MOSCOW 16 October 2018 – Multi-awarded academic, historian, and journalist Dr. Ambeth R. Ocampo held lectures in two of Russia’s most prestigious universities, bringing facets of Philippine history and culture to life to a young audience of future leaders and diplomats on 4 October 2018.
Dr. Ocampo was at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) University to deliver a lecture on “Mukhang Pera: Banknotes and Nation,” showing banknotes as an expression of culture and history.
The lecture was hosted by the ASEAN Center in MGIMO led by Dr. Victor Sumsky. The audience consisted of professors and students of international relations and diplomacy, specializing in the Southeast Asian region.
The ASEAN Center also mounted a mini-exhibit of Dr. Ocampo’s publications.
The following day, Dr. Ocampo visited the Institute of Asian and African Studies of the Moscow State University (IAAS-MSU), where he talked about the diaries of former President Ferdinand E. Marcos from 1969 to 1984.
He shared insights on President Marcos’ historic official visit to the Soviet Union on 31 May to 7 June 1976, which led to the establishment of diplomatic relations between Manila and Moscow.
“The lecture presents data and insights gathered in the course of preparing the diaries for publication, collating from different manuscript sources, and annotating from newspapers and the Official Gazette.” It also presents how “being critical of Marcos’s own view of events and how he attempts through this self-referential document to write himself into Philippine history,” Dr. Ocampo stated.
“Dr. Ocampo is an iconoclast in Philippine historiography. He brings fresh perspectives to our past. We are very happy that he is able to share these with a young Russian audience,” said Ambassador to Russia Carlos D. Sorreta.
“We thank the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) for supporting this cultural diplomacy initiative. The NCCA has always been a reliable partner of the Embassy in this area,” the Ambassador added.
Professors and students of Southeast Asian philology, including Filipino, attended the lecture.
Prior to the lecture, Dr. Ocampo also met with IAAS-MSU Director Dr. Igor Abylgaziev, and Philippine Philology Senior Professor Elena Frolova.
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For more information, visit www.moscowpe.dfa.gov.ph, https://www.facebook.com/moscowpe, or https://www.facebook.com/moscowpeconsular.
