List of Russian Scientists - Historians and Archeologists

Historians and Archeologists

• Friedrich von Adelung, historian and museologist, researched the European accounts of the Time of Troubles
• Valery Alekseyev, anthropologist, proposed Homo rudolfensis
• Mikhail Artamonov, historian and archaeologist, founder of modern Khazar studies, excavated a great number of Scythian and Khazar kurgans and settlements, including the fortress of Sarkel
• Artemiy Artsikhovsky, archaeologist, discoverer of birch bark documents in Novgorod
• Vasily Bartold, turkologist, the "Gibbon of Turkestan", an archaeologist of Samarcand
• Konstantin Bestuzhev-Ryumin, 19th century historian and paleographer, founder of the Bestuzhev Courses for women
• Nikita Bichurin, a founder of Sinology, published many documents on Chinese and Mongolian history, opened the first Chinese-language school in Russia
• Nikolay Danilevsky, ethnologist, philosopher and historian, a founder of Eurasianism, the first to present an account of history as a series of distinct civilisations
• Igor Diakonov, historian and linguist, a prominent researcher of Sumer and Assyria
• Boris Farmakovsky, archaeologist of Ancient Greek colony Olbia
• Vladimir Golenishchev, egyptologist, excavated Wadi Hammamat, discovered over 6,000 antiquities, including the Moscow Mathematical Papyrus, the Story of Wenamun, and various Fayum portraits
• Timofey Granovsky, a founder of mediaeval studies in Russia, disproved the historicity of Vineta
• Boris Grekov, prominent researcher of Kievan Rus' and Golden Horde
• Lev Gumilev, historian and ethnologist, prominent researcher of ancient Central Asian peoples, related ethnogenesis and biosphere, influenced the rise of Neo-Eurasianism
• Boris Hessen, physicist who brought externalism into modern historiography of science
• Dmitry Ilovaysky, major 19th century anti-Normanist
• Pyotr Kafarov, prominent sinologist, discovered many invaluable manuscripts, including The Secret History of the Mongols
• Nikolai Karamzin, sentimentalist writer and historian, author of the 12-volume History of the Russian State, the principal early 19th century account of national history
• Vasily Klyuchevsky, dominated Russian historiography at the turn of the 20th century, shifted focus from politics and society to geography and economy
• Alexander Kazhdan, Byzantinist, editor of the Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium
• Nikodim Kondakov, prominent researcher of Byzantine art
• Andrey Korotayev, historian and anthropologist, a founder of cliodynamics, a prominent developer of social cycle theory
• Nikolay Kostomarov, historian, folklorist and romantic writer, researched the differences between Great Russia and Little Russia and the history of Ukraine
• Pyotr Kozlov, explorer of Central Asia, discoverer of the ancient Tangut city of Khara-Khoto and Xiongnu royal burials at Noin-Ula
• Platon Levshin, president of the Most Holy Synod during the Age of Enlightenment, author of the first systematic course of the history of Russian Orthodox Church
• Nikolay Likhachyov, the first and foremost Russian sigillographer, prominent also in a number of other auxiliary historical disciplines
• Aleksey Lobanov-Rostovsky, statesman, published the major Russian Genealogical Book
• Mikhail Lomonosov, polymath scientist and artist, the first opponent of the Normanist theory, published an early account of Russian history
• Boris Marshak, excavated the Sogdian ruins at Panjakent
• Friedrich Martens, legal historian, drafted the Martens Clause of the Hague Peace Conference
• Vladimir Minorsky, prominent historian of Persia
• Gerhardt Friedrich Müller, co-founder of the Russian Academy of Sciences, explorer and the first academic historian of Siberia, a founder of ethnography, author of the first academic account of Russian history, put forth the Normanist theory
• Aleksei Musin-Pushkin, prominent collector of ancient Russian manuscripts, discovered The Tale of Igor's Campaign
• Nestor the Chronicler, author of the Primary Chronicle (the first East Slavic chronicle) and several hagiographies, saint
• Dimitri Obolensky, Byzantine commonwealth researcher
• Alexey Okladnikov, prominent historian and archaeologist of Siberia and Mongolia
• Sergey Oldenburg, a founder of Russian Indology and the Academic Institute of Oriental Studies
• George Ostrogorsky, preeminent 20th century Byzantinist
• Avraamy Palitsyn, 17th century historian of the Time of Troubles
• Evgeny Pashukanis, legal historian, wrote The General Theory of Law and Marxism
• Boris Piotrovsky, prominent researcher of Urartu, Scythia, and Nubia, long-term director of the Hermitage Museum
• Mikhail Piotrovsky, orientalist, current director of the Hermitage Museum
• Mikhail Pogodin, leading mid-19th century Russian historian, proponent of the Normanist theory
• Boris Polevoy, major historian of the Russian Far East
• Mikhail Pokrovsky, Marxist historian prominent in 1920s
• Natalia Polosmak, archaeologist of Pazyryk burials, discoverer of Ice Maiden mummy
• Alexander Polovtsov, statesman, historian and Maecenas, founder of the Russian Historian Society
• Tatyana Proskuryakova, Mayanist scholar and archaeologist, deciphered the ancient Maya script
• Semyon Remezov, cartographer and the first historian of Siberia, author of the Remezov Chronicle
• Mikhail Rostovtsev, archeologist and economist, the first to thoroughly examine the social and economic systems of the Ancient World, excavated Dura-Europos
• Nicholas Roerich, painter, archeologist, and public figure, explorer of Central Asia, initiator of the international Roerich’s Pact on protection of historical monuments
• Sergei Rudenko, discoverer of Scythian Pazyryk burials
• Boris Rybakov, historian and chief Soviet archaeologist for 40 years, primary opponent of the Normanist theory
• Dmitry Samokvasov, Black Grave discoverer
• Viktor Sarianidi, discoverer of the Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex and the Bactrian Gold in Central Asia
• Mikhail Shcherbatov, a man of Russian Enlightenment, conservative historian
• Sergey Solovyov, principal Russian 19th century historian, author of the 29-volume History of Russia
• Vasily Struve, orientalist and historian of the Ancient World, put forth the Marxist theory of five socio-economic formations that dominated the Soviet education
• Yevgeny Tarle, author of the famous studies on Napoleon's invasion of Russia and on the Crimean War
• Vasily Tatischev, statesman, geographer and historian, discovered and published Russkaya Pravda, Sudebnik of 1550 and the controversial Ioachim Chronicle, wrote the first full-scale account of Russian history
• Mikhail Tikhomirov, leading specialist in medieval Russian paleography, published the Complete Collection of Russian Chronicles
• Boris Turayev, author of the first full-scale History of Ancient East
• Peter Turchin, population biologist and historian, coined the term cliodynamics
• Fyodor Uspensky, Byzantinist, researcher of the Trapezuntine Empire
• Aleksey Uvarov, founder of the first Russian archaeological society, discovered over 750 ancient kurgans
• Vasily Vasilievsky, prominent 19th century Byzantinist
• Alexander Vasiliev, author of a comprehensive History of the Byzantine Empire
• Nikolay Veselovsky, the first to excavate Afrasiab (the oldest part of Samarkand), as well as the Solokha and Maikop kurgans in Southern Russia
• Nikolai Yadrintsev, discoverer of Genghis Khan's capital Karakorum and the Orkhon script of ancient Türks
• Valentin Yanin, primary researcher of ancient birch bark documents
• Gennady Zdanovich, discoverer of Sintashta culture settlement Arkaim