Материалы чтений памяти Б. Н. Мельниченко и С. Е. Трифонова

8 never limited by one particular topic studied, they covered a great vari- ety of subjects including specifics of Russian and Thai Grammar, details and stylistic difficulties of the translation, Russian and Thai culture, ar- chitecture of Saint Petersburg or Bangkok. Sergey Evguenievich al- ways showed concern in the life and personal and academic achieve- ments of those who were fortunate to be his students. The untimely passing of Sergey E. Trifonov in 2019 became an immeasurable loss for all his colleagues and students. Every time before entering the class- room Sergey Evgenievich used to knock twice to let the students know that he was coming, and now, with this familiar knock missing his stu- dents seek to carry on his legacy. *** The researches presented during the Readings, cover a fairly wide range of issues on the languages, history, literature and culture of Thai- land and Laos. This collection published upon the results of the confer- ence provides articles on the researches presented. ​The Readings — ​the first academic event in Russia for specialists in Thai and Laos studies — ​are characterized by the wide geography of their participants. The conference was attended by students and post- graduates from Russia and Thailand, teachers and staff of St. Peters- burg State University, Moscow State University, Moscow State Uni- versity of International Relations, High School of Economics, The Gorky Institute of World Literature, University of London, as well as major universities of Thailand (Thammasat, Mahasarakham, Kasetsat, Ubon Ratchathani). We hope that this First conference, which brought together spe- cialists in Thai studies fromMoscow, St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Chiang Mai, Bangkok, London, and other cities, will start the tradition of holding these Readings regularly at St. Petersburg State University, which will advance and develop life work of Boris N. Melnichenko and Sergey E. Trifonov and will become the best tribute to their memory. ​ M. A. Ignatiev