Sergei Fomichev

[gemikk]

Since the dispatches from Emily Tall and Clark Troy were sent to the entire
SEELANGS subscription list, I feel obliged, as an American Pushkin specialist
currently working in St. Petersburg on a Fulbright scholar-lecturer grant, to
broadcast my response as well.  Since I have not seen the original Johnson's
Russia List report on the problems at Pushkinskii Dom (Institute of Russian
Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences) I must rely on Professor Tall's
remark that this report suggests a possible "return to Soviet-era xenophobia".
 That charge is patently ridiculous.  The issues involved have nothing
whatsoever to do with that favorite hobby-horse of cynical Western
long-distance observers of the Russian scene.  Moreover, Sergei Aleksandrovich
Fomichev was not "dismissed from Pushkinskii Dom", but simply relieved of his
duties as head of the Pushkin Studies Deparment (otdel pushkinovedeniia).
Appointed as temporary acting head (ispolniaiushchii obiazannosti) is Vladimir
Alekseevich Kotel'nikov, one of the vice-directors of Pushkinskii Dom. The
immediate cause of Fomichev's dismissal were the apparently irreconcilable
differences between him and his immediate superior in the administrative
hierarchy, Nikolai Nikolaevich Skatov, director of Pushkinskii Dom and, among
other things, a Pushkin scholar in his own right.  The underlying reasons for
this conflict run far deeper than a mere clash of personalities.  However, so
far as I know (and I work fairly closely to the scene and have contact with
almost all the people concerned), no national, ethnic, racial, or religious
phobias or animosities are involved.  And the suggestion that Sergei Fomichev,
whose accomplishments in textology and promoting Pushkin scholarship are
formidable, and who enjoys the fierce loyalty of his former staff, may not
have earned him tenure in an American university setting, borders on the
obscene.

>===== Original Message From Slavic & East European Languages and Literature
list              <SEELANGS at LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU> =====
>I know nothing of the specifics of Fomichev's dismissal, but I will say
>this: given the degree of innovation found in his work and thought, one
>might scarcely find it surprising that he should be dismissed from a
>position as distinguished as his own.  If he worked in an American
>University, he would be quite pleased to have tenure.
>
>Clark Troy
>
>On Mon, 12 Feb 2001, Emily Tall wrote:
>
>> Does anyone know anything about the dismissal from St. Peterburg's
>> Pushkinskii dom of Sergei Fomichev, recently reported on in Johnson's
>> Russia List and seen as a return to Soviet-era xenophia? Emily Tall
>>
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