Keywords: African students in the USSR, higher education, student community, international education, racial conflicts, African communities, intra-land relations, careers and life trajectories

African students who were educated in the USSR are now scattered all over the world. They participate in joint political, economic, scientific and cultural international projects with Europeans, live and work in European countries, building careers that were laid in Soviet universities. Two African students who studied in the USSR in the 1960s-1980s tell about the peculiarities of the educational process, everyday life, as well as the formation of professional trajectories.

In 2013, the Russian Academy of Sciences (Institute of Africa) and the Foundation" House of Human Sciences "(France) launched a joint large-scale research program, which became a kind of "inventory" of professional achievements of African citizens who studied at universities in the Soviet Union in the period from the 1960s to the 1990s.

The project "African Students in the Soviet Union: Post-graduate Mobility and Career Development" was primarily aimed at studying the subsequent careers and life paths of Black students who studied in the USSR. Russian and French researchers set out to identify among former African students those representatives of African political, economic and cultural elites with whom it would be possible to build relationships for the implementation of new programs of activity in the relevant fields.

Recall that in 1960, proclaimed by the UN as the "Year of Africa", 17 African countries gained independence at once. Over the next three decades, the African continent was conditionally divided into countries of" socialist " and capitalist orientation, and it was precisely those young people who studied in the Soviet Union who were supposed to become an instrument for strengthening Soviet influence in Africa.

The tasks that guided the USSR in the field of education in relation to the countries of Africa were reduced not only to providing the youth of the continent with the opportunity to obtain - on extremely favorable terms (compared to Western countries) - in-demand professions, but also to use them in the states that were freed from colonial dependence. At the same time, in the course of training, the "ideological education" of Africans and the introduction of the future national intelligentsia of young states to socialist principles and attitudes were carried out.

The formation of ideas about the Soviet way of life, about the ideas of social justice that are close and understandable to the working strata of the developing world, has become the main link of ideological and educational work among foreign students who arrived in the USSR from African countries since the second half of the XX century.

Therefore, another task of the project participants was to analyze the impact of the Soviet education system and its ideological component on the fate of African students, i.e., to try to answer questions about how the Soviet Union is perceived and evaluated in the world (and many former students live and work not only in Africa, but also in Europe, America and Canada). education, and how graduates themselves assess its role in shaping their career, their perception of the world in general.

As a major scientific and practical project, which involved representatives from different countries, this project predetermined the emergence of new contacts with Africans - graduates of Soviet universities who became political figures, scientists, writers, doctors, engineers, teachers working not only in their own countries, but also in other countries. When we met these people, we received a wide variety of information about their stay in the USSR, about the actual educational process, as well as about the daily life of African students-in short, about the youth period of their life that they spent in the Soviet Union by the will of fate and circumstances.

Some former students did not return home, but emigrated to European and other countries. And those who returned to their homeland built their careers differently. Stories about the fates of two of them formed the basis of this article.

OUR INFORMANTS

Congolese Patrice Yengo (a graduate of the Kharkiv Medical Institute, a pharmacist, now a well-known cultural anthropologist in the Republic of the Congo and France, one of the co-organizers of this international project)and Nigerian Igho Natufe (a graduate of the Peoples ' Friendship University, a specialist in Russian-African relations, who until recently taught at universities in Canada, Nigeria and Ghana). Both of them are representatives of the first groups of African youth who came to study in the USSR.

"Igho, why did you come to the Soviet Union?

- Because back in Nigeria, I participated in a student movement that sought to strengthen contacts with your country. That is, I purposefully went here to study."

