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Hungarian Historian József Perényi and Soviet Historical Science
The article is devoted to contacts and interaction between Professor Pérenyi József (1915–1981), the eminent Hungarian specialist in Russian History, and his Soviet colleagues. The evolution of his perception of official Soviet historiography: from fascination after World War II to attempts to overcome the boundaries of the official Soviet narrative in the 1960s and 1970s. are analyzed. In this article the contacts of J.Pérenyi with B.D.Grekov, A.L.Sidorov, M.N.Tikhomirov, T.M.Islamov are studied. The contacts with the A.V.Florovsky, a Russian émigré historian from Prague, were woven into this context.
Keywords: J.Pérenyi; Soviet historical science; Hungarian historiography; Sovietization; Soviet-Hungarian scientific relations; B.D.Grekov; A.V.Florovsky«The people with whom I had to meet showed a lot of attention to the Soviet scientist»: the visit of Academician B.D.Grekov to Budapest in 1948
This article is devoted to the study of the journey of Academician B.D.Grekov to Hungary in November 1948, where he lectured on Ancient Russia history in the University of Budapest. The circumstances of the invitation of the Soviet scientist, the preparation and organization of his visit are studied; the content of his lectures is analyzed. A great place is given to Grekov’s direct contacts with Hungarian scientific and political figures, the image of the Soviet scientist in the Hungarian press. Grekov’s report on his trip was published in the appendix.
Keywords: B. D. Grekov; Soviet-Hungarian Scientific Relations; University of Budapest; historiography“The audience at the Sorbonne was Packed to Capacity”: Parisian Lectures of Academician M.N.Tikhomirov in 1957
This article is devoted to the analysis of the visit of Academician Mikhail Nikolaevitch Tikhomirov in Paris in the spring of 1957 in the context of the history of the formation of Soviet-French scientific relations during the Thaw. On the basis of archival sources, the circumstances of the invitation of the Soviet scientist are reconstructed. The great role in this process of Fernand Braudel and leading by him the VIth section of the Practical School of Higher Research is concluded. In this article the chronology of Tikhomirov’s visit was described, analyze his meetings with French scientists, as well as with Russian émigrés was made. The conclusion on the great symbolic significance of Tikhomirov’s visit is made. His lectures in French in the Sorbonne symbolized the overcoming of the gap in the sphere of personal and business contacts of historians, which actually disappeared in the late 1920s.Keywords: M. N. Tikhomirov; F. Braudel; Soviet-French scientific relations; historiography; scientific diplomacy.«The publishing a book in German could cause serious damage to the good reputation of Soviet science abroad»: Soviet and Czechoslovak Antiquity Researchers in the Discussion on Plagiarism (1950s)
This article is devoted to the reconstruction of the scientific discussion of 1955–1956, connected with the accusations of S. L. Utchenko, a Soviet antiquity researcher, by a group of young Czechoslovak historians in plagiarism. The authors of this article do not set the task of bringing in verdict a of Utchenko’s guilty. The purpose of this study is to get closer to understanding the mechanisms of (not)resolving such conflicts, and in addition to try to understand the specifics of personal and business communications between Soviet and Czechoslovak scientists, to give a look how contacts were established between them within the framework of the formation of the intellectual field of “socialist science”. This episode is not just a curious incident from the history of scientific ties. It is indicative in that it demonstrates examples of the existence of disputes, discussions and conflicts in the scientific environment, and also outlines the facets of scientific ethics.Keywords: S. L. Utchenko; P. Oliva; Soviet-Czechoslovak scientific relations; plagiarism; scientific ethics; historiography; studies in Antiquity, history of the Ancient World“For the Consolidation of Peace and Friendship”: Archival Materials on the International Activities of Academician A.M.Rumyantsev
