For the first time in Gagauz studies, this report, based on both published works and archival materials, examines the key moments in the history of the creation of the academic Gagauz-Russian-Moldavian dictionary, which was published in Moscow in 1973. Particular attention is paid to institutions (Institute of Linguistics of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Institute of Language and Literature of the Academy of Sciences of the Moldavian SSR, Moscow publishing house “Soviet Encyclopedia”) and specialists (G. A. Gaidarji, E. K. Kolța, L. A. Pokrovskaya, B. P. Tukan, N. A. Baskakov, N. D. Raevsky) who took part in the preparation for publication of this dictionary, as well as to the source base (Gagauz-Russian dictionary by V. A. Moshkov, Gagauz-Romanian dictionary by M. M. Çakir, dialectological material collected by the team of authors in the 1960s). A special place in the work is given to instructions for compiling the dictionary and its structure, which was initially somewhat different from the final version: a) an introductory part, which included general information about the Gagauz language and its writing, a basic bibliography and rules for using the dictionary; b) a list of abbreviations and symbols; c) the main body of the dictionary; d) a brief outline of the grammar of the Gagauz language; e) Russian-Gagauz and Moldavian-Gagauz indices, which are compiled on the basis of Gagauz root words included in the dictionary; f) a list of the most common family names and nicknames of Gagauz people; g) lists of geographical names on a global scale and local toponyms, as well as microtoponyms used in the Gagauz language.