On December 24, 2010, on the eve of his 80th birthday, the chief researcher of the Department of Korea and Mongolia of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Honored Scientist of the RSFSR, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor Boris Dmitrievich Pak passed away.

The news of my teacher's untimely death caught me in Beijing. The day before, we remembered Boris Dmitrievich with our Beijing colleagues, historians. It was very pleasant that teachers are known and respected by foreign researchers. I told him that I recently visited Boris Dmitrievich, he shared his scientific plans, and presented me with recently published monographs. We were going to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the scientist. And the next day this sad news came.

Exactly twenty years ago, in February 1991, I crossed the threshold of the Department of World History of the Irkutsk State Pedagogical Institute-I was looking for a supervisor for my future work on relations between Russia and the countries of the East.

At that time, my future teacher was already a well-known scientist, he had just celebrated his anniversary. A. S. Guzin, a student and colleague of Boris Dmitrievich, wrote:: "Boris Dmitrievich Pak, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor, Head of the Department of General History of the Irkutsk State Pedagogical Institute, celebrated his 60th birthday as a recognized scientist. His name as an Orientalist historian occupies a worthy place in Soviet historiography along with well-known researchers of Russia's Far Eastern policy." Pak was one of the first orientalists in Siberia - doctors of historical sciences, the author of a monograph.-

graphs and publications in metropolitan scientific journals. In 1992, B. D. Pak was even awarded the Order of Friendship.

Boris Dmitrievich Pak was born on January 4, 1931 in the Far East of the Soviet Union in the family of a worker. In 1937, his family survived the deportation of the Korean population to Kazakhstan and Central Asia. At the same time, my father was arrested on the standard charge of "being a Japanese spy", and twenty years later he was posthumously rehabilitated. After graduating from high school in 1950, B. D. Pak worked for a year as a teacher in a collective farm school, and the following year he entered the Eastern Faculty of the Central Asian State University in Tashkent. After graduating from the university in 1956, he again went to work in a rural school as a teacher, and then as a director.

In 1962, Boris Dmitrievich entered postgraduate studies at the Department of Modern and Contemporary History of the V. I. Lenin Moscow State Pedagogical Institute. Already in 1965, under the guidance of A. N. Heifetz, he completed his work and defended his PhD thesis "The liberation struggle of the Korean people on the eve of the First World War", published as a monograph (Moscow, 1967).

After completing his post-graduate studies, B. D. Pak was sent to the Irkutsk State Pedagogical Institute as a teacher of the history of Eastern countries. In 1966, the longest and most intense "Siberian period" of his scientific activity begins. In Irkutsk, Boris Dmitrievich received the title of associate professor and was chosen dean of the Faculty of History, but did not stop there. In just two years as a senior researcher, B. D. Pak prepared and defended his doctoral dissertation on "Russia and Korea in the mid - 19th and early 20th centuries"in 1974. By the early 1990s, he was a leading Irkutsk professor who had trained thousands of students and several candidates of science; he was a major Siberian but also internationally recognized historian, a member of dissertation councils at two of the oldest Siberian universities, and the author of several monographs.

For all his scientific achievements, B. D. Pak was a man who did not put pressure on his authority, but helped, could prompt and direct. Boris Dmitrievich was impressed by his simplicity and sometimes a certain naivety, but he could sometimes very harshly put him in his place. We, his students, could not but be attracted and carried away by his constant focus on finding new yet unknown historical sources. Boris Dmitrievich worked everywhere, "not disdaining" the richest funds of provincial archives. The opinion of the respected scientific community was also important for us. I remember very well how during a conference in Ryazan in 1991, L. B. Alaev casually noted that Pak was a recognized scientist, and for me this was a much more significant assessment than all the official regalia, positions and awards of my teacher, who was still future at that time.

In 1991, a new period in the scientific biography of Boris Dmitrievich began. The Center for Coordination of Scientific Research of the All-Union Association of Soviet Koreans (BACK) has decided to publish a multi-volume essay on Soviet Koreans. And the first in this series was B. D. Pak's monograph " Koreans in the Russian Empire "(V/? 1993). The generalizing monograph introduced into scientific circulation a large array of archival documents, largely made available thanks to the "glasnost" policy. It became the second work in Russian historiography on this topic, after the "Essays on the History of Soviet Koreans" published in 1964. The second edition of Koreans in the Russian Empire, published in Irkutsk in 1994, was one of the first books in my personal library with the author's gift inscription.

