READERS of the New Straits Times are familiar with the name, Dr Victor A. Pogadaev, a Russian Orientalist, diplomat, translator of Malay and Indonesian, journalist and teacher.
Almost every week positive articles written on the Malaysian-Russian cooperation in the field of art, culture and education appear in the pages of the newspaper where he talks about the good relationships between the two countries.
Today, as Pogadaev receives well-wishes from all over the world for his 75th birthday, we would like to dedicate this article to him.
He is a hero who remembers with great warmth the virtues of his teachers, colleagues, friends and like-minded people, while self-effacingly ignoring his own.
Pogadaev is an outstanding Orientalist of our time, a worthy successor to the traditions of Russian school on the study of the Malay world.
A person who's enthusiastic on any topic related to the Malaysian-Russian cultural and humanitarian relations and instils in his colleagues and students — of prestigious Russian universities — with inexhaustible energy.
Being exemplary in his sincerity towards to his work, he has earned the well-deserved respect of enthusiasts of the Malaysian language and culture.
The Russian-speaking community of Malaysia has great respect for him, with a distinctive sense of pride for a compatriot who has gained fame and recognition here.
We understand that the fate of every successful person is not a series of happy circumstances, but the result of a lot of hard work that goes unnoticed.
Pogadaev was born on Nov 20, 1946 in a small village in Sakmara, Orenburg region, located in the Southern Urals.
His native village still exists today. The population of Sakmara is about 5,000 and is multinational in its composition with Russians, Tatars, Bashkirs, Mordvins, and other ethnicities.
The entire territory of the Southern Urals is unique in its historical and natural features; it is part of the Urals geographical region of Russia.'
The Urals are also the oldest mountains in the world with centuries-old history. It has many beautiful rivers which originate in the mountain ranges of the Urals, and it is here that the natural border between geographical Europe and Asia passes. This border does not divide, but unites Europe with Asia.
The Urals has inspired generations of Russian cultural and scientific figures.
"The hoary father of Ural keeps a lot of secrets and riddles," wrote Pavel Bazhov, a Russian writer, folklorist, and author of Ural fairy tales.
A Russian writer, Dmitry Mamin-Sibiryak, wrote: "Every stone here has its own history", and the world-famous Russian chemist, Dmitry Mendeleev, after visiting the Urals, noted: "Faith in the future of Russia, which has always lived in me, has grown stronger and stronger from close acquaintance with the Urals."
It is not surprising than, with such rugged terrains, the power of the entire Ural land nourished, nature, and gave strength to Pogadaev's life.
He moved to Moscow to study at the Indonesian department of the Institute of Oriental Languages (now the well-known Institute of Asian and African Countries) at the Lomonosov Moscow State University from 1965 to 1970.
During those years, Pogadaev attended the Malayo-Indonesian readings — a gathering of enthusiasts, from which later grew the authoritative scientific community "Nusantara", uniting scientists, teachers, graduate students and students of leading academic and educational institutions dealing with matters of this region.
We are sincerely glad that our hero of the day is now the vice-president of the Nusantara Society, which has long-standing ties with a number of specialised institutions in Malaysia, including Universiti Malaya, well-known to him.
After graduating from the Institute and entering graduate school, he, along with two other colleagues in the Indonesian language group, had the unique opportunity to go to Malaysia for a one-year internship at UM.
He used this fortunate opportunity, which, of course, was the result of hard work over the years, to maximum advantage, in order to feel and understand the Malaysian language, and to catch the nuances of the national soul.
On his return to his homeland, Pogadaev began tirelessly to share his knowledge, and in 1975 he defended his PhD thesis and received the Candidate of Historical Sciences degree.
In 1977, he took part in the compilation and general editing of the "Malay-Russian-English Dictionary", and in 1986 — the "Russian-Malaysian Dictionary". Now, the number of printed publications authored or co-authored by Pogadaev can be measured in dozens.
From the second half of the 1970s to the end of the 1980s, he worked in various diplomatic positions, including at the USSR Embassy in Malaysia, as well as the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
He also worked at the information and analytical centre of "Evening Moscow", published articles about Malaysia in Russian periodicals, and taught students of the Institute of Asian and African Countries of the Lomonosov Moscow State University on the culture and customs of the people of the Malay world.
In 2001, he was invited to teach the Russian language and conduct a course on Russian culture at UM, where he had done his internship. Prior to that, he introduced the fascinating Malay world to Russian society and upon arrival in Kuala Lumpur, he began teaching Russian and conducting a special course on the "Artistic Culture of Russia" to Malaysian students.
The classroom was always packed and it was impossible to accommodate all those who wanted to listen to his lectures. Due to this, it was decided to publish the talks in popular Malaysian magazines and newspapers.
Our hero of the day is still actively writing for a number of Russian and Malaysian publications, to spark in others the interest in life. After all, curiosity is the secret of professional longevity.
The first literary translations work done by Pogadaev dated back to 1971, when the magazine, Dewan Sastera published translations of poems by Mikhail Matusovsky.
This was followed by translations of poems by Robert Rozhdestvensky, Bella Akhmadulina, Elena Taneva, Konstantin Balmont, and, of course, the genius of world literature, Alexander Pushkin.
It is symbolic that exactly 50 years later the translation of the poem, The Tale of Tsar Saltan, by Pushkin into Malay by Pogadaev was published in the Dewan Sastera November issue.
The number of articles and speeches by Pogadaev on various topics related to Malaysian-Russian relations, introduction of the Malay world to the people of Russia, and the multinational society of Malaysia to the culture, traditions, views of outstanding Russian artistes, are not exactly known.
Pogadaev, through mutual understanding and respect, leads to the sincere friendship and long-term cooperation between Russia and Malaysia and he tirelessly fulfils this noble mission.
It is noteworthy that he has instilled a sense of respect for the whole Malay world in his daughters, and to his growing grandchildren, he imparts his wisdom and amazing attitude towards life.
Sincere felicitations to Pogadaev on his 75th birthday, wishing him good health, a long life of happiness, well-deserved success, prosperity, and the fulfilment of his plans!
We also convey the sincerity, love, and respect of his Malaysian friends have towards Pogadaev through their best wishes and congratulations to him.
The writer is the director of the Russian centre for science and culture in Kuala Lumpur and Counsellor of the Russian Embassy