This list of Russian historians includes the famous

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...

s, as well as archaeologists, paleographers,

genealogist Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kins ...

s and other representatives of auxiliary historical disciplines from the

Russian Federation Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia North Asia or Northern Asia, also referred to as Siberia, is the northern region of Asia, which is defined in geographic ...

, the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

, the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the List of Russian monarchs, Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended th ...

and other predecessor states of Russia.

Alphabetical list

__NOTOC__

A

Friedrich von Adelung Friedrich von Adelung (February 25, 1768 – January 30, 1843) was a German-Russian linguist, historian and bibliographer. His best known works are in the fields of bibliography of Sanskrit language and the European accounts of the Time of Troubles ...

(1768-1843), historian and museologist, researched the European accounts of the

Time of Troubles The Time of Troubles (russian: Смутное время, ), or Smuta (russian: Смута), was a period of political crisis during the Tsardom of Russia which began in 1598 with the death of Fyodor I (Fyodor Ivanovich, the last of the Rurik dy ...

* Valery Alekseyev (1929-1991), anthropologist, proposed ''

Homo rudolfensis ''Homo rudolfensis'' is an extinct species of archaic human from the Early Pleistocene of East Africa about 2 million years ago (mya). Because ''H. rudolfensis'' coexisted with several other hominins, it is debated what specimens can be confiden ...

'' * Mikhail Artamonov (1898-1972), historian and archaeologist, founder of modern

Khazar The Khazars ; he, כּוּזָרִים, Kūzārīm; la, Gazari, or ; zh, 突厥曷薩 ; 突厥可薩 ''Tūjué Kěsà'', () were a semi-nomadic Turkic people that in the late 6th-century CE established a major commercial empire coverin ...

studies, excavated a great number of

Scythian The Scythians or Scyths, and sometimes also referred to as the Classical Scythians and the Pontic Scythians, were an ancient Eastern * : "In modern scholarship the name 'Sakas' is reserved for the ancient tribes of northern and eastern Cent ...

and Khazar

kurgan A kurgan is a type of tumulus constructed over a grave, often characterized by containing a single human body along with grave vessels, weapons and horses. Originally in use on the Pontic–Caspian steppe, kurgans spread into much of Central Asi ...

s and settlements, including the fortress of Sarkel *

Artemiy Artsikhovsky Artemiy Vladimirovich Artsikhovsky (russian: Артемий Владимирович Арциховский) (December 26 (December 13, O.S.), 1902 — February 17, 1978) was a Russian Soviet archaeologist and historian, professor (since 193 ...

(1902-1978), archaeologist, discoverer of birch bark documents in

Novgorod Veliky Novgorod ( rus, links=no, Великий Новгород, t=Great Newtown, p=vʲɪˈlʲikʲɪj ˈnovɡərət), also known as just Novgorod (), is the largest city and administrative centre of Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It is one of the o ...

B

Vasily Bartold Vasily Vladimirovich Bartold (russian: Васи́лий Влади́мирович Барто́льд.; 1869–1930), who published in the West under his German baptism name, Wilhelm Barthold, was a Russian orientalist who specialized in the his ...

(1869-1930),

turkologist Turkology (or Turcology or Turkic studies) is a complex of humanities sciences studying languages, history, literature, folklore, culture, and ethnology of people speaking Turkic languages and Turkic peoples in chronological and comparative conte ...

, the ''"

Gibbon Gibbons () are apes in the family Hylobatidae (). The family historically contained one genus, but now is split into four extant genera and 20 species. Gibbons live in subtropical and tropical rainforest from eastern Bangladesh to Northeast Indi ...

Turkestan Turkestan, also spelled Turkistan ( fa, ترکستان, Torkestân, lit=Land of the Turks), is a historical region in Central Asia corresponding to the regions of Transoxiana and Xinjiang. Overview Known as Turan to the Persians, western Turke ...

"'', an archaeologist of

Samarcand fa, سمرقند , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from the top:Registan square, Shah-i-Zinda necropolis, Bibi-Khanym Mosque, view inside Shah-i-Zind ...

Konstantin Bestuzhev-Ryumin Konstantin Nikolayevich Bestuzhev-Ryumin (russian: Константин Николаевич Бестужев-Рюмин; 1829 in Kudryoshki, Nizhny Novgorod Governorate – 1897) was one of the most popular Russian Imperial historians of the ...

