Last October five former students of MGIMO decided to set up an alumni association in Geneva and today they have got more than eighty members, and their number is growing. The Association would like to get in touch with other former students, so if you know somebody who graduated from MGIMO, you know what to do …
Ever since its creation in 1944, the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) has been one of the most-or perhaps we can say that it is the most-famous and oldest university in Russia. Numerous politicians, diplomats and businessmen have graduated from this university. Let us simply mention the name of Serguei Lavrov, actually Foreign Minister of Russia …
Last October five former students of MGIMO decided to set up an alumni association in Geneva and today they have got more than eighty members, and their number is growing. The Association would like to get in touch with other former students, so if you know somebody who graduated from MGIMO, you know what to do …
We asked the President, Ambassador Yuri Nazarkin, and the Executive Secretary, Serguei Kossenko, to tell us more about their institute and what they would like to achieve.
YN : Let us first say that everybody who graduated from MGIMO is very proud of the institute. For my part, I can only say that I did the right thing when I started to study there. I graduated from MGIMO in 1956 and it has expanded quite a lot since then. Since it was established some sixty years ago, more than 30,000 students have graduated from MGIMO.
In the 50s young people tended to prefer technical universities, whereas today the university has become extremely popular. So it was not so difficult then to enter the institute. I just passed my examination in English, sat for an interview that was how it took place. (Editor’s note : Let us merely say that Ambassador Nazarkin received a medal when graduating from high school, so perhaps it was not so easy to enter MGIMO after all.)
In Switzerland there are quite a lot of former graduates from MGIMO. We think that there are more than 100 of them, but we do not know the exact number. We would like to know all our alumni graduates and not only those working in the diplomatic missions and the international organizations. That is the reason why we decided to set up the Association of MGIMO Alumni in Switzerland. It happened on 14 October 2005.
We are at the very initial stage of our existence. Our first task is to locate former students. Then we are planning to organize parties, workshops and round-tables and set up a web-site so that people can get information about our goals, different activities, and our association’s development. We want to get together and strengthen our links, recall our younger days and, not least, be of use to newcomers. In other words, we want to become a useful resource for others.
Our graduates are not only Russians. There are quite a lot of foreigners who graduated from our institute. We will also establish links to other alumni associations, such as HEI graduates, and we intend to arrange joint round-tables.
Q : So you are planning to become a kind resource for others ?
SK : We would, of course, be most honoured if we can be of use to others. Let me stress the fact that we are not a commercial association, but we would be delighted to serve as a connection for those who would like to establish links with either research or other fields within Russia and MGIMO.
Our association is a wing of the core association in Moscow which was established more than ten years ago. In the current governmental structures about one-third of its members are former MGIMO students, so our Institute (actually having the status of a University) is an important institution both in the political and economic sphere in our country. One of the reasons for establishing this association here in Switzerland is to be in contact with our country and friends through this association. The core association in Moscow is very active ; they have a website (www.mgimo.ru) and a lot of events are taking place.
Some graduates in former socialist countries, such as Bulgaria, Mongolia, etc., have established their own alumni associations involving nationals of their countries. We who established this association here in Geneva are mostly Russian nationals, but we have about a dozen graduates from other countries who are members of our association. We would like to get more ….
So if you are graduated from MGIMO you can contact either Ambassador Yuri Nazarkin, President, or Serguei Kossenko, Executive Secretary Association of MGIMO Alumni in Switzerland on E-mail :mgimoalumni@bluewin.ch
