H.E. Ambassador Vyacheslsav I. TRUBNIKOV

Dr Alena ADAMKOVA

Dear friends,

Today we observe the 134th birthday of a man whose creative genius has fascinated several generations. Prof. Nikolay Roerich is widely known as an outstanding artist and connoisseur of the arts, philosopher, prolific writer and poet, public figure and traveller. This year also commemorates the 80th anniversary of Nikolay Roerich’s expedition to Central Asia, Mongolia, the Himalayas and Tibet, accompanied by his heroic wife Helena and their elder son Yuri in 1924 – 1928.
After that long journey full of travails the Roerichs settled permanently in the Kullu Valley and continued their activities in the sphere of arts and science. The ‘Urusvati’ Himalayan Research Institute was established. Today, the International Roerich Memorial Trust (IRMT) has indeed become a cultural centre and museum of international repute.
The lofty ideals cherished by the Roerichs make it impossible for the Trust to be a playground of any kind of confrontation, animosity, controversies, labour unrest or misunderstanding, be they local, genuine or artificially created complaints. The Trust must be free of all that. In this very spirit, the founder of our Trust, Dr Svyatoslav Roerich, conceived it as a sacred spiritual and cultural bridge between Russia and India, and I have the testimony to this in the General Power of Attorney he granted to me. I am stating this officially as a life Trustee of the IRMT.
We are really happy that today’s festivities are graced by the presence of Honourable Shri Shanta Kumar-ji, M.P., who practically stood at the cradle of the Trust. It was thanks to his efforts way back in 1992 that the IRMT was started. The memories of my talks with the then Chief Minister in Shimla on the formation of the Trust are still fresh in my mind.
Dear friends, invisibly, I am present amongst you in today’s celebrations with all my good thoughts and wishes for a very successful function dedicated to our great Russian compatriot and Indian ‘rishi’ – Nikolay K. Roerich.
With warm regards,

Alexander M. Kadakin,
Ambassador of Russia to the Kingdom of Sweden,
Former Ambassador of Russia to India (1999-2004) and Nepal (1993-97),
Trustee, International Roerich Memorial Trust

Stockholm, October 9, 2008