Biographical documents, 1880-1987, include a bibliography, awards, diplomas, family papers, and autobiographies. Scientific papers include reprints and manuscripts, 1931-1960; laboratory notes, 1943-1958; accounts and reports, 1945-1949 (many unpublished); reviews of colleagues' work; notebooks, 1948, 1958; and laboratory notebooks of the first Russian nuclear reactor. The collection documents Kurchatov's activities at the Leningrad Physico-Technical Institute, 1924-1941; the Radium Institute (Leningrad), 1938-1941); the Ukrainian Physico-Technical Institute (Karkov), 1932; in evacuation in Kazan, 1942-1943; Laboratory no. 2 and the Institute of Atomic Energy, 1943-1960; and the Presidium of the Academy of Sciences, 1946-1960. Kurchatov's public activity is documented by reports on nuclear policy, support of genetic theory against Lysenko, and work on the committee for Stalin prizes. Correspondents include: John Cockcroft, A. M. Weinberg, M. von Ardenne, Rudolf Peierls, A. F. Ioffe, G. N. Fliorov, A. P. Aleksandrov, Petr Kapitza, D. I. Blokhintzev, E. P. Slavskij, and K. D. Sinel'nikov. The collection also includes papers by other scientists including: I. I. Gurevich, Ya. B. Zel'dovich, V. I. Merkin, M. I. Pevzner, W. S. Fursov, A. B. Migdal, Ya. B. Smorodinskij, L. D. Landau, I. Ya. Pomeranchuk, A. I. Alikhanov, V. I. Veksler, V. P. Dzhevepov, G. N. Fliorov, and A. D. Sakharov. There are reminiscences of Kurchatov by, among others, his wife, Maria, L. M. Nemenov, B. V. Kurchatov, and V. I. Merkin. Also tape recordings of public speeches and oral interviews with his pupils and colleagues, as well as a vast collection of photographs and films, 1924-1964. Also contains papers of Kurchatov's wife.