Leningrad, 1934. The first City-level Mathematical Olympiad: new facts, new questions

The very first Soviet (Russian) City-level Mathematical Olympiad for the high-school students was held in Leningrad during the winter-spring of 1933/1934. Who came up with this novel idea, what motivated the organizers? How exactly was it done from the logistics standpoint, how many schoolchildren took part, what were the questions offered, who were the winners? Answers to some of these questions, albeit incomplete, have been published over the last forty years. This talk will present new discoveries and new, yet unpublished, “version” of the events, with almost all the questions fully answered. Among other things, it should be noted that during the last year the author has unearthed the significant part of the problem set of the First Olympiad; an extensive investigation into the fates of its winners was conducted as well.
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