The lawyer's son, Igho, having received his father's "blessing" in 1964, got to our country by what is called roundabout ways and managed only by the second semester: "We were supposed to arrive by the end of August to start studying in September, but I only arrived... 5th of December. The government of Abubakar Balewa (1960 - 1966 - editor's note) at that time had a bad attitude towards the countries of Eastern Europe, and we had a difficult route... We had to move from Lagos first to Accra in Ghana, where we stayed for almost three weeks. {We are my Nigerian colleagues. There were five of us in the group that went to study in the USSR.) From Accra, our guide sent us to Kumasi (Ghana), from where we flew to Bamako (Mali), where we lived, in my opinion, 5-6 days. From there, we already traveled freely, because we found ourselves on the territory of a friendly state... We flew from Bamako to Algeria and arrived in Moscow in early December... It was winter... For the first time I saw snow! Imagine how interesting it was for a Nigerian who came from a tropical country!"¹

Patrice Yengo's father, on the other hand, did not approve of his son's choice, but rather was surprised and even outraged by his desire to study in the Soviet Union. Meanwhile, the Congolese described in detail and quite objectively the international situation that developed on the eve of the appearance of the first groups of African students in the USSR, and the whole complex of reasons why African countries began to actively send their young people to the countries of the socialist camp.

Patrice also deeply and comprehensively analyzed the motives of the young sovereign states of the USSR for choosing a place to train their national cadres, and also spoke about how African youth represented our country at that time.: "The policy of Africanization of personnel has become an urgent necessity for many young independent countries. Funds had to be found as quickly as possible to overcome the shortage of doctors, engineers, agronomists, and middle-and upper-level managers. However, at that time it was possible to get accelerated training of personnel only in socialist countries, which already proved that they were capable of it. An unexpectedly important factor in the selection of these countries was the success of the USSR in the field of space exploration. Yuri Gagarin's flight in April 1961 caused a storm of emotions on the continent and finally convinced African leaders, if not of the advantages of the socialist system over others, then at least of the effectiveness of the socialist path of development^"2

Comparing the system of training African specialists in the West and in the USSR, Patrice pointed out the difference, and in favor of the latter. First of all, the possibility of planning personnel training in Eastern European countries: "90% of students admitted to Soviet universities or other educational centers were able to acquire the necessary qualifications; in turn, the sending countries could be sure that after receiving their diplomas, they would return to their homeland. For its part, the USSR was also not interested in detaining students whose education it had promoted. This policy was in complete contrast to Western countries, where students who were left to their own devices and often did not receive scholarships had to work to meet their minimum needs, which stretched the learning process indefinitely. In addition, after completing their studies, they stayed in the country where they received their education for various reasons."

The specialties and forms of education offered by the USSR to African youth were excellent.-

There was a variety that also attracted attention. This includes both specialized secondary education (technical schools) and higher education for high school graduates. The USSR provided training in the most popular specialties-medicine, pharmacology, dentistry, engineering professions. Training in them was offered not only by leading educational institutions in Moscow - MSU, UDN, etc., but also by universities in other cities of Russia, as well as Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan.

Patrice considers the attractiveness of the national policy pursued (at least officially) in the USSR to be an equally important reason for choosing to study in the Soviet Union: "This was a good example for the new African countries, as they were engulfed in ethnic conflicts immediately after the declaration of independence."

What was the course of study and daily life of an African student in the Soviet Union in the second half of the 20th century?

It cannot be called boring or monotonous both at the level of intra-earth relations and at the level of relations with the external environment. It should be noted that as a social group, the African students in the USSR were formed in unique conditions of socio-cultural multiplicity, associated both with the peculiarities of the student's social status and with his life attitudes, focused primarily on becoming a qualified specialist. This orientation model combined elements of traditional African psychology, social psychology developed during the years of colonial rule, and elements of integration through study into a completely new community called "Soviet".

The new social organization, the peculiarities of economic development and scientific and technological achievements, new ideas and cultural and informational contacts that contributed to the expansion of public relations and intellectual boundaries of the individual, could not but affect his consciousness. As a result of the culture shock necessarily experienced by every African student, ethno-cultural dualism was born, often expressed in the intense search for new forms of coexistence of traditions and innovations in the consciousness of the African student.³

Both respondents-Patrice and Igho-noted the sincere warmth, benevolence and human concern with which they met and surrounded the ambassadors of Africa in Soviet universities.

