Institute of Asian and African Countries
The Institute of Asian and African Countries at Lomonosov Moscow State University was founded in 1956 as the Institute of Oriental Languages. Today's name from 1972. It is the leading Russian Centre for Oriental Studies. It employs more than 250 members including 28 professors and 70 assistant professors. Many of them are well known as authors of fundamental studies, text-books and dictionaries for their translations of Japanese, Chinese, Sanskrit, Arabic, Hindi, Persian, Malay and other Oriental and African texts of fiction.
The staff of the Institute has worked out the syllabus and text books on History of Asian and African countries and on Oriental Literature as well as special books on languages, history, ethnology, geography and economics of the certain regions. More than 40 oriental and West-European languages are being taught at the Institute. Directors:
Smirnov N.A. (1956 – 1958)
Kovalev A. A. (1958 – 1975)
Akhramovich R. T. (1975 – 1989)
Meliksetov A. V. (1989 – 1994)
Meier M. S. (1994 –).