KRSU presented a book about Evgeny Polivanov – «the most ordinary brilliant person»
February 11 at the Kyrgyz-Russian Slavic University named after the first President of the Russian Federation B.N. Yeltsin (KRSU) there was a presentation of the documentary-biographical monograph of Leonid and Olga Sumarokov «E.D. Polivanov. An unfinished linguistic symphony».
The event aroused keen interest in the scientific community of Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, China and Italy. It was joined by 67 scientists, including the Russian Academy of Sciences, teachers, graduate students and students of 18 universities. The National Academy of Sciences of Kyrgyzstan and 6 universities of the republic, universities in Voronezh, Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, St. Petersburg, Smolensk, Stavropol, as well as two Chinese and one Italian universities contacted KRSU.
The presentation was opened and welcomed by the scientific editor of the new book, Academician of the National Academy of Sciences of the Kyrgyz Republic, Rector of KRSU Vladimir Nifadiev. He especially emphasized that the publication, based on documentary materials and included in the author’s book series «Eurasian Creators», is especially relevant in modern conditions, because it reveals the actions of one of the architects of the Eurasian space. The first books in the series were monographs by Leonid and Olga Sumarokov «Chingiz Aitmatov. Man – Universe», «Eurasian Chronicles N.M. Przhevalsky», «K.K. Yudakhin. Uniting Central Asia with a word». Documentary and biographical monograph «E.D. Polivanov. The unfinished linguistic symphony» is the fourth in this series. Scientists dedicated it to the memory of the Russian and Soviet linguist, orientalist, Turkologist and literary critic Evgeniy Dmitrievich Polivanov, whose last years of life were associated with Kyrgyzstan, where he made a huge contribution to the development of the Kyrgyz and Dungan languages, to the poetic translation of the epic «Manas» into Russian. The reviewers of the publication were eminent scientists – Academician of the National Academy of Sciences of the Kyrgyz Republic Vladimir Ploskikh and People's Poet of Kyrgyzstan, Doctor of Philology, Professor Vyacheslav Shapovalov.
As the author of the monograph, Leonid Sumarokov, noted in his speech, the deeds and creations of Evgeny Polivanov turned out to be so skillful and significant that he himself became a phenomenon that has not yet been fully solved. Combining service to science, society and the state, he, in fact, became a phenomenon that the authors tried to unravel in their book.
«Getting to work, – said another author of the book, Olga Sumarokova, – we understood that we needed a new concept, a new perspective that would allow us to go beyond stereotypes about Polivanov and thus carry out a historical reconstruction of his life in order not only to highlight all aspects of his professional activity, but also to introduce readers to the unknown Polivanov – public and political figure, literary critic, wonderful poet and person – honest and uncompromising especially in matters of science, phenomenally efficient, a man who thought for decades to come and for this reason often found himself misunderstood by his contemporaries».
As a result of work in ten archives in Bishkek, St. Petersburg, Smolensk and Moscow, the authors discovered more than fifty archival documents that formed the basis of the monograph. Thanks to all these finds, they managed to make many discoveries from Polivanov’s life, restore the picture of his scientific and government activities, and double-check some dubious facts. Scientists have also put forward some areas of scientific research that will make it possible to more fully reveal the Polivanovsky phenomenon.
Scientists who spoke during the presentation – Vyacheslav Shapovalov (KRSU), Stanislav Stepanov (RAN), Zamira Derbisheva (Kyrgyz-Turkish University «Manas»), Maria Milovanova (Russian Language Institute named after A.S. Pushkin), Alevtina Shevchenko (RANEPA), Valery Titov (RANEPA), Nina Maksimchuk (Smolensk State University), Elina Pivanova (North Caucasus Federal University), Anes Zarifyan (KRSU), Milana Lazaridi (KRSU), Mamed Tagaev (KRSU) – highly appreciated its scientific and practical significance and expressed their position regarding the activities of «the most ordinary brilliant person», whose 130th anniversary was celebrated in 2021.
About the authors of the monograph:
– Leonid Ivanovich Sumarokov, Vice-Rector of the Kyrgyz-Russian Slavic University, Candidate of Historical Sciences;
– Olga Leonidovna Sumarokova, Deputy Director of the Russian Language Institute of the Kyrgyz-Russian Slavic University, Doctor of Historical Sciences.
