Dmitry Likhachov

Dmitry Likhachov on a Russian postage stamp

Dmitry Sergeyevich Likhachov (Russian: Дми́трий Серге́евич Лихачёв, also Dmitri Likhachev or Likhachyov; November 28 [O.S. November 15] 1906, St. Petersburg – September 30, 1999, St. Petersburg) was an outstanding Soviet 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".

Biography

Likhachov graduated in 1928 from the Leningrad University. In the same year, he 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, contrary 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, Aleksandr 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 October 1993, he signed the Letter of Forty-Two.^[1] In the same year, he became the first person to be named an Honorary Citizen of St Petersburg. He also presided over the commission set up to prepare for Alexander Pushkin's bicentenary. 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.

Legacy

A minor planet 2877 Likhachev discovered in 1969 by Soviet astronomer Lyudmila Chernykh is named after him. ^[2]

Honours

• 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 Labour
• 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 Labour
• 1987 - Elected to the Lincean Academy
• 1988 - Honorary doctorate of the University of Göttingen
• 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

Main Works

• 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 Campaign
• 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

References

1. ^ "Писатели требуют от правительства решительных действий". Izvestia. 5 October 1993. http://vivovoco.rsl.ru/VV/PAPERS/HONOUR/LETT42.HTM. Retrieved 21 August 2011.  (Russian)
2. ^ Schmadel, Lutz D. (2003). Dictionary of Minor Planet Names (5th ed.). New York: Springer Verlag. p. 236. ISBN 3-540-00238-3. http://books.google.com/books?q=2877+Likhachev+TR2. 

External links

• Likhachov Webpage on the Likhachov Fund Website
• Dmitry Likhachov: The Elder of Russian Culture
• Dmitry Likhachov Obituary

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Persondata
Name	Likhachev, Dmitry
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1906
Place of birth
Date of death	1999
Place of death