Письмо от известного антиковеда Фергюса Миллара (Оксфорд) о реформе РАН

Профессор Оксфордского университета (Великобритания), иностранный член РАН, известный антиковед Фергюс Миллар прислал президенту РАН Владимиру Фортову  письмо о реформе Академии наук. Он, в частности, отмечает, что "носящая характер непродуманности реструктуризация такой заслуженной Академии, основанной в 1725 году, является трагедией, и я искренне надеюсь, что можно предпринять шаги, чтобы отложить такую радикальную и разрушительную трансформацию тех пор, пока не будут проведены консультации как внутри России, так и ее друзьями за рубежом". 

Professor Sir Fergus Millar D.Litt., FBA
Hebrew and Jewish Studies Unit

ORIENTAL INSTITUTE
PUSEY LANE
OXFORD OX1 2LE
Tel.: (01865) (2)78200
Fax: (01865) (2)78190
17 July 2013

Tel.: (01865) (2)88093
E-mail: fergus.millar@bnc.ox.ac.uk

Professor Vladimir E. Fortov
President of the Russian Academy of Sciences
14, Leninsky, Moscow
Russia

Dear Professor Fortov,

I hear with shock and dismay of legislation in the Duma which will destroy the character
and international standing of the Russian Academy, and deprive it of its independence. Russian
culture and scholarship have been of great importance in my life, ever since I began the study of the
Russian language exactly sixty years ago, and then subsequently when, as a student of Ancient
History, I became absorbed in the major works of M.I. Rostovtzeff, the most important Ancient
Historian of the twentieth century.

Since then I have been very honoured to become a Foreign Member of the Academy, and to
contribute both to the Vestnik Drevnei Istorii and to a volume dedicated to the treasured memory of
G.M. Bongard-Levin, who did so much to build up contacts between Russian and international
scholarship, in both East and West.

The arbitrary re-structuring of this prestigious Academy, founded in 1725, is a tragedy, and I
deeply hope that steps can be taken to postpone this radical and damaging transformation until there has been time for consultation both within Russia and with the friends of Russia abroad.

Yours sincerely,
Fergus Millar