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Professor Zubov arrives in Brno, meets with MU representatives

Russian historian Andrey Borisovich Zubov has arrived in Brno after leaving Russia over two weeks ago. At Masaryk University, he met with Rector Martin Bareš.

Andrej Borisovič Zubov

Andrey Borisovich Zubov is a renowned expert in the history of European philosophy and Russian comparative history, as well as a critic of Vladimir Putin’s regime. He decided to temporarily leave Russia at the end of September for political and personal reasons. He will be lecturing at Masaryk University.

“It is a great honour for Masaryk University to welcome such a renowned expert as Professor Zubov in its halls. I spoke with Professor Zubov yesterday and I was inspired by his knowledge, not only of history but also politics, underpinned by enormous personal courage and preparedness to talk about things truthfully. I would definitely like to attend one of his planned lectures myself,” said Rector Martin Bareš.

Rector Martin Bareš welcomed Professor Zubov to Masaryk University.

At the meeting with the distinguished historian, he was accompanied by Břetislav Dančák, Vice-Rector for Internationalisation, Jiří Hanuš, Vice-Rector for Personnel and Academic Affairs, and Irena Radová, Dean of the MU Faculty of Arts.

Meeting with Professor Zubov in the Rector’s office.

Professor Zubov was invited to lecture at Masaryk University back in 2014 when he published a critical article in the Vedomosti daily, where he condemned Russia’s occupation of Crimea. He turned it down at the time because he believed he would be able to pursue his scholarly work in Russia. “Unfortunately, things have turned out differently and I very much appreciate the fact that Masaryk University extended its invitation. It is a real blessing for me to be able to lecture again because I can return to my university work, the scholarly activities I had to abandon eight years ago,” said Professor Zubov at his meeting with MU representatives.

His journey to Brno was very long and arduous, and he decided to leave Russia together with his family only moments before Finland closed its borders to new Russian arrivals. “We managed to arrive in Finland by car from Moscow literally at the last moment, just four hours before the border was closed. From Finland, we took a ferry to Estonia and then drove by car through Riga, Vilnius and Warsaw all the way to Brno. The journey took us almost two weeks,” said Professor Zubov.

The Russian historian was also welcomed by the Dean of the Faculty of Arts, where Zubov will be giving his lectures.

However, he is not planning to rest for long, because today he will start his six-week lecture series on 20th-century Russian history at the MU Faculty of Arts. “I will focus on the causes of the great Russian disasters of the 20th century, beginning in 1917 and continuing until the present day. I would like to use the opportunity to outline some ideas on how similar events could be prevented in the future. For the time being, I will be giving one lecture a week,” he added.

Students can register for Professor Zubov’s lecture series titled “Reasons for the Russian Catastrophe of the 20th Century and the Possibilities for Overcoming It” via IS MUNI.

You can still help Ukrainian students and academics by donating money through Masaryk University to support educational and humanitarian efforts. You can make a donation through the MUNI Shopping Centre. You can find out how much money has been collected so far on the MUNI HELPS website.