In 1995, the following monograph by B. D. Pak was published: Koreans in Soviet Russia (1917-late 30s). It was announced as the second of three books in the series "Koreans in the Fate of Russia, the USSR and the CIS". It remains to be surprised at the efficiency and ability to work of Boris Dmitrievich. The work was published in the fall of 1994. Despite the fact that B. D. Pak's monograph was again the first and last in this series. At least no references were found to the publications of the other two collective monographs that have already been announced. In the 1990s, Boris Dmitrievich began to actively publish abroad, and continued to be published in leading Russian scientific publications. At the final stage of the Irkutsk period of his scientific activity, B. D. Pak, in collaboration with colleagues, published two interesting works: "The March Day Movement of 1919 in Korea through the eyes of a Russian diplomat" and "Retribution at the Harbin railway Station".

Working in the archives, preparing monographs for publication did not relieve B. D. Pak from the full range of duties and tasks that were formally and informally under the jurisdiction of the head of the department, head of the graduate school, member of the dissertation council, leading university professor. In 1993, the Laboratory of Oriental Studies, which he opened in the late 1980s, was transformed by B. D. Pak into the International Center for Asian Studies (ICAI). Dozens of scientists from different cities of Siberia gathered around this Center, and the All-Russian scientific and methodological conference "Russia and the Peoples of the East"was held on its basis in 1993. Since 1995, the ICAI, together with the Society of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the editorial board of the journal "Vostok (Oriens)", has regularly held an international scientific and practical conference "Relations between the peoples of Russia, Siberia and the countries of the East: history and Modernity". It is difficult to name a major university city in Russia whose representatives would not take part in these events, and all conference materials were promptly published in special collections. The Pak conferences were organized by Korean partners, including representatives from China, Korea, Mongolia, and the United States. B. D. Pak also organized a special conference for doctoral students, postgraduates, and young scientists "Dialogue of Cultures of the peoples of Russia, Siberia, and the East". It should be noted that already in 1998 115 reports were submitted to this scientific forum.

The 1990s were not easy for Russian education, there were reforms, the pedagogical institute was transformed into a university, new specialties and directions were opened. And the scientific supervisor had to look for new forms of work in order to get results in new conditions. The restless and active nature of B. D. Pak required constant discussions, meetings, and this made it possible to communicate and learn directly in the" field " conditions of conferences and various kinds of discussions.

In the 1990s, the scientific life of Irkutsk was simply booming, and to a large extent this was due to B. D. Pak. He not only actively participated in all conferences held by historians of Irkutsk State University, but also annually held an international conference on the basis of his department. At the conference "Relations between the peoples of Russia, Siberia and the countries of the East: history and Modernity", we met with leading Russian orientalists from academic centers in Russia, and here we gained our first experience of communicating with Korean and Chinese scientists. I recall situations when Boris Dmitrievich showed some childish naivety when certain material issues arose, not always being guided by the realities of the new capitalism. But he had the ability to organize a team, teachers and graduate students, and the result was always a full-fledged conference, in one breath and without failures. The last" Irkutsk brainchild "of Boris Dmitrievich was the" Bulletin of the International Center for Asian Studies of IGPU".

During this transition period, historians of different generations did not always find a common language. And here Boris Dmitrievich's "eastern flexibility" and ability to find convincing arguments for compromise came to the rescue more than once.

Moving to Moscow marked a new stage in B. D. Pak's life. Having moved to the position of Chief Researcher of the Korea and Mongolia Department of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences in 1999, Boris Dmitrievich was able to devote all his time to scientific work. At this time, he is engaged in collecting, processing and publishing historical documents. In 2001-2002, two such collections of documents were published in the series "Russian Koreans" - "Kim Mangym"and" Lee Bomjin". A year later, the Institute publishes his "Russia and Korea" second edition and a joint monograph with a colleague " 140 years in Russia. An essay on the history of Russian Koreans " with a volume of almost 500 pages. In 2008, another collection of documents "Alexandra Petrovna Kim-Stankevich" was published, and the following year B. D. Park's author's monograph "The Struggle of Russian Koreans for Korean Independence"was published.

In recent years, Boris Dmitrievich was seriously ill. The loss of his wife, the faithful life partner Antonina Ti, and his advanced age, all this, of course, did not give additional strength. But Boris Dmitrievich was an optimist, went "far away" to the dacha plot, received guests, did not complain, but shared his plans.

In October 2010, during our last visit, we spent a long time, far into the night, remembering the scientific life of Irkutsk in the 1990s, talking about the upcoming 80th anniversary of the teacher. In December 2010 Boris Dmitrievich Pak was gone. And now I have on my desk the book "Choi Jaehyun" published shortly before the teacher's death, which says " in good memory...".

