Russian theater and film actor Valentin Gaft's evening took place at the history department of Moscow State University named after M.V. Lomonosov. The dean of the faculty, Professor Ivan Tuchkov was the initiator of the event. Presenting the guest, Tuchkov cited The Moor of Peter the Great by Pushkin: "Ibrahim began to lead a monotonous but busy life and, consequently, did not suffer from boredom ...To follow the thoughts of a great man is a most rewarding study." Today is the day when we have a rewarding study in our University, because we have such a wonderful interlocutor. "
Valentin Gaft is widely known not only for his roles in theater and cinema, but also for his epigrams. Lines of his heroes have been widely quoted for a long time. People's Artist of the RSFSR told about the beginning of his creative activity, about his work in Sovremennik Theatre, read his poems and, of course, epigrams: "Epigrams are not an easy thing. You can fail so much, that everyone will hate you. But you write them not because you are a bad guy, but because it's interesting. This is a work of art. Now I almost do not write them, but [singer Grigory] Leps himself asked me to write an epigram about him]:
All night I listened to Leps songs
And I just can't relax.
Walking along the tracks, he screamed so loud
That scared an oncoming train.
... When I was acting in Cabbages and Kings with [Armen] Dzhigarkhanyan [in 1978], I wrote to him:
There are less Armenians in the world,
Than movies with Dzhigarkhanyan.
Deputy Dean, Academic Secretary of the history department of Moscow State University, Oksana Solopova, told Vestnik Kavkaza that "Gaft's evening marked the start of the program 'Meeting place is the history department of Moscow State University': "People who shape the worldview of today's Russia will become participants of the lectures. Of course, as our rector says, this is a huge gift to Moscow State University and the history department. The history department plans to continue this new cycle of meetings. And we hope that the chief architect of Moscow in the recent past, the People's Architect of Russia, an academician, an honored architect, an honorary citizen of Minsk, Yury Grigoriev will be our next guest. About 300 objects in Moscow were created by this amazing person. His genius, his architectural talent, determined the rhythm and specificity of Moscow's urban planning."