(1829-1897), 19th-century historian and paleographer, founder of the

Bestuzhev Courses The Bestuzhev Courses (russian: Бестужевские курсы) in Saint Petersburg were the largest and most prominent women's higher education institution in Imperial Russia. The institute opened its doors in 1878. It was named after Konst ...

for women * Nikita Bichurin (1777-1853), a founder of

Sinology Sinology, or Chinese studies, is an academic discipline that focuses on the study of China primarily through Chinese philosophy, language, literature, culture and history and often refers to Western scholarship. Its origin "may be traced to t ...

, published many documents on Chinese and

Mongolian history Various nomadic empires, including the Xiongnu (3rd century BC–1st century AD), the Xianbei state ( AD 93–234), the Rouran Khaganate (330–555), the First (552–603) and Second Turkic Khaganates (682–744) and others, ruled the area of p ...

, opened the first Chinese-language school in Russia Artamonov student

D

Nikolay Danilevsky Nikolay Yakovlevich Danilevsky (russian: Никола́й Я́ковлевич Даниле́вский; 28 November 1822 – 7 November 1885) was a Russian Empire naturalist, economist, ethnologist, philosopher, historian and ideologue of P ...

(1822-1885), ethnologist, philosopher and historian, a founder of

Eurasianism Eurasianism (russian: евразийство, ''yevraziystvo'') is a political movement in Russia which states that Russian civilization does not belong in the "European" or "Asian" categories but instead to the geopolitical concept of Eurasia, ...

, the first to present an account of history as a series of distinct

civilisations A civilization (or civilisation) is any complex society characterized by the development of a state, social stratification, urbanization, and symbolic systems of communication beyond natural spoken language (namely, a writing system). Civ ...

* Igor Diakonov (1915-1999), historian and linguist, a prominent researcher of Sumer and

Assyria Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , romanized: ''māt Aššur''; syc, ܐܬܘܪ, ʾāthor) was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization which existed as a city-state at times controlling regional territories in the indigenous lands of the As ...

F

* Boris Farmakovsky (1870-1928), archaeologist of

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...

colony

Olbia Olbia (, ; sc, Terranoa; sdn, Tarranoa) is a city and communes of Italy, commune of 60,346 inhabitants (May 2018) in the Italy, Italian insular province of Sassari in northeastern Sardinia, Italy, in the historical region of Gallura. Called '' ...

G

Vladimir Golenishchev Vladimir Semyonovich Golenishchev (russian: Владимир Семёнович Голенищев; 29 January 1856 – 5 August 1947), formerly also known as Wladimir or Woldemar Golenischeff, was one of the first and most accomplished Russian Eg ...

(1856-1947), egyptologist, excavated

Wadi Hammamat Wadi Hammamat ( en, Valley of Many Baths, ''India way; gateway to India'') is a dry river bed in Egypt's Eastern Desert, about halfway between Al-Qusayr and Qena. It was a major mining region and trade route east from the Nile Valley in ancien ...

, discovered over 6,000 antiquities, including the ''

Moscow Mathematical Papyrus The Moscow Mathematical Papyrus, also named the Golenishchev Mathematical Papyrus after its first non-Egyptian owner, Egyptologist Vladimir Golenishchev, is an ancient Egyptian mathematical papyrus containing several problems in arithmetic, geom ...

'', the ''

Story of Wenamun The Story of Wenamun (alternately known as the Report of Wenamun, The Misadventures of Wenamun, Voyage of Unamūn, or nformallyas just Wenamun) is a literary text written in hieratic in the Late Egyptian language. It is only known from one incom ...

'', and various Fayum portraits *

Timofey Granovsky Timofey Nikolayevich Granovsky (russian: link=no, Тимофей Николаевич Грановский; 9 March 1813 – 4 October 1855) was a founder of mediaeval studies in the Russian Empire. Granovsky was born in Oryol, Russia. He studied ...

(1813-1855), a founder of

mediaeval studies Medievalism is a system of belief and practice inspired by the Middle Ages of Europe, or by devotion to elements of that period, which have been expressed in areas such as architecture, literature, music, art, philosophy, scholarship, and variou ...

in Russia, disproved the historicity of

Vineta Vineta (sometimes ''Wineta'') is the name of a mythical city at the southern coast of the Baltic Sea. The myth evolved around the tradition about the medieval emporium called Jumne, Jomsborg (with which Vineta is sometimes identified), Julin or ...

Boris Grekov Boris Dmitrievich Grekov (; in Mirgorod, Poltava Governorate, Russian Empire – 9 September 1953 in Moscow) was a Russian and Soviet historian noted for his comprehensive studies of Kievan Rus and the Golden Horde. He was a member of the S ...

