The Institute of Anthropology and Ethnography or N.N. Miklukho-Maklai Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology (russian: Институт этнологии и антропологии им. Н.Н. Миклухо-Маклая; abbreviated as ИЭА in Russian and IEA in English) is a Russian institute of research, specializing in
ethnographic
Ethnography (from Greek ''ethnos'' "folk, people, nation" and ''grapho'' "I write") is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject o ...
studies of cultural and physical
anthropology
Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of behavi ...
. The institute is a constituent institute of the History branch of the
Russian Academy of Sciences
The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; russian: Росси́йская акаде́мия нау́к (РАН) ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across t ...
, with its main building on
Leninsky Prospekt,
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
.
The institute is named after the renowned 19th century
ethnologist
Ethnology (from the grc-gre, ἔθνος, meaning 'nation') is an academic field that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural, social, or sociocultural anthropology) ...
and
anthropologist
An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms and ...
Nicholas Miklouho-Maclay
Nicholas Miklouho-Maclay (russian: Никола́й Никола́евич Миклу́хо-Макла́й; 1846 – 1888) was a Russian Imperial explorer. He worked as an ethnologist, anthropologist and biologist who became famous as one of ...
.
Institutional History
The institute was established in the
Soviet Union
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 national ...
by the amalgamation of the
Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (MAE) and the
Institute for the Study of Ethnic Groups of the USSR
An institute is an organisational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body.
In some countries, institutes can ...
(IPIN) in autumn 1933.
Its first director was
Nikolay Matorin Nikolay Mikhaylovich Matorin (1898–1936) was a Russian ethnographer and folklorist. He lectured at the Geographic Institute in Leningrad from 1924, becoming an associate professor in the Ethnographic Department there in 1928 and professor in 193 ...
. On 23 December 1933 he was dismissed by the Presidium of the
Academy of Sciences of the USSR
The Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union was the highest scientific institution of the Soviet Union from 1925 to 1991, uniting the country's leading scientists, subordinated directly to the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union (until 1946 ...
and replaced by
Ivan Meshchaninov
Ivan Meshchaninov (24 November 1883 – 16 January 1967) was a Soviet linguist and ethnographer.
Biography
Born at Ufa, he graduated from the Faculty of Law at the University of St Petersburg in 1907 and then briefly studied at Heidelberg Univ ...
on 1 January 1934.
On 25 January 1935, the IAE was transformed into the Institute of Anthropology, Archaeology and Ethnography. Meshchaninov remained director until this organisation was in turn dissolved in 1937.
On 11 February 1937, the institute was restructured with sections being replaced by several departments or cabinets:
* Europe and the Caucasus, headed by
Dmitrii Zelenin
*
Siberia
Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...
and Western Central Asia, headed by Y. P. Koshkin;
*
East
East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth.
Etymology
As in other languages, the word is formed from the fa ...
and
South Asia
South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;;;;; ...
, headed by
Nikolay Kyuner;
*
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
,
America
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, Australia and Oceania, headed by
Isaak Vinnikov
Isaac was one of the patriarchs of the Abrahamic faiths.
Isaac may also refer to:
* Isaac (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname of Isaac and its variants
Organizations
* International Society ...
;
*
Archaeology
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...
, headed by P. P. Efimenko;
*
Folklore
Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...
, headed by
Mark Azadovsky
Mark Konstantinovich Azadovsky (russian: Марк Константи́нович Азадо́вский; 18 December 1888 in Irkutsk – 24 November 1954 in Leningrad) was a Soviet scholar of folk-tales and Russian literature. As the head of th ...
;
* History of Religion, headed by
Yury Frantsev
Yury, Yuri, Youri, Yurii, Yuriy, Yurij, Iurii or Iouri is the Slavic (russian: Юрий, Yuriy, or uk, Юрій, Yuriy, or bg, Юрий, Jurij, or be, Юры, Jury) form of the masculine given name George; it is derived directly from the Gree ...
.
The Museum of Anthropology, Archaeology and Ethnography was set up as separate part of the institute under the directorship of Dmitrii Alekseevich Olderogge. It consisted of various departments:
* Europe, Caucasus and Western Central Asia, headed by
Nikolai Kislyakov
Nikolai Andreevich Kislyakov (1901–1973) was a Soviet ethnologist and who specialised in cultures of the Near and Middle East and Western Central Asia, particularly Persia
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also ...
;
* Siberia, headed by V. N. Chernetsov;
* India, Indonesia, and the Far East, headed by Nikolay Kyuner;
* The Early Stage of the Primeval Society, Australia and Oceania, headed by Isaak Vinnikov;
* North, Central and South America, headed by S. A. Sternberg;
* Africa, headed by
Dmitrii Alekseevich Olderogge;
* Archaeology, headed by S. N. Zamyatnin;
* Physical Anthropology, headed by B. N. Vishnevskii.
On August 5, 1937, the Institute of Anthropology, Archaeology and Ethnography was renamed the Institute of Anthropology and Ethnography.
Activities of the IAE
The IAE brought together
ethnographers
Ethnography (from Greek ''ethnos'' "folk, people, nation" and ''grapho'' "I write") is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject o ...
and
physical anthropologists
Biological anthropology, also known as physical anthropology, is a scientific discipline concerned with the biological and behavioral aspects of human beings, their extinct hominin ancestors, and related non-human primates, particularly from an e ...
from throughout the Soviet Union to research the physical-constitutional and socio-historic development of the population. Political leaders had set the anthropologists the task of showing that "race" from the
Marxist-Leninist point of view was not a significant factor in the "historical process". This was a response to the
Nazi
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
development of a "race science" (''Rassenkunde'') which was presented as the scientific basis for political theory and practice.
Activities of the Institute of Ethnography
In 1966
Yulian Bromley
Yulian Vladimirovich Bromley (russian: Юлиа́н Влади́мирович Бромле́й; 21 February 1921 – 4 June 1990) was a Soviet and Russian anthropologist who gained an international recognition. He became Director of the Inst ...
was appointed director of the institute and retained that position until 1989, having a major impact on Soviet anthropology.
External links
Ордена Дружбы народов Институт этнологии и антропологии им. Н.Н.Миклухо-Маклая Российской Академии наук(Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology, official site)
Notes
Kunstkamera* ''Empire of Nations:Ethnographic Knowledge and the Making of the Soviet Union'' by Francine Hirsch, Cornell University Press, 2005
{{DEFAULTSORT:Institute Of Anthropology And Ethnography
Institutes of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Anthropological research institutes
Soviet culture
1933 establishments in Russia
Research institutes in the Soviet Union
Organizations established in 1933