Tag #143422 - Interview #78176 (Rachil Meitina)

However, Stalin’s death didn’t put an end to the persecution of Jews. I had almost an analogous story with my doctor’s dissertation that I defended at the Academy of Medical Sciences. I got all votes ‘for’ it. I was approved by the first council of VAK certification commission: the highest body of federal executive authority awarding titles, the Russian equivalentsof PhDs, MAs, etc]. Then another council was conducted. Somebody told me that a professor didn’t like my surname and demanded an additional reference for my work. Once an acquaintance of mine called me to say that her neighbor, who was a well-known scientist, had got my dissertation to write a reference letter. He said that he was unfamiliar with the subject and asked me to write a reference letter that he would sign. My boss and I wrote the letter and he signed it. On the next day my dissertation was approved.