(1882-1953), prominent researcher of

Kievan Rus' Kievan Rusʹ, also known as Kyivan Rusʹ ( orv, , Rusĭ, or , , ; Old Norse: ''Garðaríki''), was a state in Eastern and Northern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical Atlas of ...

and

Golden Horde The Golden Horde, self-designated as Ulug Ulus, 'Great State' in Turkic, was originally a Mongol and later Turkicized khanate established in the 13th century and originating as the northwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. With the fragment ...

* Alexander V. Gordon (born 1937), prominent researcher of

French revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...

Third world The term "Third World" arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the Nor ...

and

Peasantry A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasants ...

Vladimir Guerrier Vladimir Ivanovich Guerrier (russian: Владимир Иванович Герье; – 30 June 1919) was a Russian historian, professor of history at Moscow State University from 1868 to 1904. As the founder of the " Courses Guerrier", he was a l ...

(1837-1919), historian of the

, founder of the ''

Courses Guerrier The Higher Courses for Women in Moscow () was a university for women between 1872 and 1918 (with a break in 1888-1900), after which they were transformed into the 2nd Moscow State University. It was one of the largest and most prominent women's hi ...

'' for women *

Lev Gumilev Lev Nikolayevich Gumilyov (russian: Лев Никола́евич Гумилёв; 1 October 1912 – 15 June 1992) was a Soviet historian, ethnologist, anthropologist and translator. He had a reputation for his highly unorthodox theories o ...

(1912-1992), historian and ethnologist, prominent researcher of ancient

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes the former ...

n peoples, related

ethnogenesis Ethnogenesis (; ) is "the formation and development of an ethnic group". This can originate by group self-identification or by outside identification. The term ''ethnogenesis'' was originally a mid-19th century neologism that was later introdu ...

and

biosphere The biosphere (from Greek βίος ''bíos'' "life" and σφαῖρα ''sphaira'' "sphere"), also known as the ecosphere (from Greek οἶκος ''oîkos'' "environment" and σφαῖρα), is the worldwide sum of all ecosystems. It can also be ...

, influenced the rise of

Neo-Eurasianism Eurasianism (russian: евразийство, ''yevraziystvo'') is a political movement in Russia which states that Russian civilization does not belong in the "European" or "Asian" categories but instead to the geopolitical concept of Eurasia, t ...

H

* Boris Hessen (1893-1936), physicist who brought

externalism Externalism is a group of positions in the philosophy of mind which argues that the conscious mind is not only the result of what is going on inside the nervous system (or the brain), but also what ''occurs'' or ''exists'' outside the subject. It i ...

into modern

historiography of science The historiography of science or the historiography of the history of science is the study of the history and methodology of the sub-discipline of history, known as the history of science, including its disciplinary aspects and practices (methods ...

I

Karamzin by Tropinin (1818, Tretyakov gallery)

* Dmitry Ilovaysky (1832-1920), major 19th century anti- Normanist

K

* Pyotr Kafarov (1817-1878), prominent

sinologist Sinology, or Chinese studies, is an academic discipline that focuses on the study of China primarily through Chinese philosophy, language, literature, culture and history and often refers to Western scholarship. Its origin "may be traced to the e ...

, discovered many invaluable manuscripts, including ''

The Secret History of the Mongols ''The Secret History of the Mongols'' (Middle Mongol: ''Mongɣol‑un niɣuca tobciyan''; Traditional Mongolian: , Khalkha Mongolian: , ; ) is the oldest surviving literary work in the Mongolian language. It was written for the Mongol royal fa ...

'' * Nikolai Karamzin (1766-1826),

sentimentalist Sentimentality originally indicated the reliance on feelings as a guide to truth, but in current usage the term commonly connotes a reliance on shallow, uncomplicated emotions at the expense of reason. Moral sense theory, Sentimentalism in phil ...

writer and historian, author of the 12-volume ''History of the Russian State'', the principal early 19th-century account of national history * Vasily Klyuchevsky (1841-1911), dominated Russian historiography at the turn of the 20th century, shifted focus from politics and society to geography and economy * Alexander Kazhdan (1922-1997), Byzantinist, editor of the ''

Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium The ''Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium'' (ODB) is a three-volume historical dictionary published by the English Oxford University Press. With more than 5,000 entries, it contains comprehensive information in English on topics relating to the Byzant ...

'' *

Nikodim Kondakov Nikodim (or Nikodeme) Pavlovich Kondakov (russian: Никоди́м Па́влович Кондако́в; 1 (13) November 1844, Olshanka, Kursk Governorate, Russian Empire– 17 February 1925, Prague, Czechoslovakia), was an art ...

