Mikhail Evgenievich Masson (5 December 1897 in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

– 2 October 1986) was an important

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

archaeologist. He was the founder of the archaeology school in Central Asia and a professor, doctor of historical and archaeological sciences and member of the

Turkmen Academy of Sciences The Academy of Sciences of Turkmenistan () is a state body in Turkmenistan founded in 1951, which is responsible for the implementation of Turkmen scientific and technical policy. The academy was closed under president Saparmurat Niyazov and reope ...

Early life and education

Masson was the descendant of a French aristocrat who moved to Russia during the Jacobin terror. He studied at the Samarkand men's gymnasium. In 1916 Masson started studies at the Petrograd Polytechnical Institute to become an engineer and irrigator. However he was required to join the army and then returned to Samarkand in 1918.

Career

Masson gained an interest in the protection and restoration of historical landmarks in Samarkand and soon became curator of the Samarkand Oblast Museum. He began conducting archaeological investigations and excursions and added to the museums' collection including panels of the Samanid palace excavated in Afrasiyab. In 1924, Masson went to

Tashkent Tashkent (, uz, Toshkent, Тошкент/, ) (from russian: Ташкент), or Toshkent (; ), also historically known as Chach is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of 2 ...

and became head of the archaeological department of the Museum of Middle Asia. He was also further educated at the Turkistan Institute for the Oriental Studies and from 1929 to 1936 studied the history of mining at the Geological Committee. He led further expeditions including the

Termez Termez ( uz, Termiz/Термиз; fa, ترمذ ''Termez, Tirmiz''; ar, ترمذ ''Tirmidh''; russian: Термез; Ancient Greek: ''Tàrmita'', ''Thàrmis'', ) is the capital of Surxondaryo Region in southern Uzbekistan. Administratively, it i ...

Archaeological Complex Expedition (1936–1938); the expedition for the archaeological supervision at the construction of the Great

Fergana Fergana ( uz, Fargʻona/Фарғона, ), or Ferghana, is a district-level city and the capital of Fergana Region in eastern Uzbekistan. Fergana is about 420 km east of Tashkent, about 75 km west of Andijan, and less than 20 km fr ...

Channel (1936), STACE -

South Turkmenistan Complex Archaeological Expedition The South Turkmenistan Complex Archaeological Expedition (STACE), also called the South Turkmenistan Archaeological Inter-disciplinary Expedition of the Academy of Sciences of the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic (YuTAKE) was endorsed by the Tur ...

(1946–1968), and KAE - Kesh Archaeological Expedition (from 1963). A former student was numismatist

Elena Abramovna Davidovich Elena Abramovna Davidovich ( Russian: Елена Абрамовна Давидович; 24 December 1922 - 5 December 2013) was a Russian archaeologist and numismatist, who specialised in the coinages of Central Asia. A founder of the discipline ...

Personal life

Masson was married to the archaeologist

Galina Pugachenkova Galina Anatolevna Pugachenkova (7 February 1915 – 18 February 2007) was a Soviet archaeologist and art historian, regarded as a founder of Uzbek archaeology and central to the progression of archaeology and art history under Soviet regimes. ...

References

External links

UNESCO
{{DEFAULTSORT:Masson, Mikhail Evgenievich 1897 births 1986 deaths Archaeologists from Saint Petersburg People from Sankt-Peterburgsky Uyezd Uzbekistani archaeologists Soviet archaeologists Uzbekistani scientists Soviet scientists People from Samarkand People from Samarkand Oblast Russian military personnel of World War I People from the Russian Empire of French descent Soviet people of French descent Uzbekistani people of French descent