ADAPTING TO A NEW CULTURAL AND LINGUISTIC ENVIRONMENT

Among the problems associated with the adaptation processes in the new cultural and social environment, one of the main African students identified language acquisition as the main tool in contacts with the new world. Teaching in universities and universities of the USSR, where African students studied, was initially conducted, as a rule, by Russian teachers with knowledge of one of the European languages (the mother tongue), so at the beginning of the educational process, when teachers communicated with students, there was almost no linguistic barrier.

In general, African students, as a rule, quite quickly mastered the Russian spoken language. Moreover, most of them easily learned the features of facial expressions, speech tonality, and gestures inherent in Russian-speaking citizens. Those of the Africans who were strongly motivated to learn Russian as best as possible (for example, when getting married) achieved this through special classes that complemented informal communication. However, for most people, professional training remained the main motivation for learning Russian.

Since the initial knowledge of the language and even intensive classes at preparatory faculties did not provide an opportunity to freely perceive the educational material, teachers themselves sought to help students by studying with them additionally. This is also noted by Igho Natufe: "The teachers helped us a lot, especially in the Russian language. The system they used to teach the Russian language, laboratories, tape recorders - all this was very useful. After 2-3 months, I spoke good Russian. I also remember the events that the university organized for international students, and I also remember the House of Friendship on Arbat. All these meetings and events helped us a lot with the Russian language, and for adaptation in general. Our new friends were very friendly..."

It is known that the language of the host country is most quickly mastered in the conditions of everyday contacts with its native speakers. A great help in learning the language is provided by the student environment itself, extracurricular communication, and contacts with the population.

Patrice Yengo, analyzing the problem of mastering the Russian language and first contacts in an international student environment from the perspective of cultural anthropology-

ga, illustrates this process with his own observations: "Initially, this is anxiety and fear about the prospect of learning Russian, which begin with a new alphabet. Even so, you're thrilled to be able to say whole sentences after a couple of months, or to start shopping on your own. Russian language lessons, which continued at universities for two more years, will begin to bring joy when we are no longer talking about cases or verb conjugations, but about the poetry of Mayakovsky, Lermontov, Yesenin, Akhmatova... and, of course, Pushkin with his African blood, with which you get into the very heart of the language...

Language is a password that opens up a different culture for you. Before that, you are guided only by impressions and prejudices, and there are a lot of them: just like you and your Soviet colleagues. Your prejudices are related to what was written in the Western press about studying in the USSR. The prejudices of Soviet students are connected with the idea of developing countries as having no culture. In the first years, questions like "Do you have cars?", " Do you live in trees?". And at first you don't know if this is ironic or completely ignorant of African realities, but if you feel differences, this is a signal that you are beginning to master the language... The opportunity to retell a Soviet joke and/or sing the first words of a song by Vysotsky also speaks about the same thing...

If you live in the same room with several students, this is good for learning the language, but there may be tension in the relationship, especially when one of the people living in the room is a Komsomol leader who considers himself a room head..."

However, as a rule, students continued to speak their native language among themselves (especially when compatriots gathered) and with some difficulty, especially in the early stages of adaptation, they came into contact with those who did not speak their native language.

Igho recalls being greeted by "people from the university, from the UDN Africa Department. They were already waiting for us. We were put in room 156, first block... (see, I remember everything!) There were three of us in the room. A Russian guy (I'll never forget his name - Seryozha) and from Nepal. We were friends..."

Living together, says Patrice Yengo, can be useful if one of your roommates invites you to join their family, but this rarely happened. According to Igho, personal contacts, especially with teachers, greatly contributed to a quick and painless adaptation. "I had very good relations with the teachers, including the dean Nikolai Nikolaevich Molchanov, a friend of mine. We went to a bar together, had lunch... We were very close. I also had close contact with my supervisor, Professor Herman Rozanov... And within a month or two, we were practically integrated into the Soviet environment, into Soviet society..."

