Yerevan to remember the origins of Moscow Oriental Studies

On October 22-24 Yerevan will host the third International Forum of Graduates of the Moscow State University of International Relations. As the rector of MGIMO, Anatoly Torkunov, told Vestnik Kavkaza, "the event will bring together hundreds of people from 50 countries of the world. our graduates will gather there, it is especially nice that they are from the countries of the East, very solid, serious, nearly a dozen ministers from different countries will be there, who will come to this meeting and will speak and report on different themes, because there will be three substantive sections, in addition to the general discussion, a section devoted to the Middle East and the urgent problems of the Middle East today, including the new situation that is emerging due to the signing of an agreement with Iran, Iran's access to the wide international arena. In this sense, we will discuss issues related to China's economic idea of the Silk Road."

In recent years, after the deterioration of the situation in the Middle East, the demand for Russian Orientalists has increased significantly, most of which give an accurate, detailed and balanced picture of the situation in the troubled region.

According Torkunov, the MGIMO Graduates Forum will be dedicated to the bicentennial of the Lazarev Institute.

The Lazarev Institute, which trained translators and consular workers for the diplomatic missions of Russia in the East, started out as a national Armenian educational institution. Even in 1815, teaching of different sciences began there "for students, who enrolled there, both from Armenian and other nations, and it began to act." The composition of students immediately became multinational. The study of eastern languages (Armenian, Georgian, "Tatar-Turkish", Persian and Arabic) was originally intended, however, as a kind of appendage to the main subjects. Government circles have noticed that the appearance of such places offers great personnel prospects for the Russian diplomatic agency. And in 1827 this institution, under the official name of the Lazarev Institute of Oriental Languages, was transformed into a special institution under the Ministry of Public Education. General subjects faded into the background, and Oriental languages became the main specialization.

In the 1820s the educational institute became free from postal tax and half percent collecting. The Institute has achieved the right to import books and manuals from abroad, duty-free and in any quantity. The founders believed that their educational institute can help "to establish a close spiritual and political connection of the inhabitants of the Caucasus with other countries of Russia." They were sure that with the strengthening of the position of the institution, it would be possible "to deliver the means for an upbringing and education in the sciences for young people, preparing them for public, military and civilian service, and for entrance to universities and academies."

From the middle of the 19th century one of the main tasks of the Institute was to prepare officials and translators for the Transcaucasian region. The reputation of the institute beyond the borders of the empire was maintained by graduates, who worked as diplomats and translators in the embassy missions in the East.

The history of the East and Russian literature also were among the compulsory subjects in special classes. Given that the main task of the special classes was "to prepare Russian Drahomanov and consuls in the East," since 1892, for all of those who wished, important courses of jurisprudence were introduced, students of the Lazarev Institute listened to them together with students of Moscow State University.

The Institute produced hundreds of skilled diplomats and translators, who worked in the Foreign Ministry and Russian diplomatic missions in the countries of Central Asia and the Middle East. Talented administrators were also graduates of this institute, including many Caucasus scholars, who became pillars of Russian politics in their homeland. For more than 100 years, they managed to gather a unique and unparalleled collection of oriental manuscripts, manuscripts on various branches of Oriental Studies, all kinds of books, plans, drawings and geographical maps. After the revolution, the Institute was transformed into the Moscow Institute of Oriental Studies.

According to Torkunov, "the Moscow Institute of Oriental Studies in 1954, in the last century, was merged with MGIMO, it is the largest center of Oriental Studies of Moscow, and in essence, the beginning of Oriental Studies in Moscow, where people taught Persian, Arabic, Georgian, Turkish and other languages, and graduates of this institute worked in the diplomatic service of Russia, and in other government departments. Many of them became well-known entrepreneurs, scientists, writers, and a fantastic library was created, four thousand volumes of rare books, because our diplomats and travellers brought completely unique manuscripts, books, from their expeditions, and handed them to this library of the Lazarev Institute. Unfortunately, the university has only one-fifth of these books today. But, nevertheless, still, the library of the Lazarev Institute is a decoration of our university library, because it even has manuscripts from the 13th-century in Persian. And now, for the anniversary, we publish a large catalogue of all these books, and publish very solid, serious, the first research of its kind, dedicated to the history of the Lazarev Institute."

The MGIMO Rector emphasized that "the imperial authorities paid tremendous attention to the preparation of Orientalists of the Lazarev Institute. After the founder Emperor Alexander, appointed Arakcheyev as the main trustee, well-known to us by the Pushkin era and the Arakcheyev settlements, and after Arakchyev, Benkendorf took this post. That is, just imagine, the closest to the two emperors, Alexander I and Nicholas I, people who were trustees of this institution. This demonstrates how much attention was paid [to Oriental studies]."