HSE History Professors Win South African Book of the Year Award
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| The Hidden Thread. Russia and South Africa in the Soviet Era |
The Hidden Thread. Russia and South Africa in the Soviet Era (Cape Town, Johannesburg: Jonathan Ball, 2013) was a development of the authors’ work in Russian – Russia and South Africa: Building Bridgesand Russia and South Africa: Three Centuries of Relations – but The Hidden Thread reveals material never before published.
According to Apollon Davidson, a great deal in the history of relations between Soviet Russia and South Africa has been hidden from the public eye and professional historians for decades. Filatova and Davidson, who were the first Russian scholars to visit South Africa, attempted to fill these gaps with others’ stories and with their own memories.
In 1989, Davidson and Filatova were invited to South Africa by the Institute for Democracy. The two were subsequently invited on numerous occasions by various South African universities to teach and conduct research. Irina Filatova supervised the Department of History at the University of Durban-Westville, and Apollon Davidson was organizer and director of the Russian Research Centre at the University of Cape Town. Their books and articles are currently published in South Africa, Europe and America.
Congratulations!
Irina Ivanovna Filatova
See also:
‘We Cannot Understand the Modern Ideological Confrontation without the Accusations that Emerged during the Lausanne Process’
Rainer Matos Franco, from Mexico, defended his PhD thesis with honours at HSE University this June. In his dissertation, Rainer Matos Franco examines the history of anticommunism in Europe during the 1920s. The HSE News Service spoke with Rainer and his academic supervisor, Tatiana Borisova, about the significance of the Lausanne Process for the Cold War and contemporary history, the opportunities provided by HSE University for international PhD candidates, and the challenges of working with a vast database of historical sources.
HSE Students Represent Russia at BRICS+ Youth Innovation Summit in Pretoria
In May 2024, Pretoria, the capital of South Africa, hosted the BRICS+ Youth Innovation Summit, where students from HSE University represented Russia. They successfully defended their business projects and were among the top 15 speakers, winning the event. The summit was organised by the South African BRICS Youth Association (SABYA).
How the Telephone Conquered the World. Episode Ten: 'Number, Please?'
The history of the invention of telephony reads like a captivating detective novel, but even more intriguing are the events that contributed to the worldwide adoption of this technology. In this series of columns on IQ.HSE, Anton Basov, HSE Faculty of Computer Science editor, discusses how telephones have become an integral part of our everyday life. The final episode of the series recounts how men were unable to cope with telephone operator jobs and were replaced by tall and polite young women. However, as telephone networks expanded, the role of the intermediary became unproductive, eventually rendering the switchboard operator profession obsolete due to automation—not the first nor the last time such a thing has happened. As for Alexander Graham Bell, he used the earnings from inventing the telephone to promote science, educate people about the world around us, and pursue new inventions.
How the Telephone Conquered the World. Episode Nine: Big Connections
The history of the invention of telephony reads like a captivating detective novel, but even more intriguing are the events that contributed to the worldwide adoption of this technology. In this series of columns on IQ.HSE, Anton Basov, HSE Faculty of Computer Science editor, discusses how telephones have become an integral part of our everyday life. The ninth episode of the series explores the development of the first long-distance, interstate, and transatlantic telephone lines, which suddenly made people thousands of kilometres away feel as close as if they were in the same room together.
How the Telephone Conquered the World. Episode Eight: The Russian Field of Experiments
The history of the invention of telephony reads like a captivating detective novel, but even more intriguing are the events that contributed to the worldwide adoption of this technology. In this series of columns on IQ.HSE, Anton Basov, HSE Faculty of Computer Science editor, discusses how telephones have become an integral part of our everyday life. The eighth episode of the series recounts how Russia first adapted the telephone for military and logistical purposes, created a shell company headed by a nominal executive for reselling the rights to Western competitors, and intensively developed communication infrastructure in the country's two capitals, making such progress that Vladimir Lenin insisted on capturing and maintaining control of telephone exchanges at all costs.
How the Telephone Conquered the World. Episode Seven: German Efficiency
The history of the invention of telephony reads like a captivating detective novel, but even more intriguing are the events that contributed to the worldwide adoption of this technology. In this series of columns on IQ.HSE, Anton Basov, HSE Faculty of Computer Science editor, discusses how telephones have become an integral part of our everyday life. The seventh episode in the series recounts the story of German bureaucrats, who proved to be the most astute in Europe by ensuring effective telephony first for themselves and subsequently for all major cities in Germany. However, even there, the government's dominant role over the free market slowed down the adoption of the new technology.
How the Telephone Conquered the World. Episode Six: The Telephone's Misadventures in France
The history of the invention of telephony reads like a captivating detective novel, but even more intriguing are the events that contributed to the worldwide adoption of this technology. In this series of columns on IQ.HSE, Anton Basov, HSE Faculty of Computer Science editor, discusses how telephones have become an integral part of our everyday life. The sixth episode of the series recounts events in France when the private owner of the telephone network was compelled to sell it to the government at a knockdown price, and the impact it had on the development of communications in the country. Spoiler alert: the impact, naturally, was detrimental.
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Peacocks, Pepper, and Petrol: The Early History of Imports from Asia
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How the Telephone Conquered the World. Episode Four: David the Start-up Versus the Corporate Goliath
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