The 205th birth anniversary of Russian novelist, poet and playwright Ivan Turgenev was celebrated by the Russian House in Dhaka.

A literary program was recently organized in the main auditorium of Dhaka College, a historic educational institution in Bangladesh with a proud heritage, to mark the anniversary. 

The program included a colorful presentation about Turgenev's life and literature, several recitations presented by Bangladeshi universities and Russian Language Course Students from his poems and a short play of the literary work "First Love".

Dhaka College Principal Professor Mohammed Youssuf in his welcome speech, thanked the Russian House Director, Mr. Pavel Dvoychenkov for organizing the program at Dhaka College and promised to organize more programs in the future.

He also gratefully recalled the humanitarian assistance and contribution of the Soviet Union and Russia in Bangladesh's liberation war and post-war education and overall development of Bangladesh.

Pavel Dvoychenkov, director of the Russian House (formerly the Russian Cultural Centre), paid tribute to Ivan Turgenev in his speech and presented detailed information of his life and literary works and his valuable contribution to Russian and world literature.

He invited all the students present at the event to avail of the scholarship opportunities for higher studies in Russia and to enroll in Russian language courses at Russian House to enrich their knowledge of Russia's rich education, literature and culture.

At the end of the event all the participants received certificates and souvenirs.

The whole program was enjoyed by the teachers and students of the college with great interest and hoped to organize such programs on famous Russian literary personalities like Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Alexander Pushkin, Mikhail Lermontov, Leo Tolstoy and others to enhance their knowledge of Russian literature.