ИСТИНА

In the first half of the 20th century, in Russia (then the Soviet Union), a systematic study of the Filipino language (or Tagalog), including Philippine history, began. The pioneers of the Russian studies were scientists from Moscow and Saint Petersburg. In fact, even since the 19th century, there have been scientists who have paid attention to Philippine languages, such as Peter Simoun Pallas (in his Comparative Vocabulary of all Languages and Dialects gathered by the hand of Her Majesty Catherine the II), and the famous Russian linguist Dr. Evgeny Polivanov who specialized in Japanese linguistics but was also interested in Austronesian languages including Tagalog. But such studies were still scattered at the beginning of the 20th century. Moscow and St. Petersburg became the only main centers of systematic Philippine studies throughout Russia. In my speech, I will talk about Russian experts in Philippine linguistics, literature or history, such as Dr. Ludmila Mervart (a pioneering Russian specialist in Malay- Indonesian studies) a renowned specialist in Tagalog grammar Dr. Lina Shkarban, and three pillars of Tagalog teaching and Philippine philological studies in Russia, Dr. Vladimir Makarenko (Lomonosov Moscow State University), Dr. Igor Podberezsky (MGIMO University) and Dr. Gennady Rachkov (Saint Petersburg University). I will show how broad their scientific interests in Philippine studies were, and how much they have accomplished in this field. Apart from the research they have done, they have led the compilation and publication of 35 collections of translations of Philippine prose and poetry: 6 collections of poems by 100 Filipino poets who wrote in Spanish, Filipino and English; 11 collections of short stories written by ab. 50 writers, 3 books of Philippine folklore, and 15 novels by various Filipino novelists (such as the reknowned Jose Rizal, Amado Hernandez, N.V.M. Gonzales, F. Sionil Jose, Nick Joaquin, and others). The work of Makarenko, Podberezsky, and Rachkov has become a cornerstone for the researches of current scholars, such as Dr. Maria Stanyukovich, Dr. Victor Sumsky, Dr. Sergey Klimenko, Dr. Elena Frolova, and your servant Dr. Ekaterina Baklanova. I shall also pay attention to the best surveys of our graduate students. Since the 1960s until now, Filipino has been continuously taught at my Institute of Asian and African Studies of Lomonosov Moscow State University. Therefore, I will also be happy to share with the audience my experience of 20 years of teaching Filipino and Literature to Russians.