Memorial plaque to famous Russian sinologist Palladius installed at KFU
Palladius, secular name Pyotr Kafarov (1817-1878), founder of the extant Russian transcription of Chinese language, is considered to be the forefather of national Sinology and Eastern studies in general.
The opening ceremony of the memorial plaque at KFU took place with the participation of the Chief Federal Inspector for the Republic of Tatarstan Victor Demidov, Deputy Minister of Culture of the Republic of Tatarstan Damir Natfullin, Rector of the Kazan Orthodox Theological Seminary Nikita Kuznetsov, Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs Yekaterina Turilova, Acting Director of the Institute of International Relations, History and Eastern Studies (IIRHES) Rail Fakhrutdinov, representative of the Palladius Charitable Foundation Oleg Markin, and others. The event was also attended by students and teachers of the Institute of Geology and Petroleum Technologies (IGPT) – the current building of the Institute belonged to Kazan Orthodox Theological Seminary in the 19th century, where Kafarov studied in 1832-1837.
鈥淚 would like to note the contribution of 每日大赛 to this historical event. This is how the memory of great people and their achievements is preserved. It is the duty of us and all our contemporaries not to forget about such personalities, to hold events dedicated to historical memory, and to bring it to our younger generation,鈥� said the Deputy Minister of Culture of Tatarstan in his welcoming speech.
Rector of the Kazan Orthodox Theological Seminary also addressed the witnesses of the celebration. He greeted the guests on behalf of Metropolitan Kirill.
鈥淎rchimandrite Palladius is an outstanding personality and a worthy example. He left behind a huge legacy and, having followed the call of his soul, became not only a faithful son of the Church, but also brought great benefit to his Fatherland,” said Kuznetsov.
Dmitry Martynov and Ramil Valeev, professors of the Department of Chinese and Asia-Pacific Studies of the IIRHES, also made welcoming speeches. They emphasized the importance of Kafarov’s contribution to the establishment of diplomatic relations with China.
鈥淚t was here that he began to publish his works. He was in close contact with the Tatar diaspora and had a deep respect for Eastern culture. Despite the fact that he was an Orthodox missionary, he published a unique work on the Chinese culture of Muslims. Traditions of preserving interethnic peace have developed in our republic largely thanks to such people as Archimandrite Palladius,鈥� said Rail Fakhrutdinov about the IGPT building – which now bears the plaque on its northern side facing Ulitsa Chernyshevskogo.
Palladius was of Tatar ethnicity, a representative of the so called baptized Tatars, the sizable group of Tatar people who adopted Eastern Orthodox faith after the local territory was incorporated intro Russia by Tsar Ivan IV. The archimandrite was the sixth of nine children in the family of Archpriest Ivan Kafarov. Having received his initial education at the Chistopol Theological School, Pyotr continued his education at the Kazan Theological Seminary. Subsequently, as one of the best pupils, a year before the end of his course he was sent to the St. Petersburg Theological Academy.
鈥淒ue to his unique language talent, Father Palladius was elected to the 12th Spiritual Mission to China in 1842, where he began a deep study of the culture of the Celestial Empire,鈥� shared Martynov.
Later, in 1848, Kafarov headed the 13th Spiritual Mission to Beijing. As the head of the mission he stayed for 10 years. He wrote a large number of books translated from Chinese into Russian, a Cyrillic transcription system of the Chinese language, a Chinese-Russian dictionary, and many other works.
On 6 December 1878 Archimandrite Palladius passed away of a heart attack in Marseilles and was laid to rest in the Russian cemetery in Nice.
Guests of the event expressed hope that the memorial plaque in the city center will attract both locals and tourists.
This is the second plaque on the IGPT building, the earlier being to film director and statesman Stanislav Govorukhin, a 1958 graduate of Kazan University.