A Cambridge University professor has admitted to being stunned after winning a ’‘Grand Gold Medal’ from the Russian Academy of Science.

Professor Simon Franklin, who heads up the Department of Slavonic Studies, has been awarded the ‘Lomonosov Medal’ - the Academy’s highest award for scholarly achievement.

What makes his achievement even more remarkable is the fact that only two are handed out per year - with only one going to a non-Russian citizen.

Although the Academy do not grant the award for one specific piece of work, they have broadly recognised Professor Franklin’s expertise in Slavonic studies.

His award citation from the Russian Academy of Science reads: “For outstanding work on the ethno-political and cultural history of Russia and the significant contribution to the study of early Russian written culture and early Russian literature.”

Professor Franklin, of Clare College, said: “I wish I knew how they decided to award me the medal - but I really don’t know. They don’t tell you specifically, it just comes out of the sky almost.

“It’s still feels unreal; it came as a complete surprise to me. I’ve never had awards in mind in the work I’ve done; it’s not something that has ever been on my horizons.”

The Russian Academy of Science places no restriction on the subject matter, but the vast majority of non-Russian winners have also been Nobel Prize winners. Notable recipients include: James Watson, discoverer of DNA, and novelist Alexander Solzhenitsyn.

Professor Franklin is no exception and has written on Russian history and culture of all periods. However, his principal research interests are medieval. Recent publications include: The Emergence of Rus 750-1200 (with Jonathan Shepard; London, 1996), Writing, Society and Culture in Early Rus, c.950-1300 (Cambridge, 2002) and (with Emma Widdis) National Identity in Russian Culture: an Introduction (Cambridge, 2004).

Professor Franklin will fly out to Moscow in late May. The award ceremony itself – during which he will have to make a half-hour presentation – takes place on May 29 at the Academy.

The Lomonosov Gold Medal, named after Russian scientist and polymath Mikhail Lomonosov, has been awarded each year since 1959 for outstanding achievements in the natural sciences and the humanities by the USSR Academy of Sciences, later the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS).

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Licence. If you use this content on your site please link back to this page.