December 9, 2014 in Moscow, the Russian Geographical Society’s Award ceremony was held. This award has an international status and is presented for the first time.
Sergei Shoigu opened the ceremony: "For us it is crucial to mark off certain people - people who study our country and create its history" - the President of the Society said.
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The ceremony began with Oleg Anofriev’s performance. His song Есть только миг (There is only a blink) from the "Sannikov Land" movie is considered the unofficial anthem of travelers. The guests greeted the People's Artist of Russia with loud applause, and he wished the audience great luck.
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All the best related to research and travel - desire, hope, flight of fancy and thirst for discoveries - was symbolized by the main prize - the Globe. Every detail of exquisite glass figurines, which were presented to the winners - is the result of painstaking handwork of Moscow best craftsmen. In addition, the award winners received special certificates and cash prizes.
Valentina Tereshkova, Emir Kusturica, Nikolai Drozdov, Vladimir Potanin, Frederik Paulsen, Ilya Lagutenko, Anastasia Chernobrovina and other famous people were among the juries.
Nominees in the category "Travels and Expeditions" were the first ones to come on stage. Famous Russian cosmonauts Valentina Tereshkova, Alexei Leonov and Viktor Savinykh presented the award to the authors of "Arctic Floating University" and "Far Eastern Floating University" - Leonid Vasilev and Vadim Gaponenko.
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"Natural and cultural heritage of Russia" category was presented by one of the most favorite Russian actors - Vasily Lanovoi. The award went to the archaeological and geographical expedition "Kyzyl - Kuragino", head of the project Natalia Solovyova, and members of the expedition: Vladimir Sinitsa, Galina Maltseva, Artem Kislovskiy and Rueda Rumyantsev.
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Natalia Solovyova announced from the stage the start of a tender for the right to become a volunteer of the 5th season of the famous expedition.
Director of the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts Irina Antonova handed figurines and certificates to the winners of "Best media project" - authors of the TV films "Lend-lease": "ALSIB. The Secret route", "Lend-lease 2": "Gone with the sea": director Anastasia Popova and screenwriter Svetlana Rodina.
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"The Russian Geographical Society’s Man of the Year" went to Konstantin Bogdanov - the leader and organizer of the expedition devoted to the study of the battleship "Lefort". Konstantin received the award from President of the Society’s Board of Trustees, Russian President Vladimir Putin.
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"You know, at the very beginning, when the host was introducing today’s event, I was looking at the screen, watching how various expeditions were organised in the previous years, long ago, and how this is done today. And I thought that this is actually a very difficult and sometimes dangerous work. This is a truly hard work that requires enormous effort and sometimes is a risk to life.
But nevertheless, people do travel, fly, sail, climb the mountains and dive underwater. Why? Because, first of all, they believe that what they do is very necessary. I want to address all of you and say that this is true, and I want to thank you very much.
And second, these are people who are very much dedicated to what they do; they give a part of themselves to this work, devote a significant part of their lives to the cause they have chosen to serve. And only when these two parts – a personal inner conviction that what you do is important and right, and readiness to devote yourself to this work – blend together, only then do you get results" - Vladimir Putin said. (www.kremlin.ru)
"Geographical Research" went to the "Assessment of the thickness and size of Mount Elbrus glaciers according to geophysical data"project. First Vice-President of the Russian Geographical Society Artur Chilingarov presented the Award to the authors of the project: Stanislav Kutuzov and Ivan Lavrentiev.
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Then Ivan Kolechkin, a geography teacher, and his pupils: Polina Belotserkovskaya, Egor Demyanov, Evgenij Kozlov and Dmitry Krikun went on stage. Together with director Dmitry Vasilyev they won in the category "Youth projects" (TV project "Geography lessons").
"Best foreign project" went to the expedition called "The Wild Odyssey" carried out by French writer, photographer and filmmaker Nicolas Vanier. The Award was presented to his representative - Simeon Mirzayants, attaché for film, television and mass media of the French Embassy in Russia by director Nikita Mikhalkov.
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The ceremony ended with the presentation of a special award "Legend of the Russian Geographical Society" which went to 102-year-old Maria Glazovskaya - geochemist and landscape scientist, Distinguished Professor of Lomonosov Moscow State University, honorary member of the Russian Geographical Society. The prize was handed to her son, glaciologist Andrei Glazovsky.
Around 350 projects competed for the Russian Geographical Society’s awards.
The competition was attended by representatives of Russia and other countries, whose work is devoted to studying and preserving the rich national heritage of our homeland, and also serves for fulfillment of the potential of Russia and its citizens.
