Professor Alexander Dubiansky, a well-known Tamil scholar from Russia, who had visited Tamil Nadu many times and taken part in the World Classical Tamil Conference held in Coimbatore in 2010, died on Tuesday.
“He died at a Moscow hospital, where he was admitted for treatment of COVID-19,” said P. Thangappan, secretary-general, Indo-Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industries, and a friend of Professor Dubiansky.
He worked as Tamil professor at Moscow State University, and his students today work in the field of education and the media. Tamil writer D. Jayakanthan, Tamil scholar Sivathampi and lyricist Vairamuthu are among his friends.
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“After the disintegration of the USSR, there was a lack of interest in Tamil learning and Dubiansky single-handedly revived the interest. Every year, he organised a workshop on Sangam poetry,” writer and Villupuram MP D. Ravikumar said.
Recalling a paper presented by Professor Dubiansky, Mr. Ravikumar said it raised many questions about the contradiction between Tholkappiyam , the Tamil grammar text, and Sangam literature.
“He had cited a lot of examples. But the topic remains undiscussed,” he said
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Mr. Thangappan said Professor Dubiansky was also an accomplished musician. “Once we met maestro Ilaiyaraaja, and the discussion went around music. When Ilaiyaraaja asked whether he had listened to his music, Professor Dubiansky played ‘ Intha minminikku kannil... ’, a song from the film Sigappu Rojakkal . Ilaiyaraaja was immensely pleased,” Mr. Thangappan recalled.
He had participated in the Bharathiar centenary celebrations and opened the Bharathiar statue at Salem.