Lyudmila Verbitskaya

Lyudmila Verbitskaya (née, Lyudmila Bubnova; 17 October 1936 – 24 November 2019) was a Russian linguist and teacher. She served as president of Saint Petersburg State University. Career Lyudmila Alekseevna Verbitskaya was born in Leningrad on 17 October 1936. She earned a doctorate in philology from Leningrad State University (1958). During her academic career, her research focused on Modern Russian speech, stylistics, vocabulary, and semantics. Verbitskaya was rector (1994–2008), and then president (2008–2019) of Saint Petersburg State University. She also served as the chair of the Russian Academy of Education (during the period 11 November 2013 – 2018), and as the Academy's Honorary President, 2018–2019. She chaired the Board of Trustees of the Russkiy Mir Foundation, an organization formed for “promoting the Russian language, as Russia’s national heritage and a significant aspect of Russian and world culture, and supporting Russian language teaching programs abroad.” In addition, she served as Chair of the International Association of Russian Language and Literature Teachers (MAPRYAL), a professional organization founded in 1967.