The foundation stage of Beseda is still to a great extent shrouded in mystery. As far as the date of foundation is concerned, one can dismiss as a memory-lapse Maklakov's claim that Beseda was founded at the beginning of the 1890s (see Maklakov, vol. II, p. 291). All other sources, with the exception of Shipov, give 1899 as the year of foundation. (See: Belokonskiy II, p. 80, Chermenskiy II, p. 44, Mikheyeva, p. 241, Shakhovskoy IV, p. 103.) According to Shipov's testimony, the circle was established at the end of 1900. He himself, however, writes about preliminary discussions which took place at the end of 1899 and beginning of 1900 (Shipov II, pp. 134–5, 152).

Taking into account Shipov's vagueness about dates and the statements of Chermenskiy and Mikheyeva that Beseda did not begin to discuss political questions before summer 1900, the present author has arrived at the conclusion that although it is probable that Beseda was established at the end of 1899, it did not begin to function regularly (nor was it given its name) until summer 1900.

As in the case of the foundation-date, the sources differ on the identity of the founders. According to Belokonskiy, Beseda was founded by the princely brothers Pavel and Peter Dolgorukov (Belokonskiy, ibid.). Chermenskiy adds the name of D. N. Shipov (Chermenskiy, ibid.), while Shakhovskoy claims that Beseda was founded by six zemstvo activists, five of whom were marshals of the nobility.