Nevertheless, the disadvantages of living together, in his opinion, were compensated by the richness of contacts with other student communities, since the university dormitory is, according to Patrice Yengo, "an international microcosm where, on the one hand, students from the countries of popular democracy-the GDR, Czechoslovakia, who were better received here, on the other hand - students from fraternal Asian and Latin American countries, which allowed them to get acquainted with the relevant cultures. There were also many students from Algeria, Nigeria, and Mozambique... In the early years, students were not encouraged to leave the Soviet Union. It was proposed to go south to student recreation camps, to the Baltic States, to cities of the Soviet Union. In the second year, students also traveled abroad - to Germany, France, and sometimes worked there during the holidays..."

THERE WERE ALSO SOME CONFLICTS...

Both former graduates are unanimous in their opinion that conflict situations during the educational process are inevitable. Patrice Yengo emphasizes that the most acute conflicts do not necessarily arise between students from different countries; they were more often with compatriots, mainly due to differences in political views. To a large extent, this was typical of Nigerians.

The first students from Nigeria appeared in the Soviet Union in 1960. Most of them were in opposition to the then government headed by A. T. Baleva, who encouraged corruption and established contacts with Western states. In 1960, the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Nigeria was opened in Moscow, which took steps to create a unified and controlled student organization in the USSR, which was formed in the winter of 1963.

In the same year, the "Marxist" group, the first association of African students in the USSR of this type, which independently studied Marxist - Leninist theory, began to operate within the framework of the Nigerian community.⁴ However, the effectiveness of his influence on other members of the fraternity was weakened by internal contradictions.

There were also conflicts based on tribal feuds.⁵ First of all, they covered representatives of the Igbo, Yoruba and Hausa peoples.

A wave of political activism among Nigerian students was also raised by the military coup of 1966. At the height of the internecine war between the Federal Government and the Biafran separatists (1967 - 1970), Nigerian students studying in the USSR also split into two camps.

Students from Biafra expressed serious dissatisfaction with the Soviet Union's support of the Nigerian government. At the same time, the assistance provided by China to Biafra aroused their interest in Maoist theory, as well as in the nationalist views of Biafran leader O. Ojukwu. The 1967 split in the Nigerian "Marxist" group-

The lack of students studying in the USSR was, in a sense, the result of Maoist influence.

Igho, who studied in Moscow in those years, comments on these events: "... There are some contradictions that occur everywhere, including in Nigeria... And in the Nigerian student community. I can say that before 1967, the deepest split occurred within the Nigerian circle of "Marxists". We had two directions: one supported the positions of China, the other-the Soviet Union. And all within the framework of the "Marxist" circle. It had a very bad effect on our studies... "⁶

"I remember the civil War of 1967 very well. Almost all my friends are from Eastern Nigeria. (I'm from Delta State myself.) When the war started, the situation was very difficult, because all my friends were at war. I remember such an event: Even before 1967, African students at UDN created the African Football League. I was its secretary, and a guy (I forget his name) from Ivory Coast was its chairman. Ivu Aryans have already recognized Biafra (like Tanzania, Gabon and some other countries), and I remember my friends from Biafra wrote a statement that they want to compete in football competitions as representatives of Biafra.

When I received this statement, I said at a regular meeting of the League's board that we can accept this, provided that the UDN recognizes Biafra as an independent state. But since we are here in the USSR, which recognizes only the state with its capital in Lagos, we cannot recognize the team of a non-existing country. My friends swore a lot: this is already a political issue! The chairman of the League also insisted on this recognition. But I told him: "So what if I'm from Nigeria? We live here according to Soviet laws, and according to them Biafra does not exist!"

In 1967, the Nigerian ambassador to the USSR was an Igbo supporter of the secession of Biafra (he and Ojukwu were friends, even studied together). He tried to influence the Soviet Foreign Ministry to get the USSR to recognize Biafra. As a result, he was withdrawn, as he actually began to pursue an anti-Nigerian policy. And this affected the students. The life of the fraternity became very turbulent, relations between the embassy and students were strained to the limit...

