The book Sketches of Men of Science was published by the Russian State University
for the Humanities on the threshold of a significant date—the 150th anniversary
of the birth of Academician Sergei Fedorovich Oldenburg (1863–1934).
The idea of producing such a book had been forming among Orientalists over a
period of many years.
Oldenburg’s essays about personalities of Russian and foreign academic world,
especially Oriental Studies, appeared in the author’s lifetime in various publications,
which are now available only in the reading rooms of the largest national libraries.
These essayistic works have not lost their informative value over the course of
time.
Most importantly, they retain the vivid essence of the scholarly thinking of a man
who was an outstanding organizer of Russian academic research, a classic figure in
the Russian school of Buddhist Studies and the Russian school of Oriental Studies in
Archaeology.
It is high time to introduce the modern reader to the entirety of his essays in one
volume...
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