Dmitry Likhachev
Dmitry Sergeyevich Likhachov also:
Dmitri Likhachev or
Likhachyov (;
November 15 (28),
1906,
St. Petersburgâ€"
September 30,
1999,
St. Petersburg) was an outstanding
Russian scholar who was considered the world's foremost expert in
Old Russian language and literature. He has been revered as "the last of old St Petersburgers", "a guardian of national culture", and "Russia's conscience".
The same year he graduated from the
Leningrad University (1928), Likhachov was arrested for his speech deploring the
Bolshevik reform of Russian
orthography. Deported to the
Solovki Special Purpose Camp, he spent 5 years studying the "criminal folklore" as he termed it. Likhachov returned to Leningrad unbroken, and started his spectacular scholarly career in the
Pushkin House (as the Russian Literature Institute is known), which spanned more than 60 years and saw the publication of more than 500 scholarly works. Likhachov didn't stop his work even during the
Siege of Leningrad. He believed that Russia was an integral and indivisible part of European civilization, countrary to "Euroasiatic" views of Russia popular with
Lev Gumilev,
Boris Rybakov, and many other contemporaries.
In
1953, Likhachov was admitted into the
Soviet Academy of Sciences as a
Corresponding Member. He defended
Andrei Sakharov,
Alexander Solzhenitsyn and other dissidents during their persecution by Soviet authorities. In
1986, he was elected the first President of the
Russian Cultural Fund. In his 80s and 90s, he became more of a public figure, serving as an informal advisor to St.Petersburg Mayor
Anatoly Sobchak and President
Boris Yeltsin. In
1993, he became the first person to be named an Honorary Citizen of St Petersburg. He also presided over commission set up to prepare
Alexander Pushkin's tercentenary. A year before his death, Likhachov became the very first recipient of the reinstated
Order of St. Andrew. The
Likhachov Philanthropic Fund was set up by his daughter and
George Soros in
2001.
*1952 -
Stalin Prize*1963 - Elected to the
Bulgarian Academy of Sciences*1964 - Honorary doctorate of the
Torun University*1964 - Honorary doctorate of the
Oxford University*1966 -
Order of the Red Banner of Labor*1968 - Elected to the
Austrian Academy of Sciences*1970 - Elected to the
Soviet Academy of Sciences*1964 - Honorary doctorate of the
Edinburgh University*1969 -
USSR State Prize*1972 - Elected to the
Serbian Academy of Sciences*1973 - Elected to the
Hungarian Academy of Sciences*1983 - Honorary doctorate of the
University of Bordeaux*1983 - Honorary doctorate of the
University of Zurich*1985 - Honorary doctorate of the
Budapest University*1986 -
Hero of Socialist Labor*1987 - Elected to the
Lincean Academy*1988 - Honorary doctorate of the
Gottingen University*1991 - Honorary doctorate of the
Charles University*1992 - Honorary doctorate of the
University of Siena*1993 - Elected to the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences*1993 -
Lomonosov Gold Medal*1995 - Elected to the
American Philosophical Society*1998 -
Order of St. Andrew*2000 -
Russian State Prize*1942 -
Defense of Old Russian Towns*1945 -
National Self-Consciousness of Ancient Rus*1947 -
Russian Chronicles and Their Cultural Significance*1950 -
The Tale of Bygone Years (2 volumes)
*1952 -
Genesis of the Tale of Igor's Campagn*1955 -
The Lay of Igor's Campaign*1958 -
Human Dimension of the Old Russian Literature*1962 -
Russian Culture at the Times of Andrei Rublev and Epiphanius the Wise*1962 -
Textology*1967 -
Poetics of Old Russian Literature*1971 -
Artistic Heritage of Ancient Rus in Our Time*1973 -
Development of Old Russian Literature: the Epochs and Styles*1975 -
Great Heritage: Classic Works of Old Russian Literature*1976 -
Laughing World of Ancient Rus*1978 -
The Tale of Igor's Campaign and Culture of That Time*1981 -
Russian Notes*1981 -
Literature - Reality - Literature*1982 -
The Poetry of Gardens*1985 -
Letters about the Kind and Beautiful*1987 -
Selected Works, in Three Volumes*1989 -
From the Note-Books of Various Years*1992 -
Russian Art from the Antiquity to Avantgarde*1995 -
Reminiscences*1996 -
Essays on the Philosophy of Artistic Creativity*1997 -
Articles on Intelligentsia*1999 -
Meditations about Russia*2000 -
Essays on Russian Culture*
Likhachov Webpage on the Likhachov Fund Website*
Dmitry Likhachov: The Elder of Russian Culture*
Dmitry Likhachov Obituary