(1844-1925), prominent researcher of

Byzantine art Byzantine art comprises the body of Christian Greek artistic products of the Eastern Roman Empire, as well as the nations and states that inherited culturally from the empire. Though the empire itself emerged from the decline of Rome and lasted ...

Andrey Korotayev Andrey Vitalievich Korotayev (russian: link=yes, Андре́й Вита́льевич Корота́ев; born 17 February 1961) is a Russian anthropologist, economic historian, comparative political scientist, demographer and sociologist ...

(born 1961), historian and anthropologist, a founder of

cliodynamics Cliodynamics () is a transdisciplinary area of research that integrates cultural evolution, economic history/ cliometrics, macrosociology, the mathematical modeling of historical processes during the '' longue durée'', and the construction and ...

, a prominent developer of

social cycle theory Social cycle theories are among the earliest social theories in sociology. Unlike the theory of social evolutionism, which views the evolution of society and human history as progressing in some new, unique direction(s), sociological cycle theor ...

Nikolay Kostomarov Mykola Ivanovych Kostomarov or Nikolai Ivanovich Kostomarov (russian: Никола́й Ива́нович Костома́ров, ; uk, Микола Іванович Костомаров, ; May 16, 1817, vil. Yurasovka, Voronezh Governorate, R ...

(1817-1885), historian, folklorist and romantic writer, researched the differences between

Great Russia Great Russia, sometimes Great Rus' (russian: Великая Русь, , , , , ), is a name formerly applied to the territories of "Russia proper", the land that formed the core of Muscovy and later Russia. This was the land to which the eth ...

and

Little Russia Little Russia (russian: Малороссия/Малая Россия, Malaya Rossiya/Malorossiya; uk, Малоросія/Мала Росія, Malorosiia/Mala Rosiia), also known in English as Malorussia, Little Rus' (russian: Малая Ру� ...

and the history of

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian invas ...

Pyotr Kozlov Pyotr Kuzmich Kozlov (russian: Пётр Кузьми́ч Козло́в; 3 October 1863 in Dukhovshchina – 26 September 1935 in Peterhof) was a Russian and Soviet traveller and explorer who continued the studies of Nikolai Przhevalsky in ...

(1863-1935), explorer of

, discoverer of the ancient Tangut city of

Khara-Khoto Khara-Khoto (; mn, Khar Khot; "black city") is an abandoned city in the Ejin Banner of Alxa League in western Inner Mongolia, China, near the Juyan Lake Basin. Built in 1032, the city thrived under the rule of the Western Xia dynasty. It has be ...

and Xiongnu royal burials at

Noin-Ula The Noin-Ula burial site ( mn, Ноён уулын булш, , also Noyon Uul) consist of more than 200 large burial mounds, approximately square in plan, some 2 m in height, covering timber burial chambers. They are located by the Selenga River ...

* Stanislaw Kuczera, (1928-2020), sinologist and archaeologist *

Yelena Yefimovna Kuzmina Elena Efimovna Kuzmina (russian: Еле́на Ефи́мовна Кузьмина́; 13 April 193117 October 2013) was a Russian archaeologist. She was the chief research officer of the Russian Institute for Cultural Researches. She led 25 archaeo ...

(1931-2013), prominent researcher of prehistory of Indo-Aryan peoples

L

Platon Levshin Plato II or Platon II (29 June 1737 – 11 November 1812) was the Metropolitan of Moscow from 1775 to 1812. He personifies the Age of Enlightenment in the Russian Orthodox Church. He was born at Chashnikovo near Moscow as Platon Levshin (russian ...

(1737-1812), president of the

Most Holy Synod The Most Holy Governing Synod (russian: Святѣйшій Правительствующій Сѵнодъ, Святейший Правительствующий Синод) was the highest governing body of the Russian Orthodox Church betwee ...

during the

Age of Enlightenment The Age of Enlightenment or the Enlightenment; german: Aufklärung, "Enlightenment"; it, L'Illuminismo, "Enlightenment"; pl, Oświecenie, "Enlightenment"; pt, Iluminismo, "Enlightenment"; es, La Ilustración, "Enlightenment" was an intel ...

, author of the first systematic course of the history of

Russian Orthodox Church , native_name_lang = ru , image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg , imagewidth = , alt = , caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia , abbreviation = ROC , type ...

Nikolay Likhachyov Nikolay Petrovich Likhachyov (russian: Николай Петрович Лихачёв), alternatively Romanization of Russian, transliterated as Likhachev (12 April 1862 – 14 April 1936) was the first and foremost Russian sigillographer (that ...

