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 "He
was a true intelligent, a real scientist without high titles or degrees. He
was one of those who are called "a master mind", with those words
Irina Kopylenko began the meeting dedicated to her teacher Israel Abramovitch
Smirin.
The show room of "Rimon" JCC was full. Those were mostly
middle-aged people who knew about Isaac Babel through Smirin's
articles.
"Israel Abramovitch's thesis "Creative Way of I.E.Babel -
Prosaic" was his first work dedicated to the poet who had been forbidden
for many years" continued Smirin's collegue Margarita Dachschleger.
She cited the memoirs of Babels' widow Antonina Pirozhkova: "Soon after
Babel was rehabilitated young people began working on theses on the subject
of his works. Israel Abramovitch Smirin was one of the first among them."
 Smirin's
portrait was becoming clearer and clearer. We saw a struggling scientist who
could not rest even a minute. When working in Kazakh State University he refused
to deliver a "selected" course of Soviet literature and had to quit
and to leave Almaty. But the years he had lived there, work with students, and
friendship with interesting people left a deep trace in his soul.
Many generations of philologists remember him as an expert in world
culture, an erudite person always ready to share his knowledge. Israel Abramovitch
Smirin will remain with Kazakhstani Jewish community forever. We remember every
star that lit up the way of our people.
Galina Goldberg
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