Scientific life. Congresses, conferences, and symposia

On October 1-2, 2003, a conference was held dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the birth of the outstanding Russian Africanist, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor Ivan Izosimovich Potekhin (1903-1964), founder of the Institute of Africa of the USSR Academy of Sciences and its first director. The conference was attended by employees of a number of Russian Academy of Sciences institutes (Africa, Oriental Studies, World History, Ethnology and Anthropology, world literature, linguistics), teachers and students of higher educational institutions (MSU, ISAA at MSU, RSUH, University of Tartu, Estonia), museum institutions, as well as representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, veterans of the diplomatic service, employees of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation. mass media.

Opening the conference, the Chairman of the Institute of Africa of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Professor A. M. Vasiliev, congratulated the participants on the occasion, because, according to him, the centenary of I. I. Potekhin is really a holiday for all Africanists. And for those who worked with him and for those who are now continuing the work he started. During the existence of our Institute, A. M. Vasiliev continued, about 900 books have been published. Even if we assume that half of them are outdated or do not meet modern requirements, the remaining half is a collective contribution to Russian science and culture, to Russian intellectual life. No one can deny these achievements, and this is the first and main significance of the contribution that I. I. Potekhin made to the development of African studies.

This statement of the question was approved by the conference participants and was further developed in their speeches. It was noted that the real contribution of I. I. Potekhin, one of the founders of our African studies, to Russian science is great and diverse. It has not yet been properly evaluated by historians. There are still unpublished manuscripts. All the more reason to identify the significance of this contribution from the height of the past decades, to understand which part of the theoretical heritage of the scientist strengthened the foundation of Russian African studies, and which did not stand the test of time.

The main milestones of the biography of I. I. Potekhin and its various aspects have already been studied by historians (work in institutions of the Comintern system, teaching, entry into academic science, the history of the creation of the Institute of Africa, the first trips to the continent, etc.). Only by the centenary of the scientist, conditions were created for recreating a complete picture of the formation of his worldview, the evolution of his ideas about the past, present and future of the African continent.

The conference emphasized the diversity of the heritage of the Patriarch of Russian African studies. I. I. Potekhin was simultaneously a historian, agricultural economist, ethnographer, political scientist and country expert. And also an organizer of science, who created three research teams one after the other. That's why representatives of various scientific disciplines took turns at the microphone.

The first speaker was A. B. Davidson (IVI RAS), an expert on the history of Russian African studies, who had just published a solid collective work on this topic. Briefly outlining the life path of I. I. Potekhin, he emphasized such qualities of the scientist as amazing hard work, a colossal thirst for knowledge about Africa, an outstanding organizational gift, fanatical dedication to his work, respect for colleagues, the ability to maintain his dignity in any situation, but the inability and unwillingness to bow to the powerful of this world. In his life there were many tragedies and troubles, he was accused of many sins, up to Trotskyism. For 10 years, from 1936 to 1946, he had to leave African studies. And at the end of his life, he was given too little time for active scientific work, for trips to the countries he studied.

We can't agree with all of the scientist's ideas right now, the speaker continued. After all, he was a soldier of the Comintern, and time has left its mark on his views. And yet, it is impossible not to treat him with respect. In conclusion, A. B. Davidson called on Africanists to be more sensitive to the past of their science, relying on the successful experience of their colleagues in Oriental studies.

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Geographer M. B. Gornung drew the attention of the audience to the extremely important methodologically and practically statement by I. I. Potekhin of the question of the dual function of his brainchild. The first director of the Africa Institute always believed that the Institute should have two areas of activity. One is informational and political, to help power structures; the other is fundamental research. We needed a support base that was free of market problems and focused on African research. But he did not succeed: he left, in fact, in the prime of life and on the rise, without doing much of what was intended.

Both aspects highlighted by Gornung, fundamental and applied, were present to one degree or another in all the speeches. So, R.N. Ismagilov (Institute of Africa) from the extensive list of problems that attracted the thoughts of I. A. Abramovich. I. Potekhina, identified ethnic groups, justifying their special significance. Under his leadership, the speaker recalled, many ethnographic studies were conducted and published (studying the ethnic composition of various African states, ethnogenesis, ethnopolitical situation, ethnic processes). The volume "Peoples of Africa", published under the editorship of I. I. Potekhin and D. A. Olderogge half a century ago, has not lost its significance to this day, she believes. One of the most significant works in this area was I. I. Potekhin's monograph "Formation of the national community of the South African Bantu", published around the same time. Of course, the author clearly overestimated the degree of consolidation processes in South Africa. But for its time, it was an innovative work that played an important role in the struggle of the South African/South African peoples for their liberation. I. I. Potekhin, R.N. Ismagilova concluded her speech, was a wonderful scientist, an honest, deeply decent person who made a huge contribution to the development of Russian African studies. The fundamental aspect of the scientist's scientific heritage was also touched upon in the speech of the corresponding member. RAS G. B. Starushenko (Institute of Africa).

