December 20, 1929 marked the 80th anniversary of the famous specialist in the history of Africa, Doctor of Historical Sciences A. B. Letnev. In 1947, after graduating from high school, he was admitted to the first year of MGIMO. Since 1952, he worked in the editorial office of the magazine "Novoe Vremya", where he first plunged into African issues, began to publish (the first publication on an African topic dates back to October 1952).

In 1956-1958 he studied at the post-graduate school of the Institute of Ethnography of the USSR Academy of Sciences. In 1958-1961, he worked in France as a translator at the UNESCO Secretariat. At the same time, he continued to work on his PhD thesis and study African languages.

At the end of 1961, he returned to Moscow and was hired at the Institute of Africa of the USSR Academy of Sciences, where he held various positions - from junior to chief researcher. For four decades, he headed the Department of African History. In 1963 he became a candidate of historical sciences, and in 1985 he defended his doctorate.

The scope of A. B. Letnev's research interests changed. Initially, he dealt with socio-economic problems. Gradually, the political sphere (African political parties) came to the fore, and then the ideological one (the social thought of Africans). At the same time, A. B. Letnev was engaged in the development of military-historical issues (Africa in World wars) and the analysis of historical ties between the peoples of Russia (including foreign compatriots) and Africa. In total, about 100 works have been published in Russian and foreign languages.

A. B. Letnev collected material for scientific works both in Russian archives and book repositories, and during business trips to the countries under study: he conducted field research (Mali, Benin), worked with archival funds of colonial times (Senegal, Cameroon), studied the functioning of local political parties (Madagascar, Rwanda, Burundi). In the 1970s and 1980s, A. B. Letnev was a member of the Editorial Board of the UNESCO international project " Universal History of Africa "(in 8 volumes), completed in 1999.

A. B. Letnev has represented Russian African studies at international congresses of anthropological and ethnological sciences, congresses of African studies, various international conferences, symposia, seminars, etc. He has worked in public and private archives in France, Great Britain, and the United States, and has lectured African historians, teachers, postgraduates, and students in a number of university institutions in various countries. centers of African studies.

In 1981-1999, Soviet / Russian historians published 17 monographs on the modern and contemporary history of individual African countries, including the largest ones (Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Sudan, Algeria), thereby implementing a scientific project aimed at covering the past of the vast continent. All these years A. B. Letnev worked as a member of the editorial board of this series.

We wish Artem Borisovich good health and creative success.

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MAIN SCIENTIFIC WORKS OF A. B. LETNEV*

Africa. Kolonializm i anticolonializm (XIX-XX vv.) [Colonialism and anticolonialism (XIX-XX centuries)], Moscow, 1990.

Esclavage, colonisation, liberation nationale de 1789 à nos jours. Colloque organisé les 24, 25 et 26 février 1989 à l'Universite Paris VIII à Saint-Denis. P., Harmattan. 1990. C. 165, 342 - 343.

French Administration and problems of political control in the colonies of Tropical Africa (20s-50s) / / Africa. Kolonialnoe obshchestvo i politika [Colonial Society and Politics], Moscow, 1993, pp. 147-193.

Aimee Sezer. A letter to Maurice Thorez. Introductory article, publ., note. // East (Oriens). 1993. N4. pp. 122-133.

Années 50: période cruciale du développement de l'iconographie coloniale en France // Plein Sud. P., 1993. N 3. P. 38 - 44.

Introduction. pp. 5-14 (together with S. S. Novikov, D. P. Ursu) / / S. S. Novikov, D. P. Ursu. Istoriya Malii v novoe i sovremennoe vremya [History of Mali in the new and modern times]. (co-authored with Yu. V. Lukonin).

Africans in the battles for the liberation of Southern Europe (1943-1945) / / Voprosy istorii. 1995. N 9. pp. 19-31. The same: Moscow, 1997. p. 32-51 (in English).

In: Afrika i Vtoroi mirovoi voina [Africa and the Second World War], Moscow, 1996, Auth.: Introduction, pp. 3-15; article " Colonial society, fascism, antifascism (FZA and FEA in 1939-1945)", pp. 86-131.

Images et Colonies // Images et Colonies. Actes du Colloque publiés sous la direction de P. Blanchard et A. Chatelier. Paris, Janvier 1993. P. 148.

Africa in a changing world. VII All-Russian Conference of Africanists, Moscow, 1998, pp. 67-75.

In: Africa through the eyes of Contemporaries and Historians, Moscow, 1998, Auth.: Preface pp. 3-5 (together with V. A. Subbotin); art. " The Algerian Odyssey (From the history of the Russian Expeditionary Corps on the Western Front)", pp. 129 - 185.

