Alexander Stoliarov: «I’ll be perfectly honest with you»

Interview conducted by Olga Kusenko

Abstract

This conversation with Alexander Arnoldovich Stoliarov‒ an eminent scholar, the leading expert in the Stoic philosophy and Patristic tradition ‒ took place in the summer 2017 as a part of RAS Institute of Philosophy project “Pages of History”. In the interview Prof. Stoliarov talks about his student years in Lomonosov Moscow State University, the faculty of history and its professors, the department of Ancient History, bookstores and samizdat, perception of classical music, “Okhotnik” [Hunter] cafe menu, a tour to Solovki, his working as a secretary in A.F. Losevʼs (an outstanding Russian philosopher of the 20th century) home-office, the “blank spot” in Stoicism, his thesis defense, Volkhonka 14, weird soviet “traditions”, friends of his youth, colleagues and many other things. People and situations mentioned here comprise the collective intellectual biography of the 1970s‒1980s generation of young Soviet scholars and introduce the reader to this interesting period of the Soviet history. Interview conducted by Olga Kusenko.