The conference participants paid attention not only to the methodology, but also to the methodology of scientific work in the understanding of I. I. Potekhin. P. I. Kupriyanov (Institute of Africa) shared his own experience of joint creative work in one of the author's groups, where I. I. Potekhin acted as a locomotive. It was one of the first collective monographs of the Institute - "The Agrarian Question and the peasantry in Tropical Africa". A. B. Letoe (Institute of Africa) used several examples to illustrate the extremely important importance that Potekhin, a historian, attached to working on original archival materials, especially those stored in the state archives of Africa itself and in former metropolises. I. I. Potekhin introduced a draft special resolution on the need for immediate access of researchers from all countries to archival materials of the colonial period at the First International Congress of African Studies (Accra, 1962). This initiative, supported by African historians, was later officially recognized.

The conference was attended by people who were lucky enough to work with I. I. Potekhin, including a very thin group of his former graduate students. Naturally, they shared their memories of the teacher with their young colleagues. For others, it lives not in memory, but in books, articles, and documents.

By the way, about the documents. In general, quite a lot was said about them at the conference. Recently declassified archival documents of a special kind aroused increased interest of the audience. St. Mazov (IVI RAS) based his speech on them. His report focused on the history of the creation of the Institute of Africa of the USSR Academy of Sciences at the end of the "thaw" decade in the middle of the last century. The documents showed how difficult and thorny the path of the initiator of the creation of a leading scientific institution of African studies in the country was. After all, I. I. Potekhin was forced to take into account the opinion of powerful party and state pressure groups and at the same time resist intriguers and careerists in the academic environment itself.

Presentations by P. M. Shmelkov and [Yu. M. Ilyin] (both from the Institute of Africa) were devoted to the role of I. I. Potekhin in establishing and developing international relations between Soviet scientists and their foreign colleagues, primarily African ones. Both speakers, although in different capacities, worked for a long time in this important area for the Institute. According to P. M. Shmelkov, former executive secretary of the Soviet Association for Friendship with the Peoples of Africa, I. I. Potekhin, who was president of the association, continued active public work for five years. Dozens of meetings with Africans, spending weeks of friendship with Africa, all kinds of activities

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exhibitions, film festivals, trips to the countries of the continent, performances in front of Soviet audiences-all this was done with his characteristic energy by Professor Potekhin in the public field.

The former head of the library L. P. Gracheva and his personal assistant in 1960-1963 L. O. Nizskaya told about the daily scientific and organizational work of the first director of the Institute. They spoke of him as a man of great will, broad views and tragic fate. He was an extremely efficient person and a great organizer of his working day, emphasized L. O. Nizskaya. He was a theorist, a problem scientist, but he also highly valued country studies. This was evidenced by the files in his archive with extracts from each African country. He conducted extensive correspondence with foreign colleagues.

One of its long-time recipients, by the way, also participated in the conference. However, in absentia (advanced age and ill health prevented him from coming to Moscow). It was the famous French economist-geographer and African historian Professor Jean Suray-Canalle. In his written message dedicated to the memory of I. I. Potekhin (it was read out at the conference), the French colleague warmly commented on the meetings and conversations with him at different latitudes. He recalled with gratitude the award of his doctorate by the Academic Council of the Moscow Institute of Africa when Potekhin was its director.

Summing up the results of the first day of meetings, co-chair of the conference Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Professor V. G. Solodovnikov (Institute of Africa) stated that there was a unity of opinion among all the speakers regarding the assessment of the large-scale personality of I. I. Potekhin as a scientist, organizer of science and a person. The development of Russian African studies and the creation of the Institute of Africa, he concluded, are closely connected with the name of the first director of our Institute. People say, he continued, that a person dies twice: when he dies, and when the people who kept his image in their memory leave. Ivan Izosimovich Potekhin has a different fate. He will remain in the memory not only of those who knew him personally, but also in the work to which he devoted his life. The path of new generations of Africanists passes through the legacy of Potekhin, through the Institute he created, and therefore it will always be remembered.

In conclusion, V. G. Solodovnikov highlighted another aspect of the topic under discussion. Of course, the country "discovered Africa", relying on the knowledge of scientists, primarily Moscow and Leningrad. But not only on them. This knowledge was soon multiplied by the personal experience of many thousands of Soviet specialists (builders, geologists, pilots, engineers, doctors, teachers, sailors, journalists). For years, they worked in the tropics on a contract basis and made personal practical contributions to the decolonization of the continent. Our diplomats, including those who first opened the USSR embassies in Africa, are also among them, he reminded. With many of them, I. I. Potekhin maintained close business and friendly relations, because he saw in them real specialists, and also enthusiasts of their work.

V. G. Solodovnikov's speech seemed to throw a bridge to the discussion of the second thematic block provided by the conference organizers. It is closely related to the first one, because it sounds like this: "Russian centers of African Studies: problems and prospects for development". The second day of the conference was devoted to the discussion of this topic, in other words, African studies after Potekhin.

The program of the second day of work was prepared by the Russian Society of Africanists and Arabists. The meeting was chaired by the President of the society L. V. Geveling (ISAA at Moscow State University). A. B. Davidson (Institute of African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences), V. G. Shubin (Institute of Africa), A. M. Khazanov (Institute of African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences), Ed. Nikiforov (IMLI RAS), A. I. Koval (Institute of Linguistics RAS), as well as N. V. Gromov (ISAA at Moscow State University) and S. Ya. Berzin (State Museum of the East).

The participants of the Moscow conference sent a welcome message to the participants of the St. Petersburg Conference of Africanists dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the birth of the outstanding Russian Africanist, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences D. A. Olderogge.

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