• am
  • ru
  • en
print version
20.01.2014

THE ARMENIAN SCIENTIFIC AND ANALYTICAL COMMUNITY IN RUSSIA

EnglishРуский

   

Vahram Hovyan
Expert, Centre for the Armenian Studies, Noravank Foundation

The Armenian community in Russia is one of the oldest and largest ones among the Armenian diasporas. Some unofficial data suggest that there are about 2.5 million Armenians living in Russia. At the same time, one of the characteristic traits of Russia’s Armenian community is its deep integration in the Russian society.

A number of objective factors contributed to the large size of the Armenian community in Russia and its deep integration in the Russian society, among the first ones of which to mention is that the two countries (Armenia and Russia) in not so distant past were in a single state; initially the Russian Empire and then in the Soviet Union. This circumstance had intensified population movements between the two countries, as well as facilitated civilizational and cultural proximity between Armenian and Russian peoples. Good command of Russian language among Armenians made the mutual contacts easy between the two peoples.

In the post-Soviet period the tradition of relationship in past, the large flow of Armenians to Russia (both for temporary employment and permanent residence), as well as various integration projects for the post-Soviet space (CIS, etc.) allowed maintaining and boosting the earlier relations, which in turn, created favorable conditions for preservation and growth of Russia’s Armenian community.

One important indicator of Armenian community’s integration in the Russian society is the high positions that Armenians have reached in this country. Almost in any field of public life (science, politics, economy, culture, military, etc.) there have been renowned Armenians, thus justifying the opinion of some experts that Armenians are among the state-forming nations of Russia.

It has to be noted that a significant part of Armenians who achieved high status in Russia not only contributed to the development of the country, but also readily served their native Homeland, whenever needed. Among them the Armenian officers of the Soviet Army have to be mentioned, including Norat Grigoryan, Gurgen Dalibaltayan, Christapor Ivanyan and others, whose input in organizing the defense of Armenia, building the army and winning the Karabakh war had been invaluable. Successful Armenian businesspeople from Russia have contributed to the development of Armenia both through investments and charitable donations, and this may never be forgotten.

The scientific field of humanities, which is the subject of interest in this article, is also well represented among the Armenian community of Russia. There are many Armenians in this field that can constitute a scientific and analytical potential of the Russian Armenians. In case of an effective collaboration, the intellectual potential of Armenian scientists and analysts working at Russian academic and analytical structures may become applicable in terms of achieving nationwide goals.

Before presenting the scientific and analytical community of Armenian diaspora in Russia, it appears important to elaborate a little on involvement of Armenians in the activities of Russian academic and expert institutions.

The Armenian scientists in the field of humanities residing in Russia, despite their overwhelming number in academic structures, are not solely or predominantly involved in academic research, and neither do they stay away from applied activities. First, in the modern world the fundamental and applied sciences tend to converge. The boundaries between fundamental and applied sciences are gradually blurring, as they become integral, interdependent parts of a single system. The results of fundamental academic research are introduced and used in the applied research and development, whereas the outcomes of applied research are fed back to and become a basis for theoretical and academic studies.

It also obvious that scientific entities attached to state governance bodies cannot act as purely academic research institutions. In addition to fundamental research, their mission also encompasses preparing workforce for the government bodies, as well as intellectually backing the latter’s activities through various studies, analyses and R&D. This circumstance turns the work of the mentioned institutions into a very important applied activity, once again proving the convergence of fundamental and applied sciences.

The potential of Russia’s Armenian scientific and analytical community is worth presenting through several criteria. These include our compatriots’ specialization (the proportions of various specialists, such as economists, political scientists, sociologists, historians, etc.), academic degrees, etc.

Over 200 Armenian professionals engaged in scientific and analytical activities in Russia have been accounted for in this study. Obviously, the number of Armenians occupationally involved in scientific and analytical work in Russia is significantly higher, and no study is able to produce the complete number of such people. Hence, the numbers presented herein may not be claimed as comprehensive and refer only to the people accounted for and covered in this study. However, at least to a certain extent these numbers may shed some light on the scientific and analytical community of the Armenian diaspora in Russia and its potential.

The field of natural sciences in Russia’s Armenian scientific and analytical community is represented by 8 specializations. These are engineering, physics and mathematics related sciences, chemistry, geography, geology, electronic technologies, biology, and construction science. Five of these specializations – geography, geology, electronic technologies, biology, and construction science – are represented by a single scientist in each. The natural sciences are dominated by engineers and physicists/mathematicians. The number of engineers among the Armenian scientific and analytical community of Russia is 13. Hence, they are the first in terms of the numbers and proportion, and constitute almost half of the natural scientists. The second largest group are physicists and mathematicians (8 people), while chemists with two representatives are the third (see Table 1).

Table 1
The number of Armenians in Russia’s scientific and analytical community in the field of natural sciences, by specialization

As far as the field of humanities is concerned, Russia’s Armenian scientific and analytical community is represented by 9 specializations, as follows1.

  • Philology and pedagogy2
  • Law
  • Psychology
  • Cultural studies
  • History
  • Sociology
  • Economics
  • Philosophy
  • Political science.

The mentioned 9 humanities are represented among the Armenian scientific and analytical community in Russia to various proportional extents, due to which it makes sense to divide them in two groups: more widespread and less common.

The more widespread specializations were defined here as those with over 10 specialists involved. It has to be noted that 7 out of the 9 listed specializations were among the more widespread ones. Economics was the most widespread, with 48 people representing this discipline in the Armenian scientific and analytical community of Russia. It was followed by history (32 persons), philosophy (31 persons), philology and pedagogy (27 persons), law (19 persons), political science (12 persons) and psychology (10 persons).

Less common professions were defined as those with fewer than 10 specialists involved. Among the two of such specializations sociology was more prevalent with 8 persons, while cultural studies were second with 6 indivisuals in the field (see Table 2).

Table 2
Number of Armenians in Russia’s scientific and analytical community in the field of humanities, by specialization

Another criterion to understand the potential of the Armenian scientific and analytical community in Russia is the academic degrees of those involved in scientific and expert activities (see Table 3). The Armenian specialists in Russia can be divided into groups of those with higher academic degrees and those without.

Table 3
Distribution of Armenian scientific and analytical community of Russia by academic degrees

An important indicator for assessing the potential of the Armenian scientific and analytical community in Russia is the geographic distribution of the individuals representing this community. A certain differentiation was introduced for those residing and working in Moscow and St. Petersburg and those in other cities. Traditionally, Moscow and St. Petersburg were the largest socio-political, economic, cultural, scientific and educational hubs of Russia. Furthermore, the Constitution of Russia designates federal status to these cities, in which capacity they act as subjects of the Russian Federation. Therefore, the academic institutions and “think-tanks” of Moscow and St. Petersburg enjoy a comparative advantage over similar entities located in other cities. As far as geographic distribution of the Armenian scientific and analytical community in Russia is concerned, an overwhelming majority of these individuals are involved in the activities of academic and analytic institutions of Moscow and St. Petersburg. This is a positive indicator, too.

Thus, Armenian scientific and analytical community in Russia is dominated by humanities, among which the more widespread are economics, history, philosophy, philology and pedagogy, law, political science, etc. In terms of the education level, doctors of science and candidates (Ph.D.) are prevalent. With regard to geographic distribution, most of the representatives of Russia’s Armenian scientific and analytical community work in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

1 In no particular order

2Since many of the pedagogues have a philological education, it was found worthwhile to consider these two specializations together.


“Globus” analytical journal, #12, 2013

Return
Another materials of author