On November 24, 2009, the Institute of Africa of the Russian Academy of Sciences hosted an extended meeting of the History Section of the Center for History and Cultural Anthropology, dedicated to the memory of the founder and first head of the section, Sergey Rufovich Smirnov (1909-1969).

Representatives of a number of Moscow academic institutes and university departments came to pay tribute to the memory of the prominent Africanist and Arabist.

Opening the meeting, A. B. Letnev (Institute of Africa of the Russian Academy of Sciences), on behalf of his fellow historians, welcomed the audience and encouraged them to once again reflect on the contribution of S. A. Korotkov. R. Smirnov's contribution to the Russian science of Africa and share his thoughts on the significance of what he has done from today's perspective. It is all the more timely to do this now, since the Institute recently celebrated its 50th anniversary, and S. R. Smirnov's scientific biography is organically included in the annals of Russian African studies. The speaker emphasized that S. R. Smirnov was a well-educated Orientalist and African scholar, a leading expert on the history of Sudan, a man of analytical mind, creative thought and high integrity. Taking into account his business and human qualities, I. I. Potekhin, the first director of the Institute of Africa, commissioned him in 1959 to lead the study of African history in our country. Having taken the new appointment seriously, S. R. Smirnov energetically set to work. He became the main developer and skilful organizer of a focused, comprehensive study of the history of a huge continent, the initiator, coordinator and co-author of the country's first generalizing works on the history and ethnography of Africa, which were studied by at least two generations of undergraduates and postgraduates.
The main line of the scientist's work was the history of colonialism and anti-colonialism in Africa. But he entered Russian African studies primarily as an expert on the history of Sudan. At the same time, he studied major theoretical problems of pan-African significance (periodization of the continent's history, features of national consolidation under colonialism, the essence of the system of indirect governance in the British colonies).

The idea of the versatility of S. R. Smirnov's scientific studies was developed in the speeches of other participants of the meeting.

E. S. Lvova (MSU ISAA) noted that S. R. Smirnov, as a researcher, was by no means limited to the history of Sudan or the Mahdist movement. Of course, both subjects formed the core around which his work, and indeed his life itself, developed. So, in the fundamental volume "The Peoples of Africa" (Moscow, 1954), he wrote a section on the Sudan, but he also participated in writing, together with the famous Arabist V. B. Lutsky, a section on Egypt. Another example: the archive of the Institute of Ethnography, where he worked before transferring to the Institute of Africa, contains a project created by him and a bibliography on the topic: "The social structure of nomadic tribes of the Southern Maghreb and Central Sahara". His extensive knowledge and broad scientific interests were also used in editing the works of colleagues, and not only Arabists. He has edited several books, including publications on Iraq, Ethiopia and other countries. And yet, let's not forget that the "History of Sudan" written by him many years ago had the greatest resonance both here and abroad. And it has not lost its significance to this day, as evidenced by the reviews of foreign colleagues, especially the Sudanese themselves.

This thesis was also voiced in the speech of N. G. Shcherbakov (IVI RAS). Referring to his personal experience of communicating at the university level with several generations of Moscow Sudanese, he said that the name of S. R. Smirnov was widely known and respected among them. For them, he was a model of a real scientist, a canonical figure, certainly authoritative. They always appealed to his professionalism and benevolence. Speaker

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He reminded that a separate chapter in the book "The Formation of Russian African Studies" (Moscow, 2003) is devoted to S. R. Smirnov. It is named by its author, A. B. Davidson, "From the standpoint of an integrated approach". In other words, S. R. Smirnov has always advocated that the study of Africa in our country should be conducted on the principle of the widest possible approach. And, judging by the popularity that his work still enjoys, he managed to achieve this.

Other speakers also spoke about the scientific heritage of S. R. Smirnov and its relevance not only in scientific but also in practical terms. Thus, A. A. Tkachenko (Institute of Africa) shared his thoughts on the recent scientific and practical conference on the problems of the Sudan (Moscow)., 2009), which was attended by representatives of many countries of the world. The Sudanese scientists and politicians present at the conference noted the high level of work of Russian specialists on Sudan, Somalia and the entire Horn of Africa. This assessment can be attributed to the fundamental contribution that S. R. Smirnov and his followers made to the study of the region. About 20 years ago, he continued, it was hard to think that the countries studied by S. R. Smirnov would be in the spotlight of the world community today. But, apparently, such was the gift of the scientist's providence. His works primarily on state-building, social development, and complex inter-clan and inter-tribal relations helped to understand, and in many ways simply predicted, how events might develop in the region. These works suggest that the world civilization has no periphery. Both Sudan and Somalia, despite their current dire situation, confirm this truth, forcing all of humanity to work to solve the problems of North-East Africa.

