Twenty years ago, on June 30, 1958, the famous Lermontov expert prof. Semenov turned to a group of Leningrad literary scholars with a proposal to jointly create the “Lermontov Encyclopedia” - a comprehensive collection of data about Lermontov’s biography, his work, his era, the connections of his heritage with Russian literature and the literatures of other peoples, and finally, about the history of the perception of his work by subsequent literature and science and art.L. P. Semenov died before he could take part in the implementation of this extensive plan. However, the idea he put forward was supported. In 1959, the collection of materials for the future encyclopedia began; The leader of this work was V. A. Manuilov, who organized a group of enthusiasts on a voluntary basis.