On 8-9 December on the margins of III St. Petersburg International Cultural Forum, Herzen University welcomed Andrey Vavilov, a renowned MFA interpreter, diplomat and a witness of the Brezhznev-Nixon summit. The retired MFA counsel had a meeting with the students of SCIT and the Herzen School of Foreign Languages where he answered questions, shared his experiences (the audio recording is available at http://spbs.herzen.spb.ru). With his endowment of modesty, dignity and tact, as well as talent for finding effective linguistic solutions – our guest became a favorite role model for the students.

On 8 December Mr. Vavilov’s presentation at the round table “Living Word: Dialogue of Ages and Cultures in Translation” made a splash when he told the audience his personal story of interpreting for  Leonid Brezhnev, Richard Nixon and other decision makers of the period.

Mr. Vavilov’s visit contributed to strengthening the communion between the best of MFA’s interpreting corps and SCIT.