On February 12, Professor of the Department of World History Sergei Kiyasov is turning 70 years old. The interview with him, History Should Be Clear and Honest, was uploaded into the Research City section.

Sergei Kiyasov is a member of the Russian Society of Intellectual History and the Association of Historians of the 18th century, as well as a member of the SSU Dissertation Council on National and Universal History.

In the interview, he shared the facts of his career as a historian and teacher lasting more than 40 years.

Sergei Kiyasov is a representative of a small group of Russian scholars studying the origin, development, and affairs of the Western European Freemasonry. This movement has been shrouded in mystery for a long time, and an aura of a worldwide conspiracy has formed around its closed meetings. The reason for this choice for Sergei Kiyasov was obvious – to make the history of the Freemasons more understandable and present a scientific interpretation of their affairs in different periods for those interested in this topic.

‘In the 1990s, it was necessary to abandon some well-established stereotypes of thinking. The fact is that the USSR established a unipolar system of interpretation of the historical process, beyond which it was impossible to go. Nowadays, a freer, universal view of history is a priority against the background of the escalated confrontation between Russia and the West. But all this does not hinder the knowledge of history, on the contrary, you understand that we do not need other imposed ideals,’ Sergei Kiyasov commented.

In addition to studying the Masonic movement, his research includes the broadest historical issues – from the birth of the Russian state to the geopolitical doctrines of the twentieth century. In the interview, Sergei Kiyasov also discussed the current directions of the development of the Russian historical science.

He successfully involves young researchers to the study. Sergei Kiyasov has published about 100 scientific papers, including five education-to-methodology textbooks, as well as four author's and five collective monographs.

Read the interview with the professor here.