Roza Z. Valeeva

The publication presents previously unpublished letters from V.A. Gordlevsky to A.E. Krymsky dated 1906–1909.

The article investigates the biography and academic legacy of the famous Russian representative of classical Oriental studies Boris V. Miller (1877–1956). His life along with his scholarly and pedagogical activities reflected turning points in the history of linguistic, folkloristic, historical and ethnographic studies of the Iranian-speaking peoples of the Caucasus — Talysh, Kurds and Tats at the end of the 19th — first half of the 20th century. Professor B.V. Miller is remembered in the history of Oriental studies in Russia as a talented and highly motivated scholar who made a significant contribution to the development of Iranian studies, and as one of the founders of Iranian studies at Lomonosov Moscow State University.

In 2024, we celebrated the 220th anniversary of the birth of the prominent scholar G.S. Sablukov (1804–1880), who occupied a special place in the history of the Qur’anic studies in Russia. His main academic achievement — the first published translation of the Qur’an from the Arabic into Russian (1877) — became an important step in the development of Russian Oriental science. The article investigates the stages of formation of G.S. Sablukov as an expert on Islamic issues, contains an overview of his works dedicated to the Qur’an and analyzes the assessments of his translation of the Holy Muslim Book, which have changed over time. However, there is no doubt that with his translation of the Qur’an, G.S. Sablukov made a significant contribution to Russian Islamic studies by strengthening its scholarly foundations.