(1862-1936), first and foremost Russian sigillographer, prominent also in a number of other auxiliary historical disciplines * Aleksey Lobanov-Rostovsky (1824-1896), statesman, published the major ''Russian

Genealogical Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kins ...

Book'' *

Mikhail Lomonosov Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov (; russian: Михаил (Михайло) Васильевич Ломоносов, p=mʲɪxɐˈil vɐˈsʲilʲjɪvʲɪtɕ , a=Ru-Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov.ogg; – ) was a Russian polymath, scientist and wri ...

(1711-1765), polymath scientist and artist, the first opponent of the Normanist theory, published an early account of Russian history

M

* Madhavan K. Palat (born 1947), since 1989 Professor of Russian and European History, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, India. Visiting Professor of Imperial Russian History at the University of Chicago (2006). *

Boris Marshak Boris Ilich Marshak (russian: Бори́с Ильи́ч Марша́к) (July 9, 1933 – 28 July 2006) was an archeologist who spent more than fifty years excavating the Sogdian ruins at Panjakent, Tajikistan. Biography Boris Ilich Marshak ...

(1933-2006), excavated the Sogdian ruins at

Panjakent Panjakent ( tg, Панҷакент), or Penjikent (russian: Пенджикент) is a city in the Sughd province of Tajikistan on the river Zeravshan, with a population of 52,500 (2020 estimate). It was once an ancient town in Sogdiana. The rui ...

Friedrich Martens Friedrich Fromhold Martens, or Friedrich Fromhold von Martens,, french: Frédéric Frommhold (de) Martens ( – ) was a diplomat and jurist in service of the Russian Empire who made important contributions to the science of international law. H ...

(1845-1909), legal historian, drafted the

Martens Clause The Martens Clause (pronounced ) was introduced into the preamble to the 1899 Hague Convention II – Laws and Customs of War on Land. __NOTOC__ The clause took its name from a declaration read by Friedrich Martens, the delegate of Russia at ...

of the

Hague Peace Conference The Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 are a series of international treaties and declarations negotiated at two international peace conferences at The Hague in the Netherlands. Along with the Geneva Conventions, the Hague Conventions were amo ...

Vladimir Minorsky Vladimir Fyodorovich Minorsky (russian: Владимир Фёдорович Минорский; – March 25, 1966) was a Russian Orientalist best known for his contributions to the study of Persian, Lurish and Kurdish history, geograph ...

(1877-1966), prominent historian of

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkme ...

Yagutil Mishiev Yagutil Israelovich Mishiev (russian: Мишиев, Ягутил Израилович; he, יאגוטיל מישייב; born March 29, 1927 in Gyrmyzy Gasaba, Azerbaijan SSR) — writer, author of books about the history of Derbent, Dagestan, ...

(born 1927), writer, author of books about the history of

Derbent Derbent (russian: Дербе́нт; lez, Кьвевар, Цал; az, Дәрбәнд, italic=no, Dərbənd; av, Дербенд; fa, دربند), formerly romanized as Derbend, is a city in Dagestan, Russia, located on the Caspian Sea. It is ...

Dagestan Dagestan ( ; rus, Дагеста́н, , dəɡʲɪˈstan, links=yes), officially the Republic of Dagestan (russian: Респу́блика Дагеста́н, Respúblika Dagestán, links=no), is a republic of Russia situated in the North ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

. * Anatoly Moskvin (born 1966),

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Lingui ...

and

, arrested in 2011 after the bodies of 26 mummified young women were discovered in his home. * Gerhardt Friedrich Müller (1705-1783), co-founder 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 ...

, explorer and the first academic historian of

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 o ...

, a founder of ethnography, author of the first academic account of

Russian history The history of Russia begins with the histories of the East Slavs. The traditional start-date of specifically Russian history is the establishment of the Rus' state in the north in 862, ruled by Varangians. Staraya Ladoga and Novgorod became ...

, put forth the Normanist theory *

Aleksei Musin-Pushkin Aleksei Ivanovich Musin-Pushkin (Russian:Алексей Иванович Мусин-Пушкин; 27 March 1744, Moscow - 13 February 1817, Moscow) was a Russian statesman and historian, known for his large art and book collections. Biography ...

(1744-1817), prominent collector of ancient Russian manuscripts, discovered ''

The Tale of Igor's Campaign ''The Tale of Igor's Campaign'' ( orv, Слово о пълкѹ Игоревѣ, translit=Slovo o pŭlku Igorevě) is an anonymous epic poem written in the Old East Slavic language. The title is occasionally translated as ''The Tale of the Campaig ...

