The year 2008 was announced in Russia as the Year of the Family. Holding of the Year of the Family was the initiative of the President of the Russian Federation and it was held in the framework of the large-scale State program, directed to strengthening of the institute of family in Russia. Addressing the audience at the Opening Ceremony for the Year of the Family in Russia on December 24, 2007 in the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin said that it is extremely important to revive “a responsible and respectful attitude towards family values”. A healthy, happy and strong family benefits our whole society. According to Dmitri Medvedev, it is necessary to revive the cult of big family in Russia, “because a happy family is a family, which connects all relatives, and it gives powers for development”. The adults in a strong family set the tone. They are good role models that lead by example. They teach their children the importance of doing the same - and that becomes a part of who the children are. They work together to solve problems, and they pass their skills on to the next generation.

Having a good relationship with your family is very important because you can gain trust and you know that they are always there for you. I would like to tell you about a man who was always there for me when I needed him. For his family he was the best husband a woman could dream of and the most wonderful father a child could have. His friends are sure that he was the most devoted friend they have ever had. His colleges admit that he was a real professional. His students remember him teaching not only a foreign language but values of life as well.

He was born in 1941 in a small town in Crimea. When he was 6 years old he came to Helsinki with his family and grew up in the capital of Finland. He was lucky to be bilingual but he was also very talented and worked hard to develop his lingual skills. At the age of 14 he started to work as an interpreter. He worked with different foreign tourists and international delegations. By the time he entered Moscow State University he had already known 4 foreign languages: German, English, Finnish and Swedish. When he was a student of the Philological Department he used to teach other students how to pronounce English words. Once he took an exam in English and got «2» because a postgraduate who listened to his answer could not understand his English. It was too good. In an hour he got «5» from the professor of English and passed the exam.

After he graduated from Moscow State University he worked as an interpreter and translator all his life.

He interpreted a lot of famous people: presidents and prime- ministers, ministers of defense and different political leaders.

He worked at many international conferences and congresses. As an interpreter he travelled all over the country and visited a lot of interesting places.

He translated a lot of books from Finnish to Russian and from Russian to Finnish.

He translated Russian poetry and songs too. The best known song is written by Rasul Gamzatov. The Russian name of this song is «Журавли». It has been sung in Finland for many years in his translation.

For several years he worked in Finland as an editor-in-chief of the Russian-Finnish magazine called “The World and We”

He also made a Finnish-Russian-Finnish dictionary which has been used for 30 years by thousands of people in Finland and Russia.

He died in His friends and colleges who worked with him say that there is nobody who could be compared with him in intelligence and professionalism. This story is about a man I am really proud of, a man who was one of the best translators and the most intelligent person I have ever met. But for my brother and me he was the best grandfather in the whole world. We loved him and respected for what he did in his life.