Center of History and Cultural Anthropology
Institute for African Studies of The Russian Academy of Sciences
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9 November 2022 An international conference dedicated to the 120th anniversary of the end of the Anglo-Boer War held at the Institute for African Studies

RUSSIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
INSTITUTE FOR AFRICAN STUDIES


30/1 ул. Спиридоновка, Москва, 123001
Тел. (495) 690-27-52
Факс: (495) 697-19-54
E-mail: inafr@inafr.ru
https://www.inafran.ru



30/1 Spiridonovka str., Moscow, 123001
Tel. (495) 690-27-52
Fax: (495) 697-19-54
E-mail: inafr@inafr.ru
https://www.inafran.ru/en

RESEARCHING THE ANGLO-BOER WAR OF 1899–1902: THE PRACTICE AND THE FUTURE

Conference program

On 9 November 2022, the Institute for African Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences, hosted an international academic conference Researching the Anglo-Boer War of 1899–1902: The Practice and the Future. The event was organized by the Centre for History and Cultural Anthropology and the Centre for Southern Africa Studies.

The conference marked the 120th anniversary of the end of the first major armed conflict of the twentieth century. The event is dedicated to the memory of Dr Gennady Shubin (1966–2016), a research fellow at the Institute for African Studies and leading expert in the study of the Russian involvement in the Boer War.

Guests of honour at the conference were members of the staff of the South African Embassy in Moscow: Ms Tandiwe T. Mgxwati, Minister Plenipotentiary at the South African Embassy; Ms Cecile Heppes, Counsellor (Political); Colonel Busisiwe Mahlangu and Ms Theabita Witbooi, Attaché (Defence Section). The meeting was opened by the Senior Research Fellow of the Institute for African Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences, Professor Vladimir Shubin, who delivered a welcoming speech.

The goal of the conference was to help to stimulate dialogue between Russian and international historians who study the Anglo-Boer War. This goal was achieved. About a hundred people were present (both in person and online), Seventeen Russian and South African researchers presented their papers. A discussion followed.

Among the speakers were academics not only from specialized domestic research centres — such as the Institute for African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Centre for African Studies of the Institute of World History, Russian Academy of Sciences, or the Department of African Studies, Faculty of Asian and African Studies, Saint Petersburg State University — but also researchers from the Tula National Arms Museum, the Pskov Campus of the Federal Penitentiary Service Academy, the Pskov State University, the Institute of History, Archaeology and Ethnology of the Peoples of the Far East, Far-Eastern Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences (Vladivostok) and the Institute of History, Saint Petersburg State University.

The speakers from Southern Africa were researchers representing Faculty of Military Science, Stellenbosch University, as well as the University of Cape Town and the University of Namibia.

The conference was attended not only by experienced Africanist academics, but also by young researchers, including masters and graduate students. Apart from historians, philologists and economists presented their papers, contributing to the interdisciplinary character of the conference. Among the speakers were public figures, including a representative of the Coordinating Council of Russian Compatriots in South Africa, as well as a South African citizen historian who researches and keeps the memory of the Boer War alive in one of the most isolated and sparsely populated regions of his country.

During the event, the main aspects of the historiography of the Anglo-Boer War twentieth and twenty-first centuries were considered. The Anglo-Boer War studies in Russia and South Africa was analysed. The Russian involvement in the Anglo-Boer War in the context of the Russian volunteers’ participation in military conflicts was reviewed, as well as the study of the influence of the experience gained during this war on subsequent military conflicts.

The participants of the conference concluded that there is potential for a more robust study of the Anglo-Boer War and for exploring new themes. The most promising directions in the Anglo-Boer War studies were discussed.

Publication of the conference transactions is planned.