University as Destiny: To the 65th Anniversary of Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor S.G. Sidorov

Abstract

The article is prepared for the 65th anniversary of Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor of the Department of Russian and World History, Archaeology of Volgograd State University Sergey G. Sidorov. The article traces the biography of S.G. Sidorov, his pedagogical, scientific, and administrative activities. It is shown that fundamental foundations of the future pedagogical and scientific work of S.G. Sidorov were laid at the Faculty of History of Saratov State University named after N.G. Chernyshevsky, from which he graduated in 1981. Most of Sergey Grigoryevichs life is connected with Volgograd State University, where he has been working since 1986. He combined teaching historical disciplines with the administrative work. S.G. Sidorov was Vice-rector for Academic Affairs for 25 years. Being in this position he has done a lot to make Volgograd State University a leader in the region in training highly qualified specialists. S.G. Sidorov is one of the leading experts on the history of the Great Patriotic War. He is the author of the first fundamental comprehensive study of using labor of prisoners of war of the Second World War in the national economy of the USSR in 1939–1956. With his active participation, six volumes of Documents and Materials “Prisoners of War in the USSR. 1939–1956” were published. Since 2009, S.G. Sidorov has been the Head of the Dissertation Council on Historical Sciences at Volgograd State University. From 2014 to 2020, largely due to the efforts of S.G. Sidorov, Volgograd State University held five International Thematic Scientific Conferences “Military History of Russia: Problems, Searches, Solutions”.