O

* Dimitri Obolensky (1918-2001), Byzantine commonwealth researcher * Alexey Okladnikov (1908-1981), prominent historian and archaeologist of

and

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 millio ...

Sergey Oldenburg Sergey Fyodorovich Oldenburg (russian: Серге́й Фёдорович Ольденбу́рг; 26 September 1863, in Byankino, Transbaikal Oblast – 28 February 1934, in Leningrad) was a Russian orientalist who specialized in Buddhist stud ...

(1863-1934), a founder of Russian

Indology Indology, also known as South Asian studies, is the academic study of the history and cultures, languages, and literature of the Indian subcontinent, and as such is a subset of Asian studies. The term ''Indology'' (in German, ''Indologie'') is of ...

and the

Academic Institute of Oriental Studies The Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences (russian: Институт востоковедения Российской Академии Наук), formerly Institute of Oriental Studies of the USSR Academy of Sciences, ...

George Ostrogorsky Georgiy Aleksandrovich Ostrogorskiy (russian: Георгий Александрович Острогорский; 19 January 1902 – 24 October 1976), known in Serbian Serbian may refer to: * someone or something related to Serbia, a country ...

(1902-1976), preeminent 20th century Byzantinist

P

* Avraamy Palitsyn (died 1626), 17th-century historian of the

* Anna Pankratova (1897–1957), leading Soviet historian, educator and writer *

Evgeny Pashukanis Evgeny Bronislavovich Pashukanis ( Russian: Евгений Брониславович Пашуканис; 23 February 1891 – 4 September 1937) was a Soviet legal scholar, best known for his work ''The General Theory of Law and Marxism''. Early l ...

(1891-1937), legal historian, wrote ''The General Theory of Law and

Marxism Marxism is a left-wing to far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand class relations and social conflict and a dialec ...

'' *

Boris Piotrovsky Boris Borisovich Piotrovsky (russian: Бори́с Бори́сович Пиотро́вский; also written Piotrovskii; – October 15, 1990) was a Soviet Russian academician, historian- orientalist and archaeologist who studied the ancien ...

(1908-1990), prominent researcher of

Urartu Urartu (; Assyrian: ',Eberhard Schrader, ''The Cuneiform inscriptions and the Old Testament'' (1885), p. 65. Babylonian: ''Urashtu'', he, אֲרָרָט ''Ararat'') is a geographical region and Iron Age kingdom also known as the Kingdom of Va ...

Scythia Scythia ( Scythian: ; Old Persian: ; Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ) or Scythica (Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ), also known as Pontic Scythia, was a kingdom created by the Scythians during the 6th to 3rd centuries BC in the Pontic–Caspian steppe. ...

, and

Nubia Nubia () (Nobiin language, Nobiin: Nobīn, ) is a region along the Nile river encompassing the area between the Cataracts of the Nile, first cataract of the Nile (just south of Aswan in southern Egypt) and the confluence of the Blue Nile, Blue ...

, long-term director of the

Hermitage Museum The State Hermitage Museum ( rus, Государственный Эрмитаж, r=Gosudarstvennyj Ermitaž, p=ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)ɨj ɪrmʲɪˈtaʂ, links=no) is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is the largest ...

Mikhail Piotrovsky Mikhail Borisovich Piotrovsky (russian: Михаил Борисович Пиотровский) is the Director of the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Life and career He was born in Yerevan in the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic ...

(born 1944), orientalist, current director of the

Mikhail Pogodin Mikhail Petrovich Pogodin (russian: Михаи́л Петро́вич Пого́дин; , Moscow, Moscow) was a Russian Imperial historian and journalist who, jointly with Nikolay Ustryalov, dominated the national historiography between the death ...

(1800-1875), leading mid-19th-century Russian historian, proponent of the Normanist theory *

Boris Polevoy Boris Nikolaevich Polevoy (or Polevoi) (russian: Бори́с Никола́евич Полево́й; – 12 July 1981) was a Soviet writer. He is the author of the book '' Story of a Real Man'' about Soviet World War II fighter pilot Aleksey ...

(1918-2002), major historian of the

Russian Far East The Russian Far East (russian: Дальний Восток России, r=Dal'niy Vostok Rossii, p=ˈdalʲnʲɪj vɐˈstok rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a region in Northeast Asia. It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asian continent; and is admin ...

Mikhail Pokrovsky Mikhail Nikolayevich Pokrovsky (russian: Михаи́л Никола́евич Покро́вский; – April 10, 1932) was a Russian Marxist historian, Bolshevik revolutionary and a public and political figure. One of the earliest professi ...

