Russian scholar laments lack of new translations of Persian books

TEHRAN,May 10(MNA) -- Vladimir Plastun, a noted Russian expert of Oriental studies, has lamented the lack of new translations of Persian books in his country over the past 20 years. Plastun, who is currently visiting Iran along with a team of Russian and Central Asian scholars, said that the oldest Russian translation available is a book by Sadeq Chubak (1916-1998, author of short fiction, drama, and novels). In a press conference held here on Tuesday at the office of the Fars News Agency, he said that they visited the ongoing Tehran International Book Fair and noticed Persian translations of the books by Russian authors Leo Tolstoy and Feodor Mikhailovich. He said that it was interesting for him, but he regretted that as a university teacher of oriental studies, he can only introduce books translated 20 to 30 years ago to his students for study. There needs to be more cultural cooperation between the Iranian and Russian authors, he suggested.