THE Nusantara Society in Moscow, specialising in the field of Malay-Indonesian studies, is among the oldest and most successful scientific associations in Russia.
It all began in January 1967, when three famous Russian experts in Malay studies, Natalia Alieva (1931-2015), Boris Parnikel (1934-2004) and Vilen Sikorsky met with a member of the Russian Academy of Science, Alexander Guber (1902-1971). At that time, Guber was also the head of the Department of the History of Southeast Asia at the Institute of Oriental Languages, Lomonosov Moscow State University.
They proposed the establishment of a monthly seminar of Malay-Indonesian studies and received the blessing of Guber. The following week after the meeting, the first seminar was held.
In the late 1990s, Parnikel initiated the basis of a monthly seminar of Malay-Indonesian studies, the formation of the Nusantara Society with a logo depicting the picture of a Malay perahu, which proved to be most successful.
In addition to the monthly seminars, the Nusantara Society from time to time holds large conferences, including international ones (for example with the Federation of National Writers Association of Malaysia, or Gapena, in 1996) and published a series of books under the general title of Malay-Indonesian Studies.
So far, it has published 21 books in this series and the 21st issue (2019), dedicated to the society's vice-president Professor Alexander Ogloblin in conjunction with his 80th birthday, contains articles contributed by many foreign scientists: Ahmat Adam, Talaibek Musaev and Jamila Muhammad from Malaysia, K. A. Adelaar from Australia, Misbach Tamrin and Abdul Hadi W.M. from Indonesia, Henry Chamber Loir from France and others.
The establishment of the Centre for Nusantara Studies in June 1998 at the Institute of Asia and Africa (with the participation of Professor Dr Noriah Muhamad from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia) opened a new chapter in the history of the Nusantara Society because it had a place for seminars and, more importantly, to keep its library there.
The Malaysian Embassy in Moscow contributed some bookcases to this centre. Now the society unites researchers, professors, lecturers, students and graduates from academic institutions, universities and high schools in Moscow and St Petersburg, whose studies cover not only Malaysia and Indonesia but the wider region, including Brunei, the Philippines, Madagascar and the Oceania, as well as Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and Taiwan with the Austronesian minority population.
The Nusantara Society established scientific relationships with institutions and universities in Southeast Asia, Europe, the United States and Australia. Monthly seminars are currently held online and this gives the opportunity for foreign scientists to participate in it more actively.
Nusantara Society president Professor Dr Vilen Sikorsky is full of optimism for the future of the society because he sees the interest of students and young scientists for Malay studies. He also voiced his opinion on the need to strengthen relations with scientific and educational institutions in Malaysia.
According to him, there are bright prospects for more active cooperation, for example with Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka and Nusantara Melayu Raya, which initiated the idea of a joint seminar in Moscow when the Covid-19 pandemic situation improves.
The writer, writing from Russia, was a former lecturer of University Malaya