An interview with
Vladimir Uspensky
Position & Affiliation: Professor and Chair of Mongolian and Tibetan Studies, St. Petersburg University
Date: September 10, 2018 in St. Petersburg, Russia
Interviewed by: Anna Sehnalova
Cite this archive
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this interview are those of the interviewee and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Oral History of Tibetan Studies project.
Timestamps:
- 0:00 Intro
- 0:29 Where and when were you born? Where did you grow up?
- 2:54 What did your father do?
- 4:23 How did you become interested in the Orient and when did it begin?
- 16:23 After your high school and military service, what happened then?
- 23:21 Memories of reading a variety of books as a child and teenager
- 26:25 Why did you find Asian fairytales interesting?
- 29:42 When were you deciding to study Oriental studies? What were the decisive factors?
- 32:04 Memories of his studies at the Oriental dept. and of classmates
- 40:25 Challenges in learning Tibetan language in Russia
- 44:08 How do you remember your year abroad in Mongolia?
- 48:10 How do you remember Mongolia at the time in the 1970s?
- 351:55 After your trip to Mongolia you continued your studies in St. Petersburg?
- 59:22 Who was your Chinese teacher?
- 1:01:23 Could you say how you remember Professor Kuznetsov as a person, as a teacher?
- 1:10:07 Did you also have some classmates who became scholars or professors or had some influence on you?
- 1:16:55 How did you choose the topic of your PhD thesis?
- 1:21:35 Meeting the Dalai Lama
- 1:23:31 Contacts with Western scholars after the end of the Soviet Union
- 1:41:13 Would you like to say something about the IATS?
- 1:58:13 How have you seen the seminar developing? How has it been changing over the years?
- 2:03:50 When did you visit Tibet for the first time?
- 2:05:53 Childhood interests in Geology
- 2:10:29 Were you also able to travel to the Indian settlements of Tibetans?
- 2:16:47 Could you say something about the establishment of the Tibetan and Mongolian studies in St. Petersburg in 2008?
- 2:27:18 Meeting with Gene Smith
- 2:30:31 How was your stay in Japan as visiting professor?
- 2:41:27 What has your career in Tibetan studies given to you? How has it changed or enriched your life?
- 2:45:05 What did you find the most interesting in your work?
- 2:46:25 Are there still topics you would like to pursue?
- 2:47:36 What did you find the most difficult and challenging?
- 2:56:22 What would be your advice to contemporary and future students?
Additional info
Vladimir Leonidovich Uspensky
Professor
Doctor of Sciences (equiv. Habilitation)
Born on December 12, 1954 in Leningrad/St Petersburg.
In 1981 he graduated from the Department of Asian and African Studies of Leningrad (now St Petersburg) State University. In the same year he became a postgraduate student of the Institute of Oriental Studies (Leningrad Branch).
In 1984 he became a tenured member of this Institute. He occupied a variety of positions, the most important being the Head of the Foreign Cooperation Section and the Curator of the Tibetan Collection. For many years he was the Director and Co-Director of the joint project with the Asian Classics Input Project (ACIP) aimed at the compiling of a computer catalogue of the Tibetan collection. In 1996–97 he was a visiting professor at the Institute for the Study of Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa at the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies.
In 2004 he defended the Habilitation Dissertation entitled Tibetan Buddhism in Beijing during the Manchu Qing Dynasty (1644–1911).
His publications include three books and many articles in different languages. His main scholarly work is the Catalogue of Mongolian Manuscripts kept at St Petersburg University Library.
Scholarly interests: history and Buddhist literature of the Tibetans, the Mongolians and the Manchus.
Since November 2007 he works at the Department of Asian and African Studies of St. Petersburg State University. From January 2008 he was elected as a professor of the same department.
2021
Academician-Orientalist V. P. Vasilyev: Kazan—Beijing—Saint Petersburg. (Essays and materials) [Академик-востоковед В. П. Васильев: Казань—Пекин—Санкт-Петербург (очерки и материалы)] / Valeyev R.M., Walravens H., Datsyshen V.G., Elantseva O.P., Zhukov V.Y., Kulganek I.V., Liu Liqiu, Martynov D.Y., Mayatsky D.M., Pang T.A., Uspensky V.L.; compiled by Pang T.A.; eds. Valeyev R.M., Kulganek I.V. Saint Petersburg, Kazan, 2021. 320 p., ill.
Tibetology in St. Petersburg. Collected papers. Issue 2 / Editorial board: B. B. Badmayev, A. V. Zorin (executive editor), Ch. Ramble, A. A. Sizova (secretary), V. L. Uspensky. St. Petersburg: St. Petersburg Centre for Oriental Studies Publishers, 2021. 356 р. + 16 il. ISBN 978–5‑85803–572‑5
2020
Uspensky V. Keynote: Tibetan Studies in Saint Petersburg: Past and Present // Revue d’Etudes Tibétaines. New Currents on the Neva River: Proceedings of the Fifth International Seminar of Young Tibetologists. Number 55, Juillet 2020. P. 1–14.
