The article is devoted to the main historical and historiographic researches of Professor P.A. Kuzminov. It conventionally singles out several main blocks of research by the scientist, including works devoted to the historiographic study of the liberal reforms of the 1860s–1870s. in the North Caucasus, the processes of implementing reforms in the region, its socio-economic and political and legal development; works that analyze the methodological and organizational problems of modern Caucasian studies, the scientific and social activities of individual pre-revolutionary, Soviet and modern historians, etc. The article also considers the work of P.A. Kuzminov on the collection and publication of historical sources on the history of the development of the North Caucasus at the end of the 18th - 19th centuries. The novelty of the article lies in the fact that in modern Caucasian studies there are no works devoted to the scientific biographies of individual scientists who, in their works, determine the course of development of research on certain problems of historical science. According to the authors, in the course of studying the biography of a scientist, it is possible only not to find interesting information about the life of an individual, but also to better understand the course of the organizational, institutional and methodological development of all science. The authors come to the conclusion that P.A. Kuzminov, on the basis of modern theoretical and methodological approaches, conducted a comprehensive historical and historiographical analysis of various problems of modern Caucasian studies. Most of the scientists works are devoted to the history and historiography of the liberal reforms of the 1860s-1870s. in the North Caucasus, various socio-political and agrarian issues of the development of the region during its integration into the Russian Empire.

The subject of this research is the examination of socioeconomic development of post-revolutionary Kabardino-Balkaria. The experience of engaging women in public space and industrial manufacturing draws particular interest. In the conditions of transition towards large-scale enterprise, women turns into an active participant of public life and social structure. Highlanders were engaged to industries that did not require high skills. Professional activity was accompanied by educational work, as well as organization of meetings and conferences. The article explores archival documents that are newly introduced into the scientific discourse, which reflect the transitional stage of inclusion of women in the Soviet sociopolitical space. The scientific novelty lies in the study of the participation of women of Kabardino-Balkaria in the industrial manufacturing over the period from 1920s to 1930s, ethnic peculiarities of overcoming the difficulties related to industrialization, and creation of conditions for its liberation. It is demonstrated that in the conditions of personnel shortage, the participation of female highlanders in the industrial manufacturing was not only of ideological and political importance, but also contributed to the formation of a new social and cultural infrastructure. The emergence of labor force, growth of urban population and engagement of women in manufacturing had progressive meaning and significantly changed the people’s mentality. Women became a full member of society, their rights were codified by law, and the plan for gender equality outlined by the Soviet state was on the path to implementation.

The article is devoted to the study of the formation and development of the Soviet system of maternity and childhood protection as one of the main elements of social security of the population in Kabardino-Balkaria. Of particular interest is the strengthening of the role of the state in the education of the younger generation, which pursued the goal of displacing the traditional way of life in order to accelerate the involvement of women in production and replenish the number of working people. The purpose of the article is to study a set of archival documents, first introduced into scientific circulation, reflecting the inclusion of women in the Soviet socio-political and economic space. The work is based on the principles of analysis and synthesis, reliability, objectivity, the methodological basis of the study is the historical and genetic method. On the basis of archival materials, it is shown how the development of the law enforcement practice of the new Soviet family legislation was carried out. The scientific novelty of this study is represented by the representation, on the basis of factual material that began in the 1920s and 1930s, of the process of creating a network of preschool institutions, kindergartens and playgrounds designed not only for the more successful socialization of children within the framework of state ideology, but also equally necessary to free women's time for socially useful work. It has been proven that the removal of part of the educational functions from the management of the family and the transfer of them to the state made it possible to prepare personal space for a woman for self-realization in the socio-professional sphere.