Judgments of N. K. Tikhomirov (Dip. acad. Foreign Ministry of the Russian Federation) was received with great interest by the audience, as he acted as an experienced diplomat who worked in Sudan as charge d'affaires of our country, and later as an Arabist scholar. According to him, the works of S. R. Smirnov gave him a lot as a specialist. A number of scientific conclusions and forecasts of S. R. Smirnov are still correct.

Another African country, Somalia, occupied a prominent place in S. R. Smirnov's scientific research. He was particularly interested in Somali issues in the last years of his life. Here, apparently, some historical parallels played a role. The scientist compared the carefully studied specifics of the Mahdist movement in Sudan with what happened later in Somalia. At the same time, he found a clear similarity between the struggle of the rebellious Mahdists of Sudan and the anti-colonial uprising of Somalis in the early twentieth century. Moreover, he advised his young colleagues to continue their scientific research in this direction.

The call was heard, as A. M. Khazanov (IB RAS) told the participants of the meeting. In one of the conversations with a then novice researcher, S. R. Smirnov suggested that A. M. Khazanov thoroughly study the history of the anti - colonial uprising of 1899-1920 under the leadership of Muhammad Bin Abdullah. After studying all the sources, the young historian was convinced that this is one of the most interesting and vivid episodes in the history of the continent. Indeed, for a long time the rebels held back the onslaught of the British and Italian armies. The Somali uprising can also be seen as a direct continuation of the Mahdist one in Sudan. It took on such a scale that it reminded the British very significantly of the terrible Mahdi uprising in Sudan, which was suppressed just a year earlier. The historical essay "Somalia" (1961) marked the beginning of a series of publications by A. M. Khazanov on the history of Somalia (the last of them belongs to 2008). He ended his speech as follows :" I am immensely grateful to S. R. Smirnov for the fact that it was on his advice that I took up the Horn of Africa and wrote the first, rather detailed article the history of Somalia. I have always retained the warmest feelings of gratitude and appreciation towards him and consider him my teacher. He not only gave me a very interesting research topic, but also conveyed to me his love for history in general and for the history of Africa in particular."

S. R. Smirnov's fascination with the history of Somalia had important and very specific consequences for science. In 1963, he visited the Somali Republic, conducted field research there, and most importantly, agreed with Somali colleagues to work together in a long - term bilateral project. And this work was carried out in the form of a comprehensive historical, archaeological and ethnographic expedition. But, having prepared the expedition, he did not have time to lead it, as it was planned from the very beginning, because he died prematurely.

Participants of the expedition N. D. Kosukhin and P. I. Kupriyanov (both at the Institute of Africa) told about how the next scientific idea of the scientist was implemented in practice. N. D. Kosukhin, who led the expedition, described its tasks, noted the multi-stage nature of the event and the soob-

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He reported on three major publications of Soviet expedition participants based on field materials [Uchenye zapiski..., 1974; Sherr, 1974; Gorodnov and Nikiforov, 1976]. Our semi-annual work, he continued, was very positively perceived by the official authorities. And ordinary Somalis were very interested in the arrival in their country of a group of scientists from the Soviet Union, who came to study the history of the liberation movement of the early twentieth century, in which their grandfathers participated. P. I. Kupriyanov gave a more differentiated analysis of the field material collected by the expedition members, focusing in turn on the results of the work of researchers of the uprising of Mohammed Bin Abdullah, on the one hand, and the agricultural sector of the economy and its development prospects, on the other.

S. R. Smirnov's colleagues recalled not only his business qualities and achievements in the scientific field, but also his benevolence, responsiveness, integrity, humanity, and willingness to come to the rescue. He was genuinely happy with the success of his colleagues, and if something went wrong with them, he was able to empathize in the most tactful way.

Mikhail Yu. Frenkel (Institute of Africa) recalled that S. R. Smirnov was a calm, reserved, friendly person, which always attracted people to him. In the end, his efforts created a good sector capable of solving major scientific problems, for example, the preparation of the first generalizing work on the modern history of Africa (published in three editions, including in English). Yu. M. Kobishchanov (Institute of Africa) noted that S. R. Smirnov always felt a hereditary intellectual, for which he was able to work in a variety of fields. whose moral criteria were more important than all others. This opinion was echoed by the observation of Yu. N. Vinokurov (Institute of African Studies). He remembered S. R. Smirnov as a very intelligent man who did not speak very much. According to P. I. Kupriyanov, S. R. Smirnov was a person who cemented the team. The moral qualities of the most authoritative of historians had a noticeable influence on the formation of the institute's staff. Everyone always listened very carefully to his speeches at the Academic Council and various meetings. And another feature noted by PI Kupriyanov: he was a well-educated man, interested in literature and art. I remember how he spoke about the exhibition of works by Martiros Saryan in Moscow. On any issue, you could contact him and get qualified advice. It was a Man with a capital letter.

