This article is devoted to the reconstruction of the scientific discussion of 1955–1956, connected with the accusations of S. L. Utchenko, a Soviet antiquity researcher, by a group of young Czechoslovak historians in plagiarism. The authors of this article do not set the task of bringing in verdict a of Utchenko’s guilty. The purpose of this study is to get closer to understanding the mechanisms of (not)resolving such conflicts, and in addition to try to understand the specifics of personal and business communications between Soviet and Czechoslovak scientists, to give a look how contacts were established between them within the framework of the formation of the intellectual field of “socialist science”. This episode is not just a curious incident from the history of scientific ties. It is indicative in that it demonstrates examples of the existence of disputes, discussions and conflicts in the scientific environment, and also outlines the facets of scientific ethics.

The 220th anniversary of the USSR Academy of Sciences was celebrated on a large scale in June 1945. The Soviet Academy received 117 gratters from foreign scientists. The article discusses the representations of foreign scientists about the USSR Academy of Sciences recorded in these congratulatory addresses and telegrams. The perception by foreign scientists of the Soviet academic center was different, but equally positive. It reflected the hopes of the scientific community for the resumption of “broken” scientific ties and the restoration of the communicative field of “normal science”.