But despite the civil war, we had good relations with students from Biafra. Student life brought us together. However, the Biafrans created their own student organization, which was not recognized in the UDN."

ADAPTATION TO RUSSIAN CUISINE

"At first, we were confused," recalls Patrice Yengo, " especially when we first tried Russian burgers, because in France, for example, it's meat on bones, and in Russia it's meat with bread. But it was delicious, and we kept this taste for life. We always remember the first borscht..."

Igho: "I can't say that my whole life was focused on classes. I went to a lot of theaters... We didn't have any African food. To make a porridge like the one we ate in Nigeria, we used semolina. And it was a perfect substitute. But when we went to England during the holidays, we would stock up on Nigerian food and bring it here..."

Patrice recalls: "In our spare time, we played sports, went to the theater and movies. I've seen films by Dovzhenko and Maya Plisetskaya... I posed for an artist's portrait of Othello... This was the daily life of an African student."

RACISM IN RUSSIAN

The respondents also assessed the phenomenon of "Russian-style racism", which they encountered to some extent in student life, from the height of their past years.

Igho: "I have a philosophical attitude right now. Yes, it was nice here. When I was a student, I only experienced it myself twice. The first time was in 1966 in Novgorod, on an archaeological expedition. We had just left the restaurant, and a Russian guy, the driver, saw us and said,"Nigger!" And the second time it was here, in Moscow, at the zoo. I was there with a Russian friend. And one Russian guy shouted: "There's your relative over there!" He didn't say it maliciously, but with a laugh. It was only two times!.."

Igho's love for the chosen specialty from school, the desire to study international relations problems and ... "real" racism defined the path of his career.

"I wonder why I didn't finish my dissertation here, but ended up in Canada... I wanted to go to the West to have a different, different perspective on international politics. I had a lot of books by Western authors that I bought in England and Germany, and I realized that in the USSR it is difficult to get the necessary information to be able to look at problems from both sides.

I'll give you one example. In 1968, we had a seminar on World War II at UDN. I asked a question about the Soviet-German non-aggression treaty of 1939. By that time, I had already read an article by Professor Petrov (an emigrant who lived in the United States). It was a brilliant article! It contained data from secret protocols. So the fact that my professor answered my question surprised me a lot. "Igho, you probably already read Petrov's article?" Oh my God, how did he know? I mean, he's already read this article, but he didn't tell us! Why? So I decided to leave... In 1974, in Canada, I defended my dissertation on "Soviet policy in Africa in the 1945-1970-ies".

Igho's employment and research opportunities were extensive: "My father's younger brother lived in England, in Birmingham, and my father wanted me to go there. But I just don't like England!" There were also offers from several American universities.

"While still studying in the USSR, I applied to Harvard and Columbia University. They invited me. At the same time, I received an invitation from Ottawa. I had to decide quickly. At that time - in 1967 and 1968 - numerous racial demonstrations were taking place in the United States. So I went to Canada, which is a very calm country in this respect..."

Patrice's assessment is more restrained. As a professional culturologist, he does not consider several unpleasant episodes that he had to go through in the USSR to be a stable phenomenon. Like Igho, he denies the existence of racism in its classical sense in the USSR: "In popular democracies, where the collective prevailed over the individual, racism was not understood in the same way as in the United States, where his personal perception or individual perception of a person with black skin could be enhanced by official racial segregation. In the USSR, the state was the guarantor of non - discrimination on racial grounds in transport, schools and other public places. Domestic racism was considered unimportant. It was rather a lack of upbringing and did not harm the image of the Soviet person in any way."

