Yurii Borisov, Chair of the Department of Russian and World Literature, the Institute of Philology and Journalism, Honourary Worker of Education of the Russian Federation, has turned 75 years old!
He has been with Saratov State University for more than half a century. Here, he studied at the Faculty of Philology, came here after serving in the army to continue his studies in the postgraduate school, and in 1977, began teaching.
Russian Poetry Comedy and Woe from Wit, his first book, had been published before he had successfully presented his thesis. It was recommended in all school textbooks on Russian literature. For all those who started their research at Saratov State University, it was considered normal to submit an already completed work available for discussion to the dissertation council. This was taught by Yurii Borisov and his supervisor, Professor Evgraf Pokusayev.
It so happened that Alexander Griboyedov became the most studied author for Yurii Borisov and opened a research path into the world of Russian literature by its development – from Pushkin's contemporaries to the present day. He is the author of numerous research papers devoted to the works of Pushkin, Saltykov-Shchedrin, Chekhov, and Bulgakov.
Yurii Borisov has given lectures on the history of Russian literature of the 18-20th centuries to different generations of students. Being a thoughtful and subtle philologist, he is happy to immerse himself in the world of Russian literature, reveals its wide cultural context, and makes students interested in understanding the peculiarities of the Russian language and literature.
Under his editorship, the collections of works by outstanding Saratov philologists, his university teachers and mentors, Tatyana Akimova and Alexander Skaftymov, have been published. For a decade, he has been one of the organisers and participants of the International Skaftymov Readings.
Yurii Borisov’s bibliographic index contains more than 200 publications, it reflects books and monographs, articles and reviews, conference reports and newspaper publications, as well as articles in reputable encyclopaedias and dictionaries. For many years, he has cooperated with Volga Book Publishing House. He has prepared and published a volume of poems by A. Akhmatova and the epilogues to books by W. Shakespeare, N. Nekrasov, A. Kuprin, as well as I. Ilf and E. Petrov.
Many people know Yurii Borisov as an excellent university lecturer, he conducts extensive cultural and organisational work in schools, libraries, museums, and theatres in Saratov. For 30 years, he has been cooperating with Saratov Conservatory named after L.V. Sobinov, for five years he has been its professor, and today, he is conducting the courses for musicologists on music and the word, research and interpretation of literary texts, as well as giving the course on the history of Russian theatre to students of the Theatre Institute. And he considers the medal For special services to Saratov State University named after N.G. Chernyshevsky to be the most distinguishable award for himself. He proudly wore it five years ago, and he does it now. His alma mater responds to him with mutual love and respect. For many, Yurii Borisov is a reliable colleague, a wonderful literary researcher, an excellent university lecturer, a beloved teacher, as well as a worthy heir and follower the traditions of the Saratov philological school.
Today, he is our interlocutor. Read the interview under the title The Book as a Formula of Life in the Research City section…
The staff of Saratov State University congratulates Yurii Borisov with great respect on his anniversary and hopes he will stay with the university for many years to come!
