Доклады Международного конгресса ИИСАА. Т. 1

II. Middle East, Caucasus and Central Asia / Ближний Восток, Кавказ и Центральная Азия Доклады Международного конгресса по источниковедению и историографии стран Азии и Африки. Т. 1. 2020 87 men’s universities. However, she left her studies incomplete, as she devoted the rest of her life to her family. Ivanow attributes his upbringing and all his good qualities, including his education, to his mother’s loving care and attention. 1 Apparently, the intellectual and cultural sophistication of his parents enabled Ivanow to complete his studies, without being distracted by the political events of his time. The major political events in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries deeply influenced Ivanow’s professional and academic career as well as the course of Russia’s future. The Romanov dynasty was on the decline under the reign of Tsar Nicholas II (r. 1894–1917). 2 In the year Nicholas II ascended to the throne (1894), Ivanow’s parents moved to Moscow and then some 250 km further north to Yaroslavl on the Volga River. 3 Although Ivanow does not give the reason for his family’s move to Moscow, apparently it had to do with his father’s job, as a medical doctor. Political events were rapidly transforming everything in and around St Petersburg. After five years inYaroslavl, Ivanow’s parents returned to St Petersburg in 1899 and settled in Tsarskoe Selo (now, Pushkin), around 25 km south of St Petersburg, where the emperor’s and many other palaces were located. Upon his return to St Petersburg, Ivanow entered the second grade of a gymnasium. 4 St Petersburg University and the city had already become centres of revolutionary movements. Undoubtedly, Ivanow could not ignore the events in his city and in and around St Petersburg University but he kept himself away from political gatherings and student riots. He did not show any interest in politics or anti-government activities but remained fully focused on his studies. As he wrote, he was spending his free time in outdoor activities, such as travelling, cycling, visiting museums, and walking. He was a quiet but not a spoiled child. He did not drink alcohol, nor did he smoke or play cards. Eventually, he gra­ duated from his gymnasium with distinction and a gold medal in 1907, 5 a success in which his parents, particularly mother, played a great role. His university courses appeared to have been destined to prepare Ivanow for the study of Persian and Arabic manuscripts, which became useful for his later engagement with the study of Ismaili texts. At the Faculty of Oriental Languages in St Petersburg University, he studied Arabic and Persian and chose Islamic and Central Asian history. In the second half of the nineteenth century, Russia deve­ loped a keen interest in Oriental studies. The University of St Petersburg and the Asiatic Museum of the Russian Academy of Sciences became the leading Russian academic institutions in Oriental and Islamic studies. Ivanow had the good fortune 1 Ivanow W. Autobiography. P. 39–40. 2 Ascher A. Russia: A Short History. Oxford, 2002. P. 131–32. 3 Ivanow W. Autobiography. P. 40. 4 Ibid. P. 40. 5 Ibid. P. 40–41.