Yury Osipov, a mathematician, President of RAS (1991-2013), is the GRE Editor in Chief and Chairman of the Scientific Editorial Board. Managing editor is Sergey Kravets, journalist, editor and cultural figure. Also in the scientific editorial board are or were: RAS Academics: Sergey S. Averintsev, Eugene N. Avrorin, Sergei I. Adian, Yuri P. Altukhov, Zhores I. Alferov, Boris V. Anan'ich, Alexander F. Andreev, Leo N. Andreev, Dmitry V. Anosov, Vladimir I. Arnold, Sergey N. Bagaev, Nikolai Bahvalov, Oleg A. Bogatikov, Alexander A. Boyarchuk, Evgeny Velikhov, Vladimir A. Vinogradov, Andrei I. Vorobyov, Eric M. Galimov, Andrey V. Gaponov-Grekhov, Mikhail L. Gasparov, Vitaly L. Ginzburg, Georgy S. Golitsyn, Andrei A. Gonchar, Anatoly I. Grigoriev, Abdusalam A. Guseinov, Mikhail I. Davydov, Anatoly P. Derevyanko, Nikolai L. Dobretsov, Yuri I. Zhuravlev, Nicholas S. Zefirov, Yuri A. Zolotov, Viktor P. Ivannikov, Vadim T. Ivanov, Sergei G. Inge-Vechtomov, Alexander S. Isaev, Victor A. Kabanov, Eugene N. Kablov, Sergei P. Karpov, Lev L. Kiselev, Alex E. Kontorovich, Vladimir M. Kotlyakov, Oleg N. Krokhin, Edward P. Kruglyakov, Alexander B. Kudelin, Oleg Y. Kutafin, Nikolai P. Laverov, Viktor P. Legostaev, Nikolai P. Liakishev, Valery L. Makarov, Alexander M. Matveenko, Gennady A. Mesyats, Alexander D. Nekipelov, Alexei V. Nikolaev, Sergey P. Novikov, Yuri S. Osipov, Dmitry S. Pavlov, Alexey N. Parshin, Nikolai