8 June 2021
June 8th, on the International Day of the Russian Language, an online marathon was held. This date has been celebrated annually around the world since 2010. This year celebrations were held under the banner: "Eugene Onegin: watching, talking, reading." Famous extracts were recited in the six official languages of the United Nations: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.
MGIMO Rector A.Torkunov greeted the participants of the marathon: "This year we are celebrating the International Day of the Russian Language, and dedicating it to the birthday of our great, wonderful, incomparable poet A. Pushkin." The Rector emphasized: "Pushkin is a person who unites both Russians living in the Russian Federation and all our compatriots living abroad, and many other people. I myself constantly reread 'Eugene Onegin', because Pushkin's verses are a source of joy and pleasure. That is why we love Pushkin so much!” concluded A.Torkunov.
A.Torkunov also read out an excerpt from "Eugene Onegin", wished success to the participants of the marathon and encouraged the audience to read more Pushkin. 190 years have passed since the first publication of Eugene Onegin in 1831. During this time, it became one of the most iconic works, taking the center stage in Pushkin's legacy.
The marathon was attended by the Minister of Culture O.Lyubimova, the Director General of the UN Office in Geneva T.Valovaya, the Permanent Representative of Russia to the UN Office and other international organizations in Geneva G.Gatilov, the State Duma Deputy A.Karpov, the Director of the cultural festival “Russian Seasons” E.Shcherbakova, and by MGIMO students. Each participant read excerpts from the novel "Eugene Onegin".
The Day of the Russian Language in Russia became a public holiday in 2011, following the decree of the President of Russia requesting to: “Establish the Day of the Russian Language and celebrate it annually, on June 6th, on the birthday of the great Russian poet, founder of the modern Russian literary language A.S. Pushkin".
The marathon was organized by the “Russian Cultural Seasons” Foundation, the Permanent Mission of Russia to the UN in Geneva and MGIMO. The event had for information partners - Kultura.RF, OTR, Odnoklassniki, the UN portal, the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly, the “Kontent” Foundation and Rossotrudnichestvo.