Describing S. R. Smirnov as an extra-class historian, A. M. Khazanov expressed regret that the true scale of the scientist and his contribution to science have not yet been truly evaluated. He expressed the hope that this will be done by the next generation. As for the assessment of the scientist's personality, he emphasized that knowledge, erudition and talent were combined with honesty, humanity and modesty. Many people remembered S. R. Smirnov's modesty. This topic was especially convincing in the speech of B. G. Seyranyan (IB RAS), who saw from his own experience how attentive the accomplished scientist was to constructive criticism, no matter where it came from, from a colleague or a third-year student who was still unknown to him. S. R. Smirnov was completely devoid of the arrogance characteristic of other generals from science.

A former post-graduate student of S. R. Smirnov, an Ethiopian G. V. Tsypkin, now a Doctor of sciences, shared his memories of the style of scientific leadership of S. R. Smirnov. "...I would catch his searching gaze on me. He didn't know what to expect from me yet. I, in turn, also evaluated Sergey Rufovich and felt that he was a good, reliable person, that you can always turn to him with all your problems. But, unfortunately, all this was cut short."

N. S. Smirnova, the daughter of the scientist, associate Professor of the Department of Western European Languages of the ISAA of Moscow State University, was listened to with great attention. Natalia Sergeevna dwelled in detail on her father's pedigree, his work biography, becoming a scientist, and the ability to be a mentor.

At the same time, she relied on her own memory, because she witnessed many events, as well as on the materials of the family archive. Some of my father's letters to his family and friends were included in a book that my daughter published in 2002 (Smirnova, 2002). They help to understand a lot about the scientist's life and character. Before us are the reflections of a young intellectual who, since childhood, had to face numerous problems in his life. From the letters and the scant commentary on them, we learn that S. R. Smirnov was left a complete orphan at the age of 10, that only at the cost of great perseverance he achieved admission to the university, and before that he worked as a teacher for many years in remote regions from the capital - in Kazakhstan, Siberia, the Far East, and the Arkhangelsk region. In 1939, he graduated with honors from Leningrad State University and received the rarest specialty of an ethnographer-Africanist at that time. He was immediately enrolled in the postgraduate program of the Institute of Ethnography of the USSR Academy of Sciences. But it broke out

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the war, and he volunteered for the front. I knew the Leningrad blockade. Reminding her audience about all this, N. S. Smirnova admitted that most of all she was struck by how, after going through orphanhood and difficult youth, her father managed to find himself, and then not lose in life.

And one more touch of character was etched in her daughter's memory: her father was a surprisingly friendly, non-confrontational person who had the art of communicating with a variety of people, a person who never raised his voice. He was loyal in his friendship, loved to study and did not hesitate to study all his life. In his office, which, by the way, only appeared in the last years of his life (the family mostly lived in a communal apartment), there was a file cabinet that helped him refresh his memory of the complexities of English and Arabic.

Summing up the results of the meeting, A. B. Letnev stated that they aroused a keen interest of those present-representatives of various branches of humanitarian knowledge: historians, ethnographers, political scientists, philologists, specialists in international relations. He briefly discussed an issue that has not yet been addressed, namely the participation of S. R. Smirnov in international scientific forums, such as the First International Congress of Africanists (Accra, 1962) and the International Symposium on the Problems of the National Liberation Movement in Asia, Africa and Latin America (Berlin, 1967). Then, developing the thesis about the relevance of the scientist's works in our days, put forward by many speakers, he gave several examples demonstrating the conceptual continuity in the work of younger contemporaries-students of S. R. Smirnov, who successfully relied on his works. Significant fact: "The History of Sudan" became a standard, marked the appearance of a series of monographs on the modern and modern history of individual African countries, which were published in 1980-1990 in the publishing house "Science". In total, the scientist's followers published about two dozen similar country monographs. Today's meeting, he continued, once again confirmed the relevance of S. R. Smirnov's contribution to the science of Africa, which has long been noticed by his researchers and expressed, in particular, in the republication of some of his works. The most striking examples are his position on the importance of the influence of the national liberation movement on the content of modern African statehood, on the pace of its formation, as well as his question about the historical roots of the politicization of Islam, which is fraught with the danger of Muslim fundamentalism.

Noting the scientific and humanistic significance of scientific and memorial forums, the speaker appealed to those present and to the entire community of African and Oriental scholars to continue organizing meetings dedicated to the memory of major scientists, pioneers, people to whom we all owe a lot, and to strive to turn such meetings into a strong tradition.

list of literature

Scientific notes of the Soviet-Somali expedition, Moscow, 1974.
Sherr E. S. Somalia in the struggle for socialist orientation, Moscow, 1974.
Gorodnov V. P., Nikiforov A.V. Travel to Talekh, Moscow, 1976.
Smirnova N. S. Step towards, Moscow, 2002.

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