February 27, 2009 marked the 75th anniversary of Mikhail Leontievich Titarenko, a prominent Russian orientalist, academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Professor and Honored Scientist.

M. L. Titarenko's life is a story of becoming a scientist, researcher, diplomat and administrator. He was born in 1934 in the Bryansk region in the family of a peasant. After graduating from the Faculty of Philosophy of the Lomonosov Moscow State University in 1957, Mikhail Leontievich spent two years as an intern at Peking University, and in 1961 graduated from the Faculty of Philosophy of Fudan University of the People's Republic of China (Shanghai). For a number of years, he served in the diplomatic service at the Consulate General of the USSR in Shanghai (1961-1962) and the Embassy of the USSR in Beijing (1963-1965). In 1965, M. L. Titarenko was invited as a reference consultant to the Department of the Central Committee of the CPSU, where he worked for 20 years, becoming one of the leading experts on China and the Far East in the highest governing bodies of the USSR.

In November 1965, M. L. Titarenko received the degree of Candidate of Philosophical Sciences, having defended his dissertation on the topic "Ancient Chinese school of Morists and their teaching". In 1979, he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.

In 1985, M. L. Titarenko became Director of the Institute of the Far East of the USSR Academy of Sciences (IDV RAS), having established himself as an excellent organizer of the creative scientific process. Under his leadership, the Institute has become a multidisciplinary center for scientific research on a wide range of theoretical and practical problems in the development of the Russian and foreign Far East, primarily China and Russian-Chinese relations.

A special feature of M. L. Titarenko's work as Director of the Institute of the Far East (from 1985 to the present) is a highly responsible attitude to the assigned task. The Institute actually became his own brainchild. The path of development of the institute was not easy, but its director led IDV along the turbulent channel of the difficult 1990s, and no less easy the first decade of the 2000s. As a result, the Institute did not lose its most valuable and unique staff and supported people in social terms, gave them the opportunity to publish, go on business trips to exchange scientific experience, and hold major international conferences. For 23 years under the leadership of M. L. Titarenko, IDV has gained a well-deserved recognition in Russia, the near and far abroad as a scientific leader in the field of integrated research of China, Japan, the Korean Peninsula, the problems of the Asia-Pacific region, including the entire East Asia, and the activities of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

In May 1997, M. L. Titarenko was elected a corresponding member, and in May 2003-a full member of the Russian Academy of Sciences. He is an honorary professor at several Chinese and foreign academies and institutes, and an Honored Worker of the Russian Diplomatic Service.

Since the mid-1960s, M. L. Titarenko has been actively involved in the activities of the Society of Soviet-Chinese Friendship (now the Society of Russian-Chinese Friendship), serving as the first deputy chairman of its central board until 1998. In April 1998, at the VI reporting and election Conference of the society, he was elected, and in April 2003, at the VII reporting and election conference, he was re-elected Chairman of the central board of the Russian-Chinese Friendship Society. At the same time, he is a member of the Executive Council of the Russian - Chinese Committee for Friendship, Peace and Development of the XXI Century, a member of the presidium of the Organization of Solidarity and Cooperation of the Peoples of Asia and Africa. Mikhail Leontyevich is a holder of a number of Soviet and Russian government awards and awards of foreign countries, in particular, by decree of the President of the Russian Federation of February 14, 2009, Mikhail Titarenko was awarded the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, 4th degree.

M. L. Titarenko's research activities are extremely broad and diverse. He is one of the largest researchers in Russia and abroad of Chinese philosophy and spiritual culture, international and inter-civilizational relations in Asia, problems of the "new Eurasianism" and relations between the Russian Federation and its Far Eastern neighbors. His philosophical works in methodological terms make it possible not only to systematize and analyze the main schools and trends of traditional Chinese thought, but also to trace its key canons (moral, ethical, civilizational, ideological), to project them on the current political and social realities of China and even Western countries and Russia.

An important area of M. L. Titarenko's research is the study of China's domestic political and economic problems through the prism of the successful experience of Chinese reforms and the possibility of understanding it in terms of Russian interests. Analyzing the specifics of modern modernization processes in the PRC (the concept of "socialism with Chinese characteristics"), M. L. Titarenko identifies the fundamental reason for Chinese economic success - the skillful use by the Chinese leadership of the country's comparative advantage strategy, which is now organically supplemented by the course on developing its own innovative economy ("knowledge economy"). Particularly relevant in the context of the current global financial crisis are the proposals put forward by him (together with a corresponding member). RAS B. N. Kuzykom) methods of forecasting China's development that stand the test of time and fully correlate with trends in the Chinese economy in 2009.

International issues in the works of M. L. Titarenko are presented in a wide range of key topics, which are consistently and systematically developed by him in various research formats. The priority objects of his close attention are the development of the Russian-Chinese strategic partnership, issues of stability and co-development of the two countries, interaction between the Russian Federation and the PRC in the integration field of the Asia-Pacific region. M. L. Titarenko developed the concept of "new Eurasianism", within which he analyzes fundamentally important aspects of international relations in East Asia and the Asia-Pacific region as a whole, mainly from the point of view of ensuring Russia's national interests. According to him, the partnership between Russia and China in the "Asian directions" is becoming a factor of growth and strengthening of both countries.

M. L. Titarenko pays considerable attention in his research to the regional context of trilateral cooperation between Russia, India, and China at the beginning of the XXI century. The Institute of the Far East of the Russian Academy of Sciences, headed by him, initiated a large-scale scientific dialogue between scientists from Russia, India and China, and developed the conceptual framework for trilateral cooperation. The conclusions, generalizations and proposals of the IDA were used by the three countries ' leaders both in the process of bilateral and trilateral negotiations, as well as in the preparation of final documents on trilateral cooperation.

It is symbolic that Mikhail Leontyevich's anniversary coincides with two other dates - the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China and the establishment of diplomatic relations between our country and the PRC. This coincidence has a deep meaning: China was and remains for the hero of the day a country that he devoted his life to studying.

The Directorate, the staff of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the editorial board and the editorial board of the magazine "Vostok (Oriens)" sincerely congratulate Mikhail Leontievich on his anniversary and wish him good health and new creative success.

MONOGRAPHIC STUDIES OF M. L. TITARENKO FOR 1998-2008.

Russia facing Asia, Moscow: Respublika Publ., 1998, 319 p.

China: civilizatsii i reformy [Civilizations and Reforms], Moscow, Respublika Publ., 1999, 240 p.

Russia. Security through Cooperation: the East Asian Vector, Moscow: Pamyatniki istoricheskoi mysli, 2003, 405 p. (in Russian)

China-Russia 2050: Strategy of Co-development, Moscow: Institute of Economic Strategies, 2006 (together with B. N. Kuzyk). 656 p.

Geopolitical significance of the Far East. Russia, China and other Asian countries, Moscow: Pamyatniki istoricheskoi mysli, 2008, 624 p. (in Russian)

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