(1868-1932), Marxist historian prominent in 1920s Michail Pogodin

Natalia Polosmak Natalia Viktorovna Polosmak (russian: Наталья Викторовна Полосьмак; born 12 September 1956) is a Russian archaeologist specialising in the study of early Metal Age Eurasian nomads, especially those known as the Pazyryk C ...

(born 1956), archaeologist of Pazyryk burials, discoverer of Ice Maiden

mummy A mummy is a dead human or an animal whose soft tissues and organs have been preserved by either intentional or accidental exposure to chemicals, extreme cold, very low humidity, or lack of air, so that the recovered body does not decay fu ...

Alexander Polovtsov Alexander Alexandrovich Polovtsov (russian: Александр Александрович Половцов; 1832–1909) was a Russian Imperial statesman, historian and ''maecenas''; he was also known as the founder of the Russian Imperial Hist ...

(1832-1909), statesman, historian and

Maecenas Gaius Cilnius Maecenas ( – 8 BC) was a friend and political advisor to Octavian (who later reigned as emperor Augustus). He was also an important patron for the new generation of Augustan poets, including both Horace and Virgil. During the re ...

, founder of the Russian Historian Society *

Tatyana Proskuryakova Tat'yana Avenirovna Proskuriakova (russian: Татья́на Авени́ровна Проскуряко́ва) ( – August 30, 1985) was a Russian-American Mayanist scholar and archaeologist who contributed significantly to the deciphering of M ...

(1909-1985),

Mayanist A Mayanist ( es, mayista) is a scholar specialising in research and study of the Mesoamerican pre-Columbian Maya civilisation. This discipline should not be confused with Mayanism, a collection of New Age beliefs about the ancient Maya. Maya ...

scholar and archaeologist, deciphered the ancient

Maya script Maya script, also known as Maya glyphs, is historically the native writing system of the Maya civilization of Mesoamerica and is the only Mesoamerican writing system that has been substantially deciphered. The earliest inscriptions found which ...

R

* Semyon Remezov (ca. 1642- after 1720), cartographer and the first historian of

, author of the '' Remezov Chronicle'' * Mikhail Rostovtsev (1870-1952), archeologist and economist, the first to thoroughly examine the social and economic systems of the

Ancient World Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history to as far as late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient history cove ...

, excavated

Dura-Europos Dura-Europos, ; la, Dūra Eurōpus, ( el, Δούρα Ευρωπός, Doúra Evropós, ) was a Hellenistic, Parthian, and Roman border city built on an escarpment above the southwestern bank of the Euphrates river. It is located near the v ...

Nicholas Roerich Nicholas Roerich (; October 9, 1874 – December 13, 1947), also known as Nikolai Konstantinovich Rerikh (russian: link=no, Никола́й Константи́нович Ре́рих), was a Russian painter, writer, archaeologist, theosoph ...

(1874-1947), painter, archeologist, and public figure, explorer of

, initiator of the international

Roerich’s Pact The Treaty on the Protection of Artistic and Scientific Institutions and Historic Monuments or Roerich Pact is an inter-American treaty. The most important idea of the Roerich Pact is the legal recognition that the defense of cultural objects is ...

on protection of historical monuments *

Sergei Rudenko Sergei Ivanovich Rudenko (russian: Серге́й Ива́нович Руде́нко; January 16, 1885, Kharkov - July 16, 1969, Leningrad) was a prominent Soviet anthropologist and archaeologist who discovered and excavated the most celebrated ...

(1885-1969), discoverer of

Pazyryk burials *

Boris Rybakov Boris Alexandrovich Rybakov (Russian: Бори́с Алекса́ндрович Рыбако́в, 3 June 1908, Moscow – 27 December 2001) was a Soviet and Russian historian who personified the anti-Normanist vision of Russian history. He is th ...

(1908-2001), historian and chief Soviet archaeologist for 40 years, primary opponent of the Normanist theory Charsolomon TProskouriakoff

S

Dmitry Samokvasov Dmitry Yakovlevich Samokvasov (russian: Дмитрий Яковлевич Самоквасов; 1843 — 1911) was a Russian archaeologist and legal historian who excavated the Black Grave in Chernigov and several other sites important for the hi ...

(1843-1911), discoverer of

Black Grave The Black Grave ( uk, Чорна Могила , translit=Chorna mohyla) is the largest burial mound (kurgan) in Chernihiv, Ukraine. It is part of the National Sanctuary of Ancient Chernihiv and is an Archaeological Monument of national importance ...

