At the end of 2001, Kalmykia celebrated the 60th anniversary of the Kalmyk Institute for Humanitarian Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The decision to establish the Institute was made in June 1941. However, the occupation of a significant part of the territory of Kalmykia during the Great Patriotic War, as well as the deportation of the Kalmyk population in December 1943 to the eastern regions of Russia did not allow the institute to expand its activities. Nevertheless, the first director of the Institute was appointed Candidate of Philological Sciences I. K. Ilishkin and recruited a staff of 16 people. In January 1957, a decree of the RSFSR government was issued on the restoration of the Kalmyk Autonomous Region as part of the Stavropol Territory, and in 1958 the region was transformed into the Kalmyk ASSR. After the restoration of the republic, it could not be about reviving the institute, but actually about creating a new scientific institution. It was headed by Professor B. K. Pashkov. I. K. Ilishkin, who succeeded him a year later, headed the Institute for more than 20 years. During this time, the Institute has prepared 42 candidates and five doctors of sciences, and under its leadership has published over 160 scientific papers on the history, language, literature and culture of Kalmykia. The Kalmyk Research Institute of Language, Literature and History worked in two main areas: Kalmyk linguistics, literary studies, folklore studies; history, ethnography, archeology, education and sociology. Over the 60 years of its existence, the institute has changed its name several times, and its status has also changed, which is primarily due to the expansion and deepening of scientific research topics. Until 1978, the Institute was mainly engaged in the development of the language, literature and history of the Oirats and Kalmyks. Since 1978, the Kalmyk Research Institute has been renamed the Institute of History, Philology and Economics, since in addition to h ... Читать далее