Losev Alexander Germanovich (Shaya Girshovich) (16 September 1925, Moscow — 22 October 1997, Riga) — philologist, educator; a specialist in Russian–Latvian literary relations, Doctor of Pedagogy.
Alexander Losev was born into a family of emigrants from Ukraine (his father was an accountant, his mother a pianist; his paternal grandfather was a rabbi). The family was repressed by the Stalinist regime and was not permitted to reside in major cities. One of their places of residence was Tver, where Losev attended a music school studying violin under L. Krasinskaya. After finishing school, he entered the studio of the Moscow State Jewish Theatre, headed by S. Mikhoels, and in 1947 was sent to Riga as assistant director of the Jewish Dramatic Ensemble at the Latvian SSR State Philharmonic. He worked as a director and teacher in Riga’s Houses of Culture.
After graduating in 1953 from the Department of Russian Language and Literature of the Faculty of Philology at the University of Latvia, he served as deputy head teacher and head teacher at Riga Evening Schools Nos. 6 and 5. From 1962 to 1990 he worked at the Research Institute of Pedagogy of the Ministry of Education of the Latvian SSR, where for many years he was Academic Secretary of the Coordinating Council for Pedagogical Research and coordinator of pedagogical research across all higher educational institutions in Latvia. At the same time, he remained a practising teacher — at Riga Evening Secondary School No. 14 he taught Russian language and literature to Latvian students.
Alexander Losev is the author of studies and publications on the organisation and improvement of evening, shift-based, and distance education. He co-authored numerous textbooks in Russian language and literature for Latvian evening and shift schools, collections of exercises, school aids on Russian–Latvian literary and cultural relations, and textbooks on Latvian literature for Russian schools and higher educational institutions. His humanistic ideas on friendship and cooperation among all peoples resonated also in independent Latvia in the 1990s, where they were reflected in the programme manual A Unified Cultural Space (1988). A large part of his manuscript legacy remains unpublished.
Соч.: Pa jauniem un grūtiem ceļiem. Rīga: «Liesma», 1965. (В соавт. с Г. Рудзитисом); Наследие Н. А. Некрасова в латышской реалистической поэзии Межнациональные литературные связи. Рига: Латвийский университет, 1979; М. Горький и Латвия. Рига, 1971. (В соавт. с Б. Ф. Инфантьевым); В. В. Маяковский и Латвия Материалы Научно-исследовательского института педагогики Министерства просвещения Латвийской ССР. Рига, 1973. (В соавт. с Б. Ф. Инфантьевым); Русское слово. Рига: «Звайгзне», 1978. (В соавт. с Б. Ф. Инфантьевым); Estētiskā audzināšana vakarskolā. Rīga: «Zvaigzne», 1981; Формирование чувства дружбы народов при изучении темы «Николай Тихонов и Латвия» Интернациональное воспитание на уроках языка и литературы. Рига: «Звайгзне», 1984; Прототипы корчагинцев Даугава. 1984. № 10; Сопоставительный анализ переводов произведений русской литературы. Рига: «Звайгзне», 1987. (В соавт. с Б. Ф. Инфантьевым); Единое пространство культуры. Рига: Министерство образования Латвийской Республики, 1992. (В соавт. с Б. Ф. Инфантьевым); Латвия в судьбе и творчестве русских писателей. Рига: «Звайгзне ABC», 1996. (В соавт. с Б. Ф. Инфантьевым); Обращенные к Латвии строки. Русско-латышские литературные связи. Рига: «Звайгзне ABC», 1999.
Лит.: Staris A. Aleksanders Losevs Pedagoģiskā doma Latvijā no 1940.g. līdz mūsu dienam. Rīga, 1998; Инфантьев Б. Ф. Светлой памяти Александра Германовича Лосева Seminarium Hortus Humanitatis. Альманах. Рига, 2006. № 13.