Ilia Efron

Born 1847; died Apr. 19, 1917, in Petrograd. Russian publisher.

Efron was one of the founders of the firm Brockhaus-Efron in 1890. The firm published a number of Russian encyclopedias, notably the Great Encyclopedic Dictionary, the Small Encyclopedic Dictionary (vols. 1–3, 1899–1902; 2nd ed., vols. 1–2, 1907–09), and the New Encyclopedic Dictionary (vols. 1–29, 1911–16, edition not completed). In addition to the encyclopedic works, Brockhaus-Efron published the Library of Great Authors (edited by S. A. Vengerov), including richly illustrated editions of the complete works of Pushkin, Shakespeare, Byron, and Moliere. The firm also published several series intended for broad democratic audiences, notably the Library of Industrial Knowledge (edited by D. I. Mendeleev) and the Library of Natural Science. In 1917 the firm became a member of the Petfograd corporation of private publishing houses. Its activity ceased in 1930.