MAIN SCIENTIFIC WORKS OF B. D. PAK FOR 1991-2010*

Great October and Korea (On the eve of the March Uprising of 1919) / / Istochnikovedenie i istoriografiya stran Vostoka: uzlovye problemy teorii [Source Studies and historiography of the countries of the East: nodal problems of theory]. Moscow, 1991, issue 3, pp. 102-113.

Koreans in the Russian Empire (Far Eastern period). Moscow, 1993. 261 p.; 2nd ed. Irkutsk, 1994, 237 p. (in Russian)

Koreans in Soviet Russia (1917-late 30s) / Dipl. acad. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, etc. Moscow-Irkutsk, 1995, 259 p. (Koreans in the fate of Russia, the USSR and the CIS).

"The Amur Incident "(From the history of the Korean guerrilla movement)// East (Oriens). 1995. N 5. pp. 82-89.

USSR, Russia - Republic of Korea: development of new relations (late 80's-first half of 90's) // Mutual relations of the peoples of Russia, Siberia and the countries of the East: history and modernity. Moscow-Irkutsk, 1995, pp. 189-194.

Foreign policy orientation of participants of the Korean liberation movement during the First World War / / Mutual relations of the peoples of Russia, Siberia and the countries of the East: history and modernity. Irkutsk, 1996, pp. 125-148.

First sailors of the Russian Fleet in the Pacific Ocean on the land of Korea / / Russian Fleet in the Pacific Ocean: history and modernity. Vladivostok, 1996, issue 3, pp. 95-101.

Russia and the peoples of North-East Asia: some aspects of subregional cooperation / Relations of the peoples of Russia, Siberia and the countries of the East: the history and modernity. M., 1997. KN. 1. P. 37 - 44.

The March Day movement of 1919 in Korea: through the eyes of a Russian diplomat. Moscow-Irkutsk: Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences; Irkut State University. ped. un-t Publ., 1998, 181 p. (co-authored with T. Pak).

Was there a real project of dividing Korea in Russia at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries? / / Problems of the Far East. 1998. N 3. pp. 108-115.

Retribution at the Harbin railway station. Documentary historical essay. Irkutsk: Irkut State Pedagogical University. un-t Publ., 1999, 157 p.

RCP (b) - CPSU( b), the Comintern and the Korean Communist Movement in Soviet Russia in 1919-1924. Mezhdunar. asian center, research. Irkutsk, 1999, No. 1, pp. 281-291.

Kim Mangym (I. S. Serebryakov), Moscow: Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 2001, 213 p.: Comp.; author's article: Korean patriot and Internationalist Kim Mangym (I. S. Serebryakov), pp. 12-25.

The first messenger of the Comintern in the Far East / / Vostok (Oriens). 2001. N 6. pp. 36-44.

Li Bomjin, Moscow: Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 2002. 206 p.: Comp.; author's article: Life and activity of the outstanding Korean politician and diplomat Lee Bomjin, pp. 30-66; Lee Bomjin: the last days of life. P. 67-79.

Diplomatic activity of Lee Bomjin (Lee Pom Chin) in Russia / / Korea and Russia: traditions and Modernity. To the 150th anniversary of the birth of Lee Pom Chin, Moscow, 2002, pp. 25-36.

Korean Envoy to Russia Lee Bomjin / / Vostok (Oriens). 2002. N 4. pp. 25-33.

Korean Communists and the June 1926 demonstration in Korea (based on archival documents)// June Demonstration of 1926 in Korea, Moscow, 2003, pp. 52-71 (together with Yu. V. Vanin and Lee Man-el).

Russia and Korea, Moscow: Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 2004, 518 p.

Korean Internationalists in the Struggle against Japanese Interventionists (1919-1922) (new materials) / / Siberia and Korea in North-East Asia. Irkutsk, 2004, pp. 36-42.

140 years in Russia: (Essay on the history of Russian Koreans), Moscow: Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences; All-Russian Association of Koreans, 2004. 464 p. (Ser. "Russian Koreans") (together with N. F. Bugay).

The USSR Comintern and the Korean Liberation Movement: (1918-1925. Essays, documents, materials), Moscow: Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 2006, 416 p.

The struggle of Russian Koreans for the independence of Korea (1905-1919). Moscow: Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences; All-Russian Association of Koreans, 2009. 390 p. (Ser. "Russian Koreans").

Choi Jaehyun (Choi Pyotr Semyonovich), Moscow: IV RAS; Kraft+, 2010, 414 p.

* Comp. by M. P. Petushkov. Guzin A. S. Boris Dmitrievich Pak-scientist, teacher, and human being, bibliographic index of works by B. D. Pak (To the 60th anniversary of his birth). Irkutsk, 1991, pp. 3-9).

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