The article is devoted to the international activities of the economist and sociologist, academician A.M.Rumyantsev (1905–1993). Based on new materials from the Archive of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the various stages of his biography are highlighted: the period of a sharp career take-off in the 1950s, the time of a boom in Soviet sociology in the 1960s and his participation in this process, the academician’s fell down during the Brezhnev stagnation of the 1970s. Archival materials allowed to analyze the Rumyantsev’s point of view on the prospects for the development of Soviet-British relations and the role of science and culture in this process, his participation in the work of the European Center for the Coordination of Research and Documentation in the Social Sciences, his perspective on economic reforms in Yugoslavia in the 1970s. Thus, a large-scale picture of the participation of the Soviet academician, the «intelligent Marxist», as his contemporaries called him, in transnational intellectual exchanges of the Cold War period is created.Keywords: A.M.Rumyantsev; international scientific relations; science diplomacy; UK; Yugoslavia; Eastern Bloc; Cold War; history of Soviet sociology“For the Consolidation of Peace and Friendship”: Archival Materials on the International Activities of Academician A.M.Rumyantsev (the end)
The article is devoted to the international activities of the economist and sociologist, academician A.M.Rumyantsev (1905–1993). Based on new materials from the Archive of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the various stages of his biography are highlighted: the period of a sharp career take-off in the 1950s, the time of a boom in Soviet sociology in the 1960s and his participation in this process, the academician’s fell down during the Brezhnev stagnation of the 1970s. Archival materials allowed to analyze the Rumyantsev’s point of view on the prospects for the development of Soviet-British relations and the role of science and culture in this process, his participation in the work of the European Center for the Coordination of Research and Documentation in the Social Sciences, his perspective on economic reforms in Yugoslavia in the 1970s. Thus, a large-scale picture of the participation of the Soviet academician, the «intelligent Marxist», as his contemporaries called him, in transnational intellectual exchanges of the Cold War period is created.Keywords: A.M.Rumyantsev; international scientific relations; science diplomacy; UK; Yugoslavia; Eastern Bloc; Cold War; history of Soviet sociologyRussian-Portuguese Scientific Ties at the turn of the 19th – 20th centuries and Francisco Afonso Chaves (1857–1926)
The article is devoted to the relationship of Francisco Afonso Chaves (1857–1926), a Portuguese scientist, with his Russian colleagues. He was a prominent meteorologist and seismologist, a propagandist of science, whose repute extended far beyond his native Azores and Portugal. In the article the examples of contacts of F.A.Chaves with Russian scientists (M.A.Rykachev, B.B Golitsyn, N.A.Demchinsky, and S.N.Nakhimov) are provide. In addition, much attention is given to the reflection of the «Russian theme» in the relationship of F.A.Chaves with his European colleagues. The article concludes that although Chaves’ relations with Russia were episodic, noticeably inferior to contacts with scientists from other European countries, these ties are remarkable in the context of the history of the Russian-Portuguese scientific dialogue. It is also indicative the «cross-country», since these relations involved scientists from different countries, united by common scientific subjects.Keywords: F. A. Chaves, Russia, Portugal, the Azores, scientific relations, meteorology, seismology, B. B. Golitsyn, M. A. Rykachev, history of science and technologyTwists of Fate: Professor A.V.Florovski and his Soviet Colleagues
The first in the series this article, dedicated to Russian historian A.V.Florovsky, describes the attempts of the academic to establish contacts with Soviet colleagues in the postwar years. The interest to the study of the epoch of Peter the Great was his motive. This article describes the communications of A.V.Florovsky with A.I.Andreyev and his research group, which was engaged in the publication of “Letters and papers of the Emperor Peter the Great”. This work shows how politics intervenes in the research plans, as well as the fate of the peoples. In the USSR erupted ideological campaigns. Colleagues of A.V.Florovsky were under fire.Keywords: A.V.Florovsky; A.I.Andreyev; S.A.Feygina; A.L.Sidorov; N.L.Rubinstein; “Letters and papers of the Emperor Peter the Great”; Peter the Great; Czechoslovakia; USSR; historiography; Russia Abroad; ideological campaigns; Stalin Era.Twists of Fate: Professor A.V.Florovski and his Soviet Colleagues (the end)