In general, Patrice shares the opinion of the Russian historian S. V. Mazov, who defines this phenomenon as a manifestation of the first inter-civilizational "black-and-white" contacts in the territory of a state that was historically not tempted by racial prejudices.⁷

PROFESSIONAL CAREER

Patrice's professional career was different. After completing his education in the USSR in 1976, he returned to Brazzaville with a degree in pharmacy and for several years worked in various medical institutions and departments of the country, teaching at the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Brazzaville. However, his interest in the social sciences continued unabated, and by the early 2000s, Patrice was seriously engaged in social anthropology, mainly in France, and took part in many scientific projects, including the Center for African Studies of the Higher School of Social Sciences in Paris: "Memory of decolonization" (2003), "Children-sorcerers, children of the street in Brazzaville" (2006), etc.

In 2005, he completed a master's degree in Social and political anthropology at the French Higher School of Social Sciences and continued to successfully combine pharmacy and anthropology in his research, receiving the French grant " Medicines, Treatment Practices and Social Relations. The issue of providing medicines in Central Africa".

Igho stayed true to his chosen specialty: "I have always been interested in international law and the history of international relations since high school. During his studies, he was interested in politics... Although at that time UDN only had a history department and there was no separate department of international relations, the three of us (me and two of my friends) submitted an application to the rector with a request to give us the opportunity to study the specialty "International Relations". We have created a special program on the history of international relations - international law, consular law, public law, diplomatic law, etc. All this was specially created for us. We started majoring in the third year..."

The retrospective perception of personal experience associated with studying in the USSR is equally positive for both heroes of our story.

"It was the happiest part of students' lives, promoting friendship and love... Actually, the study gave wonderful knowledge thanks to teachers who are always ready to help. Soviet Union scholarships for students from developing countries played an important role. Knowledge control has always been based on an oral exam, which was unusual for students who passed the French system of study. It was a wonderful gift from the Soviet Union! " (Patrice Iengo).

"I have been a Canadian citizen since 1975, but I feel like a citizen of the world and would like to return to Nigeria one day. As a professor, I realized myself very well thanks to the basic training in the USSR. I got off to a good start. Soviet education is a very strong foundation, and I am always happy to come here for an internship... Now I am retired and work "for myself": I write books on the topic of Russian foreign policy. The last book I published was " Soviet Politics in Africa. From Lenin to Brezhnev" (published in the USA in 2011) - I gave it to the Institute of Africa " (Igho Natufe).

¹ Here and below are excerpts from the author's interview with Igho Natufe. Moscow, IAfr RAS, March 2014 The text is shown in italics.

² Here and below are excerpts from Patrice Yengo's speech at the colloquium in Paris in April 2013 ("Vie quotidienne et experiences des etudiants africains en USSR et en Russie". Intervenants: Natalia Krylova, Historienne, Institut d'Afrique de l'Academie des sciences, de la Russie, Moscou, Directeur d'etudes associe FMSH; Patrice Yengo, Anthropologue, Universite Marien Ngouabi, Brazzaville et RIAE. Directeur d' etudes associe FMSH. 12 avril 2013. EHESS, Paris).

^{Krylova N. L.} 3 Russian women in Africa. Problemy adaptatsii [Problems of adaptation], Moscow, ROSSPEN, 1996, pp. 61-62 (Krylova N. L. 1996. Russian women in Africa. M.) (in Russian)

⁴ At that time, social sciences for foreign students were taught in higher education institutions of the USSR as an optional course. For more information, see: Nigerian students in the USSR: 1960-1974 / / Information materials of the All-Union Council for Foreign Students, Moscow, 1979, Issue 54, p. 42.

⁵ This struggle has continued throughout the history of the Nigerian student body. Nigerian students in the USSR represented approximately 100 tribes and peoples.

⁶ Of course, not all members of the Nigerian fraternity were members of the Marxist circle. Others were members of the World Democratic Youth Movement (WFDY). (From an interview with Igho Natufe. Moscow, IAfr RAS, March 2014)

^7. 7 Afrikanskie studentov v Moskve v Godu Afrika (po archivnom materialam) [African students in Moscow in the Year of Africa (based on archival materials)]. Afrikanskie studenty v Moskve v God Afriki // Vostok/Oriens. N 3) (in Russian)

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