The word “memoir” comes from the French words “memories”, “recollections” and can be found in different sources under different names: memoirs, recollections, memoirs, notes, etc. The main task of memoirs is to reflect past events based on the author's memoirs or historical documents. Literary scholars have been discussing the artistry of examples of this genre for many years, and research has been conducted on the harmony of artistic and historical aspects. The issue was theoretically substantiated, specifically by Vissarion Belinsky, who viewed memoirs not only as a compilation of historical records, but also as a medium for artistic expression of human emotional experiences and the social environment of the era. Later, literary scholars who continued his traditions further analyzed the uniqueness of the genre of memoirs. Within the context of this article, the distinct characteristics of the memoir genre are tentatively outlined, with an emphasis on how they differ from other forms of autobiographical literature, such as documentaryhistorical essays or personal diaries. Works created in the genre of memoir are also divided into groups based on their distinctive features.