In the final article in this series the development of scientific contacts of A.V.Florovsky with Soviet historians in the late 1950s – 1960s was described. Particular attention was paid to his communication with E.P.Podyapolskaya, who took over the editing of “The Letters and papers of the Emperor Peter the Great”. The visit of A.V.Florovsky in the USSR in 1967 was characterized. The article presents the arguments according to which closure of Soviet science was one of the reasons that hindered the study of Peter the Great’s theme. In conclusion, the specificity of scientific contacts of A.V.Florovsky conceptualized.Keywords: A.V.Florovsky; E.P.Podyapolskaya; A.A.Novoselsky; S.A.Feygina; “Letters and papers of the Emperor Peter the Great”; Peter the Great; Czechoslovakia; USSR; scientific contacts; historiography; Russia Abroad; Khrushchev’s “Thaw”.Twists of Fate: Professor A.V.Florovski and his Soviet Colleagues (the continuation)
The article describes how the “Iron Curtain” broke the contact of A.V.Florovsky with Soviet colleagues. He was able to resume them only during the Khrushchev’s Thaw. In 1950-ies the historian met by correspondence with A.A.Novoselsky, B.B.Kafengauz and other Soviet scholars. One of the main themes of their communication becomes the preparation of “The Letters and papers of the Emperor Peter the Great”. This article analyzes the historiographic and source study suggestions of A.V.Florovsky regarding this publication.Keywords: A.V.Florovsky; G.V.Vernadsky; S.A.Feygina; T.A.Bykova; T.K.Krylova; A.A.Novoselsky; B.B.Kafengauz; “Letters and papers of the Emperor Peter the Great”; Peter the Great; USSR; historiography; Russia Abroad; ideological campaigns; Stalin Era; Khrushchev’s “Thaw”.«During these conferences we grew up in our and others' eyes». Cases from the history of the Russian emigration’s scientific communication (1921−1930)
The article covers the phenomenon of scientific congresses organized by Russian émigré scientists during the 1921−1930 years. These congresses combined Russian academic community abroad, coordinated scholars’s activities, regulated system of education and scientific manpower training. In total, five congresses were organized. Prague, Belgrade and Sofia were places where these congresses took place. A.A.Kizewetter, A.S.Lomshakov, N.O.Lossky, M.M.Novikov, P.B.Struve and others were members of congresses. Congresses have played a huge role in the development of scientific communication between emigrants.Keywords: Russia Abroad, scientific congresses, Russian academic groups, the history of science, Prague, Belgrade, Sofia.«During These Conferences We Grew up in Our and Others' Eyes». Cases from the History of the Russian Emigration’s Sientific Communication (1921−1930) (the end)
The article covers the phenomenon of scientific congresses organized by Russian émigré scientists during the 1921−1930 years. These congresses combined Russian academic community abroad, coordinated scholars’s activities, regulated system of education and scientific manpower training. The article is devoted to the congresses organized in Prague (1922), Belgrade (1929) and Sofia (1930). A.A.Kizewetter, A.V.Florovsky, A.S.Lomshakov, N.O.Lossky, M.M.Novikov, P.B.Struve and others were members of congresses. Congresses have played a huge role in the development of scientific communication between Russian émigré scientists.Keywords: Russia Abroad; scientific congresses; Russian academic groups; the history of science; Prague; Belgrade; Sofia.Between Politics and Ideology: Metamorphoses of the Russian Emigration’ Historical Memory, 1920–1940
The author deals with peculiarities of the Russian emigrants; forms and means of the cultural memory preservation and creation of the ideal past models. The Russian communities abroad were transformed by a new social experience that had impact also on the culture of memory. The very expulsion brought about creation of a new, often idealized image of Russia, its people and culture and re-thinking of their own historical experience. Every educated person in emigration sought to create a new image of Russia that would satisfy him or her. The Russian exiles looked for ‘points of memory' around that the emigrant identity could jell. At the same time the recollections of the past served as the stage for ideological and political clashes.Keywords: Russia Abroad; historical memory; political myth; ideology.