Ivan Boldyrev received a fixed tenure and had the logo of Radboud University tattooed on his forearm to celebrate. Not a rash decision, because he thought about it for a year. ‘I’m surprised more people haven’t done this.’

You should not see it as tattooing your loved ones name on your arm and needing to cover it up after the breakup, says Ivan Boldyrev. The university lecturer in Economic Theory and Economic Policy had the Radboud University logo tattooed on his arm last Saturday to celebrate his fixed tenure.

After he posted a picture of the result on Twitter, a social media editor of Radboud University quickly informed whether it was real or not. “Kind of wondering if it’s really really real, though? As in permanent? Never seen such dedication before.”

The answer is yes. ‘This tenure was a goal that I’ve worked towards for years. This is what it is all about if you are a scientist. And I also find it a beautiful logo. I’m actually surprised more people haven’t done this. Maybe they do exist, and they’ll now come out and say they were actually the first ones with a tattooed logo.’

Memory

Boldyrev wants his tattoo to capture the memory of a great time. ‘This university has shaped me as a person. And the university is also shaped by me and all others that work here. If I ever leave, that memory is not suddenly gone.’

The universities of Bochum, Witten, and Moscow, where Boldyrev also worked, do not have a place on his arm. Nijmegen therefore is a special university for him. ‘The interdisciplinarity here is extraordinary. The fact that I, as an historian of ideas, can teach about the history and philosophy economics within a management faculty says enough. It feels really great to be able to work in a place like this with these people.’

Outlines

Getting the tattoo was painful, says Boldyrev. And while at the parlour he decided to not get the logo in colour. ‘You also have the old logo that is much more detailed, but I think this way with the outlines is prettier.’

Friends and colleagues were surprised by the tattoo. ‘Students haven’t seen it because I don’t walk around with short sleeves. It was not an impulsive decision, I have thought about it for a year.’ His wife found the tattoo to be a bit large, but she supports his decision. ‘There is still some ink leaking from my arm, so she calls me a squid.’

Hegel

‘I do not want to become famous because I got a tattoo of the university logo on my arm’, says Boldyrev, who has so far not been successful at that. ‘I prefer to talk about the philosophy of economics or about Hegel.’ The latter comes up when Boldyrev talks about the text In Dei Nomine Feliciter (In God’s Name Happy). ‘That text belongs to the logo. I also wanted it to be included in the original font. I thought about the Christian connotation. Good and bad things have happened in Christian history. Hegel says you can’t just forget the past. You can only move on if you overcome the past.’

For now, Boldyrev has no plans for new tattoos. ‘The tattoo artist thought it was still a modest one. They saw plenty of room on my arm for new tattoos.’