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| G. Roerich at the entrance to the
”Urusvati” Institute. 1930s |
After the expedition finished, enormous scientific material collected on route, was passed over to the Institute of Himalayan Studies “Urusvati” established in July of 1928. As L. Shaposhnikova, major modern researcher of the Roerich family life and creative work, writes in her study “The Light of the Morning Star”, this material “was the first precious grain of that new science of which the Living Ethics wrote and the Teachers standing high on the stairs of cosmic evolution spoke”[3, pp. 79-115]. For more than 10 years, George Roerich was the Institute unchanged Director.
Determining the Institute goals, he wrote: “Comprehension of the main ways of the mankind development is a step to understanding one’s own personality. Turning back to the past, we reveal the present for ourselves. <…> A forgotten civilization is concealed in the mountains, it preserves ancient wisdom and culture. It is here that the science which has reached a dead end can find its renovation. Ancient wisdom is the key with which archeologist and naturalist open secrets of the Oriental culture. <…> Again a time is coming when the Oriental knowledge penetrates into our life and subordinates to itself science”[4, p. 200].
In 1934 – 1935, G. Roerich together with N. Roerich undertook expedition to Manchuria and Inner Mongolia organized on the initiative of the US Department of Agriculture with the purpose of collection of seeds of drought resistant plants preventing erosion of soils and spread of pests. Beside purely scientific knowledge, the expedition also pursued a social and cultural aim – creation on the territory if Manchuria, and afterwards – Inner Mongolia, of agricultural cooperatives on the basis of wide collaboration of peoples.
As a distinguished scientist-encyclopedist, George Roerich was elected a member of the Royal Asian Society in London, Asian Society in Bengal, Paris Geographic Society, American Archeological and Ethnographical Society, and many others.
George Roerich spent more than 35 years abroad, lived in India for a long time. But, despite this, he always remained a true patriot of his Motherland, and never acquired foreign citizenship. When fascist Germany attacked the Soviet Union, George Roerich immediately sent a telegram to the Soviet Embassy in London with a request to register him as a volunteer in the Red Army, but received a refusal.
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| G. Roerich. History of Middle Asia.
ICR publication, 2002 |
In August of 1957, G. Roerich returned to Moscow from India. It became possible thanks to N. Khruschev’s personal involvement, he had met George Roerich during his official visit to India. Only after that, G. Roerich got Soviet citizenship and permission to come back to his Motherland.
In Moscow, George Roerich started working in the Institute of Oriental Studies of the USSR Academy of Science and headed the “Section of Indian Philosophy and Religion History”. For almost three years spent in the Soviet Union (August 1957 – May 1960), he carried out work of incredible scope, compared to a whole human life. George Roerich revived scientific traditions of the Russian Oriental Studies, created a Russian school of Tibetology, for the first time in the USSR started teaching Sanskrit, laid foundations for a new science – Nomadistics (study of nomad tribes). For a short time of his activities in Moscow, George Roerich prepared for publication a multi-volume Tibetan-Russian-English dictionary with parallels in Sanskrit, a lot of articles and scientific studies. On George Roerich’s initiative, works on translation and publication of ancient philosophic and literary monuments of the East were renewed. He revived the famous series “Biblioteca Buddhica”, founded by outstanding Russian Orientalist S. Oldenburg in 1897 and dedicated to Buddhist philosophy, religion, and art, acting as the scientific editor of A. Vostrikov’s book “Tibetan Historical Literature” and fundamental Buddhist treatise “Dhammapada” (a collection of Buddha’s quotations). This literary monument of the ancient Indian philosophic thought became an important stage in the study of Buddhism in this country.
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| G. Roerich. Moscow. 1958 – 1960 |
George Roerich’s fundamental scientific study “The History of Middle Asia”, which remained in the form of manuscript and on which he had worked for many years, should be especially noted. He started working on it in India and planned to complete it, but did not complete in his mother country. Using the term “Middle Asia”, George Roerich meant the vast territory from the Caucasus to Great Khingan and from the Himalayas to Altai. This study is a cultural and historical review of the most important state and cultural formations on the huge territory of Eurasia. Presently, the International Center of the Roerichs released the 1st volume of this unique study.
George Roerich’s return to Russia and acquisition of the Soviet citizenship was a courageous and selfless step, taking into account that the USSR ruling circles had for a long time formed a distorted impression of this outstanding family in the public mind.
It is George Roerich to whom we are obliged for having an opportunity to get widely acquainted with the multi-faceted creative heritage of his parents – Nicholas and Helena Roerichs. His parents’ long cherished dream to come back to their Motherland never came true while they were alive. It was realized by their elder son George Roerich who returned their good name and great heritage to the Soviet Union. He brought to his Motherland belonging to him part of his parents’ legacy: more than 500 paintings by his father, a huge library, valuable objects.
Thanks to G. Roerich’s direct participation, not only bans on everything associated with the Roerichs’ names were lifted, but multiple myths of their life and creative work crumbled. From George Roerich, people around him learnt about the essence and the main concept of the teaching of the Living Ethics, or Agni Yoga. It was him who started the Roerich cultural movement in the USSR.
With George Roerich’s participation and support, the first N. Roerich’s exhibitions were organized: first in Moscow (April of 1958), and then in Leningrad, Riga, Kiev, Tbilisi, and other cities.
For the first time, the question of establishing in the country the N. Roerich Museum was raised by G. Roerich at the governmental level. For this purpose, he passed over as a gift to the Russian Museum about 350 paintings by his father, on condition of their permanent exposition, 60 canvases were given to the Novosibirsk Art Gallery. However, while George Roerich was alive, his dream was not to come true. The state did not establish N. Roerich’s paintings permanent exposition under the Russian Museum either. Most of those canvases have never reached the audience up to now, and they still continue collecting dust in storages.
Both as a man, a scientist, and his country citizen, George Roerich was an outstanding personality. According to Svetoslav Roerich, “George Roerich is an image of a true, inspired scientist-thinker, a man of a highest spiritual harmony. He clearly understood that the highest achievement of man is his personality self-improvement, that only constantly working on himself and developing qualities characteristic of a man striving for a more perfect life, he could comprehensively enrich his specialty and raise it above the level of routine”[5, p. 8].
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