The collection contains materials from an international scientific conference held at the Institute of Slavic Studies in November 2008. It was attended by specialists from Russia (Moscow, St. Petersburg, Tver, Yoshkar-Ola), Ukraine (Kyiv, Uzhgorod), Slovenia. The collection reflects topical issues in the history of Slavic studies and the role of the first university Slavists and, above all, O. M. Bodyansky in its formation.