The S.Goncharenko Spanish Language and Cultural Centre

Director: Lilia Vasilievna MOISEENKO

The Sergei F. Goncharenko Spanish Language and Culture Centre, named after the famous MSLU professor of Spanish and translator of Spanish and Latin American poetry (1945–2006), was the first ever such unit to be established in a Russian university. It was founded in 1999 by MSLU and Granada University in order to help MSLU students of Spanish master the language and the history and culture of Spain. For this purpose, the centre was provided with a library of fiction and educational literature and a collection of phonograms.

The scope of the Centre's partnership has grown to include the Cervantes Institute, the Embassy of Spain in Moscow and the Spanish Centre (a non-governmental organisation of Spaniards who have been resident in Russia since 1937 and their descendants).

The Sergei F. Goncharenko Spanish Language and Culture Centre is involved in implementing MSLU cooperation agreements with the following universities in the Spanish-speaking world.

	Alcala de Henares
	Barcelona
	Granada
	Cadiz
	Castilla la Mancha
	Complutense (Madrid)
	Las Palmas (Gran Canaria)
	Santiago de Compostela
	UNED Distance Education University

etc.

Among the Centre’s most memorable projects are:

• The study of Russian language and culture, jointly with the universities of Granada, Barcelona, Cadiz and Complutense, and the Spanish Association of Teachers of Russian;
• Helping to organize the Spanish-Russian Centre at the university of Cadiz (2008);
• Participation in the Days of Russian Culture at the University of Leon as part of the Russia-Spain Cross-Cultural Year (2011);
• Organisation of live telecasts from the Theatre of Flamenco Dancing in Jerez (2012–2015);
• Organisation and management of the Spanish-Russian translation seminar jointly with the University of Granada (since 1992);
• Organisation of a conference about, and unveiling a bust to, the poet Miguel Hernandez (2009);
• Assisting in the organization of an exhibition devoted to the Spanish children evacuated to the USSR during WWII.

The Sergei F. Goncharenko Spanish Language and Culture Centre also works in cooperation with the embassies and cultural institutions of Latin American countries.

Since 1999, the Association of Teachers of Spanish in Russia (website: www.hispanismoruso.ru; established in 1994) have been based at the Centre.

In 2008, the Centre started implementing a partnership agreement with Santander Bank, Spain, to promote the teaching of Spanish in the schools and universities of Russia (for instance, in 2010, it helped to launch the teaching of Spanish at the Siberian Federal University, Krasnoyarsk).

The Center is particularly proud of its role in holding the Congresses of Teachers of Spanish in Russia (1994, 1999, 2008, 2013), which bring together academics, scholars and diplomats.

The 4th Congress of Teachers of Spanish in Russia (2013) saw the foundation of the Association of Teachers of Spanish in the Post-Soviet Space (the founding agreement was signed by representatives of Ukraine, Belorussia, Armenia, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan).

Mr. Emilio Botin, President of Santander Bank, addressing MSLU students (2008)

MSLU students meeting with Michelle Bachelet, President of the Republic of Chile, at the Chilean Embassy in Moscow (2009)

A cycle of lectures by National University of Columbia and the University of Antiochia professors on the life and work of the Columbian author Alvaro Mutis (2014).