The premiere of the film about Lyudmila Verbitskaya in Moscow

This year marks five years since the death of Lyudmila Verbitskaya. Her name will remain in the history of Russian pedagogical science. The life of the famous researcher is the focus of the documentary film about her professional path from a student to the head of one of the largest universities in Russia. At St Petersburg University, Lyudmila Verbitskaya received a degree in the programme "Russian Language and Literature" in 1958, defended her candidate and doctoral dissertations, became Professor, Head of the Department of General Linguistics, Vice-Rector for Academic Activities, Senior Vice-Rector, and Rector of St Petersburg University. "For me, the University is all my life," said Lyudmila Verbitskaya.

Some scenes were filmed at the Department of Phonetics and Methods of Teaching Foreign Languages, where Lyudmila Verbitskaya worked as a laboratory assistant and began her academic career as a Russian linguist.

Lyudmila Verbitskaya authored more than 300 scientific, educational and methodological works in the field of Russian and general linguistics, phonetics, phonology and methods of teaching Russian. She was the only person who was not afraid to correct mistakes in speeches by public figures, even important ones. President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, who graduated from St Petersburg University, personally knew Lyudmila Verbitskaya and asked her for advice on issues relating to language and language use.

The biographical film is a story of colleagues, associates, close friends and family members about the invaluable contribution of Lyudmila Verbitskaya to the development of Russian education. Nikolay Kropachev, Rector of St Petersburg University, also shared his memories. He said that Lyudmila Verbitskaya was figuratively torn between her family and the University, but always gave preference to the University. "Lyudmila Verbitskaya was a person of sharp mind and remarkable spiritual strength. The ability not only to lead, but also to solve even the most arduous and challenging issues. I can rightfully consider Lyudmila Verbitskaya my mentor and teacher," Nikolay Kropachev said in the film.

Dean of the Faculty of Asian and African Studies at St Petersburg University, Academician Mikhail Piotrovsky recalled how Lyudmila Verbitskaya skilfully used the Russian language not only as a means of communication, but also as a soft power, building the cultural self-awareness of people. "We remember her as a powerful, strong personality, who combined charm and management skills," Mikhail Piotrovsky said.

The Italian composer Luigi Tonet, who wrote the music for the film, said that he was incredibly proud and happy to have created the musical accompaniment for the film, the main character of which is such a powerful personality as Lyudmila Verbitskaya. He thanked the Russkiy Mir Foundation for their trust.

The film "The main Russianist of the planet," a project of the TV and radio company Russkiy Mir, is one of the winners of the 2024 Presidential Grants Fund contest. The film director is Liubov Kurianova, who has dozens of documentary works, which have been broadcast on federal channels in Russia and abroad, and received prestigious all-Russian and international awards.

The TV and radio company is Risskiy Mir belongs to the non-profit organisation "Russkiy Mir Foundation". Lyudmila Verbitskaya was a chairperson of the board of trustees of the Russkiy Mir Foundation. The goal of the foundation is to popularise the Russian language and culture.

The film will screen in 33 centres in 21 countries around the world and on the TV channel of the Union State of Russia and Belarus BelRos, the TV channel Russkiy Mir and the national educational TV channel Prosveshchenie. The film has been translated into three languages: English, Chinese, and Spanish.

"The main Russianist of the planet" is the first film in the series "Constellations of philologists". Each person in this series is a star in the field of philology, both past and present. In the next work, the authors are planning to introduce the biography of the President of the Pushkin State Russian Language Institute, Academician Vitaliy Kostomarov (1930-2020).