A Personal Approach to the History and Historiography of Africa

The article is based on the materials of the international scientific conference “History and Historiography of Africa in personalitieses: a view from Russia and the world”, held on September 25—26, 2024 in Moscow at the Institute of World History of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The conference was organized in honor of the 95th anniversary of Academician Apollon Davidson. The choice of its subject was determined by the personal approach to the historical narrative characteristic of Apollon Davidson's scientific work. The conference focused on the contribution of the hero of the day and the scientific school he created to Soviet, Russian and world African studies. The contribution to African studies of his scientific predecessors (B. I. Sharevskaya, A. F. Ostaltseva) and contemporaries (N. M. Girenko, Theodora Buettner) was analyzed. The role of African political figures (J. Nyerere, N. Mandela, Leabua Jonathan, Josiah Jele) and thinkers (Molefi Keta Asante, Dani Nabudere, Waangari Maathai, Issa Shivji, etc.) in the formation of the modern system of international relations and the role of Russia in it was argued.