On February 19, 2011, the Head of the Section of Middle Eastern Studies, senior researcher at the IOM RAS, Dr Alexander G. Grushevoi celebrated his 55th birthday.

In 1979, A. Grushevoi graduated from Leningrad State University, the Historical Faculty, the Department of the History of Ancient Greece and Rome, and started his doctoral course at the Leningrad Branch of the Institute of Oriental Studies (now the IOM RAS), supervised by Dr I.Sh.Shifmann. In 1986, he defended his PhD dissertation, The Roman Province of Arabia. The Major Issues of Social-Political and Cultural Development from the 2nd through 5th Century BCE [Римская провинция Аравия – основные проблемы социально-политического и культурного развития II – V вв.]. From November 1982 up to now, he works at the Institute. He is the author of more than 70 academic papers, including two monographs. His major research interests include social-economic and political history of the Roman Empire, Roman provinces, Middle East during the Roman and Byzantine periods and the history of Russian Oriental studies and Russian presence in Middle East.

Dr A.Grushevoi took part in a number of international congresses and conferences such as the Congress of Byzantine Studies, Moscow 1991, Conference on the Russian-Arab Relations, Tunisia 2004, etc. Dr A.Grushevoi cooperates successfully with his foreign colleagues; from September 1989 to March 1990, he worked in Prinston, the USA, from January to June 1994, worked in Tours, France, and delivered lectures at the University of Dijon and College de France, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Paris.

Dr A.Grushevoi gave a number of courses of lectures and taught Greek and Latin at the Historical and Philosophical Faculties of St Petersburg State University, and at the Historical Faculty of the St Petersburg Institute for Jewish Studies.

All the colleagues of Dr A.Grushevoi congratulates heartily with his Jubilee and wish him new academic achievements.

The IOM’s Head, Prof Dr Irina F. Popova