Soldiers of Russia in Algeria (1918-1920) / / Voprosy istorii. 1998. N 5. pp. 128-136.

Colonial adaptation: the Russian Diaspora in Africa. Organization attempts. Social and economic adaptation of Russian emigrants (late XIX-XX centuries), Moscow, 1999, pp. 115-127.

"The author, from the mother's side, of African origin..." / / Asia and Africa Today. 1999. N 11. pp. 42-45.

Panafrikanism: a look through the century / / Africa and the Past Century. Proceedings of the VIII Conference of Africanists, Moscow, 2000, pp. 24-32.

Africa and the Outgoing Century: a Historian's View / / Africa on the threshold of the 3rd millennium. VIII Conference of Africanists, Moscow, 2000, pp. 95-111.

How Berlin was going to "round up" Cameroon. New information about the African plans of fascist Germany / / Asia and Africa today. 2000. N10. pp. 67-71.

Alioune Diop, précurseur de la culture de la paix // Présence Africaine. P., 2000. N 161 - 162. P. 13 - 22.

Mediterranian Slavery as Viewed by an Officer of the Russian Imperial Navy. Paper Presented to the International Conference "Slavery in the Mediterranian during the Modern Period", Held in the Context of the UNESCO Project The Slave Route (Palermo, 2000). Projetto UNESCO La Schiavitu nel Mediterraneo in eta Moderna, Palermo, 2000. P. 35.

Introduction. pp. 3-20 // The Russian Diaspora in Africa, 1920s-1950s, Moscow, 2001 (Ed.).

Russkiye v Tropicheskoi Afrika v mezhvoinoi period [Russians in Tropical Africa during the Interwar period]. Natsional'nye diaspory v Rossii i za rubezhom v XIX-XX vv.Moscow, 2001, pp. 222-229.

Africa through the eyes of emigrants. Russians on the continent in the first half of the XX century. Moscow, 2002. Comp. (co-authored with V. P. Khokhlova). introduction to part I and Part II. pp. 6-8, 112-115; notes pp. 194-207, biospravok pp. 208-219, ed. translations into English and French.

On the southern edge of the global scattering: Russians in the African tropics / / Where are you going, Africa? Istoriko-politicheskie etudy [Historical and Political studies], Moscow, 2004, pp. 38-49.

To the 100th anniversary of I. I. Potekhin // East (Oriens). 2004. N 2. pp. 181-183.

Rabstvo, slavorgovlya i mirovoe obshchestvo [Slavery, slave Trade and the World Community]. 2004. N 5. P. 70.

History of Africa in documents 1870-2000.

* Comp. by V. P. Khokhlov. For a list of works from 1958 to 1989, see Peoples of Asia and Africa. 1990. N 4. pp. 217-218.

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In 3 vols. Vol. I. 1870-1918. Documents N 5, 6, 149. Moscow, 2005. P. 35 - 37, 38 - 41, 290 - 293. Publ., note, ed. of translations from English and French.

Man on the background of the continent. Proceedings of the Scientific conference dedicated to the 100th anniversary of I. I. Potekhin, Moscow, 2005. Ed. by I. I. Potekhin at the First International Congress of African Studies, pp. 54-61. comp. attached. (co-authored with R.N. Ismagilova and Yu. M. Il'in); ed. of translations from English and French.

Africa in the Second World War, Moscow, 2005. Ed. Preface p. 3-8; comp. appendix. pp. 150-201; author's notes to part III; ed. of translations from French.

Postcolonial Africa, colonial archives and international organizations / / Archives-the key to the history of Africa of the XX century. Moscow, 2005. pp. 22-32.

The black continent in the frame and behind the scenes. From the film chronicle of the Second World War / / Asia and Africa today. 2006. N 7. pp. 52-58; N 8. pp. 61-68.

Voina v Afrika, Afrika na voine (po paganam vospominanii vtorovikov) [War in Africa, Africa at War (based on the pages of memoirs of front-line soldiers)]. Uroki proshego i sovremennye protsessy [Lessons of the Past and Modern Processes], Moscow, 2006, pp. 68-82 (together with S. S. Novikov).

Some thoughts on the centenary of Bubu Ham, a West African scientist and politician / / Development of Africa: Opportunities and Obstacles, Moscow, 2008, pp. 153-154.

To the 100th anniversary of the birth of Doctor of Historical Sciences S. S. Smirnov // East (Oriens). 2010. N 3. pp. 213-216.

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