2019
Uspensky V. Józef Kowalewski’s Studies on the History of Catholicism in China // Rocznik orientalistyczny, T. LXXII, Z. 2, 2019. P. 134–151.
2018
Uspensky V. About an Attempt to Use the Cyrillic Alphabet for the Mongolian Language // Rocznik orientalistyczny. T. LXXI, Z. 2, 2018. S. 249—258.
2015
The Buddhist Traditions of Russia: Commemorating the 250th Anniversary of the Lineage of the Pandita Khambo Lamas [Учение Будды в России: 250 лет институту Пандито Хамбо-лам]. Editorial Board: Prof. Dr. I. F. Popova (chief editor); B. B. Badmaev; Prof. Dr. V. L. Uspensky; Dr. A. V. Zorin (executive editor); A. A. Sizova (secretary). St. Petersburg: St. Petersburg Centre for Oriental Studies Publishers, 2015. 186 р.
Uspensky V. About an Early Attempt to Translate the Tengyur from Tibetan to Mongolian // Rocznik orientalistyczny. T. LXVIII, Z. 2, 2015. S. 206—212.
Uspensky V. [Review:] Peter Schwieger. The Dalai Lama and the Emperor of China: A Political History of the Tibetan Institution of Reincarnation // The Eastern Buddhist. New Series. Vol. 46, No. 2, 2015. P. 131—138.
2014
Manuscripts and Woodblock Prints in Asian Languages at the Scientific Library of Saint Petersburg State University / Edited by Vladimir L. Uspensky; St. Petersburg State University Faculty of Asian and African Studies. St. Petersburg: St. Petersburg State University Faculty of Philology, 2014. 175, [1] p.
Tibetology in St. Petersburg. Collected papers. Issue 1. Editorial Board: I.F.Popova (chief editor), B.B.Badmaev, A.V.Zorin (executive editor), V.L.Uspensky. St. Petersburg: St. Petersburg Centre for Oriental Studies Publishers, 2014.
Uspensky V. The Status of Tibet In the Seventeenth – Early Eighteenth Centuries: A Mongolian Perspective // Rocznik orientalistyczny. T. LXVII, Z. 1, 2014. S. 230—237.
2012
Uspensky V. Rivalry of the Descendants of Chinggis Khan and His Brother Khasar as a Factor in Mongolian History // Rocznik orientalistyczny. T. LXV, Z. 1, 2012. S. 231—235.
2011
Uspensky V.L. Tibetan Buddhism in Beijing [Тибетский буддизм в Пекине]. St Petersburg, 2011. 368 p.
2006
“Explanation of the Knowable” by ‘Phags-pa bla-ma Blo-gros rgyal-mtshan (1235–1280) / Facsimile of the Mongolian Translation with Transliteration and Notes by Vladimir Uspensky. With special assistance from Inoue Osamu. Preface by Nakami Tatsuo. Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa, 2006. 115 p.
2000
Uspensky V. Index to the Catalogue of the Mongolian Manuscripts and Xylographs in the St. Petersburg State University Library. Tokyo: Institute for the Study of Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa, 2000. 186 pp.
1999
Uspensky V. Catalogue of the Mongolian Manuscripts and Xylographs in the St. Petersburg State University Library / Compiled by V. L. Uspensky with assistance from O. Inoue. Edited and Foreword by T. Nakami. Tokyo: Institute for the Study of Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa, 1999. XV, 530 pp.
1998
Uspensky V. A Tibetan Text on the Ritual Use of Human Skulls // Manuscripta Orientalia. Vol. 4, No 4, December 1998. P. 35–40.
1997
Uspensky V. Prince Yunli (1697–1738): Manchu Statesman and Tibetan Buddhist. Tokyo: Institute for the Study of Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa, 1997.
1996
Uspensky V. Old Tibetan and Mongolian Collections in the Libraries of St. Petersburg // Asian Research Trends: A Humanities and Social Science Review. No. 6. The Centre for East Asian Cultural Studies for Unesco; The Toyo Bunko. P. 173‒184.
1993
Буддизм в переводах. Выпуск 2 / Перевод Е.А.Торчинова, М.Е.Ермакова, В.И.Рудого, Е.П.Островской, Е.А.Островской-младшей, Т.В.Ермаковой, О.С.Сорокиной, К.Ю.Солонина, А.М.Кабанова, А.С.Мартынова, И.С.Гуревич, К.В.Алексеева, В.Л.Успенского, В.Ю.Климова, Е.А.Западовой. Редактор-составитель Е.А.Торчинов. СПб.: «Андреев и сыновья», 1993.