For the Biography of Russian Accountant Yaroslav Sokolov

Year 2013, Issue: 5 - Issue: 5, 234 - 253, 01.07.2013

Viatcheslav Sokolov

Abstract

In the field of Accounting theory, Yaroslav Sokolov created an
original school based on his research on Facts of Economic Life based on
the epistemology of Immanuel Kant. Accounting is viewed as a sequential
reconstruction of Facts of Economic Life through sequential description
of a variety of information (for example statistical, financial, actuarial or
accounting) which these Facts include, and which are called stratums. Each
description is built on a synthesis of experiences (observation of facts) and
a priori observation (theoretical construction) and therefore it consists of a
combination of a priori judgements which, according to Kant, only can be
true in science. Can be considered facts of economic life the following:
states (assets, liabilities and equity), movements (state changes resulted from
management’s action) and events (state changes which occurred without
management influence).
Professor Sokolov’s research activity is History of Accounting is
another side of Professor Sokolov’s research activity. He can lawfully be
called the initiator of this trend in Russian science. Before him there were
individual researches, but he wrote the first world history of accounting in
Russian. His first research became the first publication of Luca Pacioli’s
biography. After came the history of the development of accounting, an
encyclopedical work on accounting from sources to our days, and last a text
book which is being used in all Russia. Professor Sokolov was the person who
got the world acquainted with Russian accounting and its history. He was the
first Russian to become member of the Academy of Accounting Historians.
He wrote a book on Russian accounting, published in the USA, he constantly
published the Chapter on Russian Accounting in the European Accounting
Guide. His History of Accounting was published in Beijing in 1990, in Chinese
language. Transcripts of his presentations are published on a permanent basis
in Turkey, Slavic countries, France and Italy. He corresponded with leading
contemporary Accountants. Particularly interesting is his correspondence
with Ernest Stevelink, famous historian of accounting of the 20th century on
Russian Accounting questions, which still awaits its publication.
Writing on Accounting should never be boring: those were the words
of Yaroslav Sokolov until his last day. And after his death was released the
book “Accounting as a merry science”. His books “The image of accountants
in literature and cinema” and “On Accountants, that I knew and loved” gained
particular popularity in Russia, as well as his autobiographical and literary
short stories “Tales of an old accountant” released under a pseudonym.
He published more than 700 scientific researches, 60 scientists from
different countries became doctors of science under his tutorship.

Keywords

Russian Accountants, Yaroslav Sokolov, XX Century