As I got the information about the funeral of V.V.Davydov
from Jim in the evening of 20th and very luckily could
get a ticket of SU flight for Helsinki via Moscow from Tokyo
on 22nd March (Saturday and a festival day in Japan) I could
attend the civil funeral of Vasiliy Vasilievich Davydov, which
was held in the morning of 23rd March at the Russian Academy
of Education,.
About 200 people(friends and colleagues and others)
attended it. Our hearts were entirely filled with great
grief, facing his face with eyes closed for ever.
But his face seems to me calm,peaceful but a little
lonesome,just as the face of the person who has
successfully accomplished great, but difficult works and
has been still keeping strong power to do more.
In the memorial addresses to him, many friends and
colleagues spoke about his great works performed as a
scientist and as a academician, his serious and powerful
philosophical idea realized in his psychological theory
on the developmental education, his nice lovely personality
his cardinal and heart-felt friendship to his many friends and
so on. I addressed the words of my thankfulness to his long
warm friendship to me over more than 20 years and words of
farewell to him for ever.
After the ceremony in the Academy of Russian Education, we
accompanyed him with other many colleagues to a crematory.
There the really last farewell ceremony was held. And then
Vasiliy Vasilievich, covered with a mount of many kinds of
flowers, has gone to the subtle and profound cosmos, while
many friends and colleagues were seeing him off.
It was a very sad, painful long day for me and for others.
I heard this sad news firstly from Vitaly and Mike and then Jim
to tell that Vasiliy Vasilievich died on 19th by a heart attack
while reading a lecture at Kagarlik in Siberia. But it seems to be
not exact. It is true that Vasiliy Vasilievich was suffered from a
heart attack while giving a lecture. Then he was soon brought into
a hospital. His wife, Ruchiya Vasil'ebna, soon went by an airplane
to Kagarlik in Siberia, When she arrived at the hospital, Vasiliy
Vasilievich was still alive, but with no consciousness. Then he
died in the evening of 19th. They said that if Vasiliy Vasilievich had
been suffered from the same heart attack in Moscow and if he had
been treated by his family doctor who always served in charge of him,
he might be still alive. According to Vytaly, an inadequate medical
treatment by a doctor in Siberia, especially, an injection of
Glycole, seems to cause him to take a sudden turn to worse.
Of course no one can confirm if it is true or not.
If it is true, it is a great pity for him. We all feel much
vexed at it on hearing this explanation. But what is done is
done and regret and angry is of no avail.
It is a great pity that we have lost a great scientist, a great
philosopher and a very nice, lovely friend. It is a great pity
for us to be no longer able to see him even in Moscow and also in
the Congress in Aahus.
We are planing to publish his collections of papers(about
15 papers) published during these 20 years this year. Nighty-
five percent of works of the translation has been completed, but
we failed to publish it while he was alive. No one could imagine
of his sudden death. But now we must accept his death as a real fact.
What we can do now for him is, I think, first, to understand well
his idea and theory on the psychology of the developmental education
and to enlarge and develop his theory further, and, second,to give
psychological supports to his family,that is, his wife and grandson
(his daughter died several years ago by a traffic accident).
Dear friends of Vasiliy Vasilievich in the world !
If you have some photos taking his activity in your country,
please send some copy of them with your letter to his wife and/or
to his grandson. Of course you have no photo of him, please only
your letter to each of them. They will serve great much for
giving a great psychological support to their future lives.
The addresses are as follows:
His wife:
Name: Bertsfay Luchiya Vasil'evna
Address:Street of Krasnui Mayak, House 11, Korpus 5, KV 136
Moscow, 113570, Russia
His grandson:
Name: Vasiliy Sergeevich Bupkin
Address: Street of Uralishaya, house 6, Korp 2
K.V.113 Moscow 107207, Russia
(He lives with his grandmother, Garina Arekcandrovna
Davydoba, the former wife of V.V.Davydov. I talked with
him after the ceremony. He is now a student,and he seems to
be 17-18 years old. He told me that he intends to be an
expert cook. )
I had expected to meet some foreign friends of Davydov
in Moscow, but in vain. The problem of visa and of getting of a
flight ticket soon and their work situation seems to prevent
them to do a quick visiting to Moscow.
So I decided to write this message and put it into MCA network
in order to tell friends of Vasiliy Vasilievich and of
MCA about his funeral and death, my impression and about
my requests to you..
Thank you for your patience to read through my long mail.
I am going to bring with me into Aahus for his memory a copy
of video-record of the presentation of Vasiliy Vasilievich
in the Third Congress of ISCRAT in Moscow.
I am looking forwards to seeing you in Aahus in Denmark in June.
With my best regards,
Kiyoshi AMANO
Chuo University, Tokyo,
Japan.