On the occasion of the 70th birth anniversary of the great Russian orientalist and professor of historical sciences Vladimir Beliakov, the General Egyptian Book Organization, headed by Haitham Al-Hajj, has granted Beliakov its shield of recognition.

At the Egyptian Cultural Office in Moscow, on 7 March, Beliakov was handed the shield of the Book Organisation by Egyptian Cultural Counselor Mohamed Nasr Eddin Algebaly.

Algebaly expressed his happiness to honour Beliakov for his tremendous contributions in bringing the two nations closer, especially since most of his writings are on Egypt, including his important book on Russian immigrants to Egypt, in which he addressed the immigration of the Russians to Egypt at the beginning of the twentieth century, a period that has not received sufficient study despite its importance, and his book on the great Russian visual artist Evan Peliben, who lived in Egypt from 1920-1925.

This is in addition to his books, The History and Culture of Egypt and The Sphinx on the Shore of the Nifa River, where he wrote about the presence of Egypt in Russian culture, and in 2015 he published a study entitled ‘Egypt and Russia: A Journey to the Past and Anticipation for the Future.’

President of the Arab Federation for Graduates of the Russian and Soviet Universities Sherif Gad, who transferred the shield to Moscow, pointed out that Beliakov participated in the activities of the Cairo International Book Fair last month, and he had previously cooperated with the federation in providing many seminars dealing with the history of the Egyptian-Russian relations.

Beliakov is one of the biggest friends of Egypt, and he has a special love for the country, as he has lived here for nearly 15 years. He has written about 20 books on various topics, including nine books in the Russian language entitled, I know Egypt, designed for the Russian tourist about Egypt's remarkable historical and touristic sites as well as its contemporary life.

Beliakov, on his 70th birthday, said that he is honoured to receive the shield of the Book Authority, stressing that Egypt deserves this great love and that visiting Egypt from time to time is one of his most important sources of happiness.