12.04.2019  The meeting on the History of Philological Education dedicated to Sergey Petrov

Within the Days of Science, the regular meeting dedicated to the History of Philological Education in Veliky Novgorod was held on the 9th of April at the NovSU School of Humanities. This time it was dedicated to Sergey Vladimirovich Petrov (1911–1988).

Gennady Kovalenko, the historian who published the first article on S.V. Petrov, introduced his biography. Sergey Petrov graduated from Leningrad State University, became a specialist in German and other Germanic languages, and began teaching. In 1933, he was arrested and exiled to Siberia. Only in 1954, he arrived in Novgorod and began working in the departments of Russian and German. In 1964, he joined the Union of Writers. He was engaged in translation and creative writing. Unfortunately, his poetic talent was duly appreciated only after his death. His poems were published in a three-volume edition and included in the anthology of Russian poetry “Strophes of the Century” assembled by Yevgeny Yevtushenko.

Historian Konstantin Zhukov shared his childhood memories of S.V. Petrov and his son Azariah. He made a point that his father Vlas Platonovich Zhukov, a distinguished linguist, highly appreciated S. Petrov’s gift of tongues and often consulted with him working on the Dictionary of Proverbs and Sayings.

Participants of the meeting noted that the decade of pedagogical activity of S.V. Petrov at the Novgorod Pedagogical Institute was very significant. He spoke, according to the different versions, from 12 to 16 languages. He was a unique translator and a man of great poetic talent.

Everyone supported the idea offered by G.M. Kovalenko to install a memorial plaque on the building of the NovSU School of Humanities in memory of S.V. Petrov.

English