Chernigov Chernihiv ( uk, Черні́гів, , russian: Черни́гов, ; pl, Czernihów, ; la, Czernihovia), is a city and municipality in northern Ukraine, which serves as the administrative center of Chernihiv Oblast and Chernihiv Raion within t ...

* Viktor Sarianidi (1929-2013), discoverer of the Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex and the '' Bactrian Gold'' in

* Mikhail Shcherbatov (1733-1790), a man of

Russian Enlightenment The Russian Age of Enlightenment was a period in the 18th century in which the government began to actively encourage the proliferation of arts and sciences, which had a profound impact on Russian culture. During this time, the first Russian unive ...

, conservative historian *

Anatoly Pavlovich Shikman Anatoly Pavlovich Shikman (russian: Анато́лий Па́влович Ши́кман); born March 12, 1948) is a Russian historian and writer, and a former teacher of Moscow School No. 45. One of the authors of "Book: Encyclopedia", "Mos ...

(born 1948), author of ''Figures of Russian History'' and other works. * Sergey Solovyov (1820-1879), principal Russian 19th-century historian, author of the 29-volume ''History of Russia'' * Vasily Struve (1889-1965), orientalist and historian of the

, put forth the Marxist theory of five socio-economic formations that dominated the Soviet education

T

* Yevgeny Tarle (1874-1955), author of the famous studies on

Napoleon's invasion of Russia The French invasion of Russia, also known as the Russian campaign, the Second Polish War, the Army of Twenty nations, and the Patriotic War of 1812 was launched by Napoleon Bonaparte to force the Russian Empire back into the continental block ...

and on the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included t ...

Vasily Tatischev Vasily Nikitich Tatishchev (russian: Васи́лий Ники́тич Тати́щев) (19 April 1686 – 15 July 1750) was a prominent Russian Imperial statesman, historian, philosopher, and ethnographer, best remembered as the author of the ...

(1686-1750), statesman, geographer and historian, discovered and published ''

Russkaya Pravda The ''Russkaya Pravda'' (Rus' Justice, Rus' Truth, or Russian Justice; orv, Правда роусьскаꙗ, ''Pravda Rusĭskaya'' (13th century, 1280), Правда Руськая, ''Pravda Rus'kaya'' (second half of the 15th century); russian: ...

'', ''

Sudebnik The Sudebnik of 1497 (''Судебник 1497 года'' in Russian, or Code of Law) was a collection of laws introduced by Ivan III in 1497. It played a big part in the centralisation of the Russian state, creation of the nationwide Russian ...

'' of 1550 and the controversial '' Ioachim Chronicle'', wrote the first full-scale account of Russian history Rybakov BA

Mikhail Tikhomirov Mikhail Nikolayevich Tikhomirov (russian: Михаи́л Николáевич Тихоми́ров; 31 May 1893 — 2 September 1965) was a leading Soviet specialist in medieval Russian paleography. Tikhomirov was born and spent his whole life in M ...

(1893-1965), leading specialist in medieval Russian

paleography Palaeography ( UK) or paleography ( US; ultimately from grc-gre, , ''palaiós'', "old", and , ''gráphein'', "to write") is the study of historic writing systems and the deciphering and dating of historical manuscripts, including the analysi ...

, published the ''

Complete Collection of Russian Chronicles The Complete Collection of Russian Chronicles (, abbr. ''PSRL'') is a series of published volumes aimed at collecting all medieval East Slavic chronicles, with various editions published in Imperial Russia, the Soviet Union, and Russian Federa ...

'' *

Kamilla Trever Kamilla Vasilyevna Trever (russian: Камилла Васильевна Тревер; 25 January 1892, Saint Petersburg – 11 November 1974, Leningrad) was a Russian historian, numismatist and orientalist, and a corresponding member of the Rus ...

(1892-1974), specialist in the history and culture of

Transcaucasia The South Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia or the Transcaucasus, is a geographical region on the border of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Arme ...

and

Boris Turayev Boris Alexandrovich Turayev (russian: Бори́с Алекса́ндрович Тура́ев; , Navahrudak – July 23, 1920, Petrograd) was a Russian scholar who studied the Ancient Near East (mainly Ancient Egypt and Nubia). He was admit ...

(1868-1920), author of the first full-scale ''History of Ancient East'' *

Peter Turchin Peter Valentinovich Turchin (russian: Пётр Валенти́нович Турчи́н; born 1957) is a Russian- American complexity scientist, specializing in an area of study he and his colleagues developed called cliodynamics—mathematica ...

(born 1957), population biologist and historian, coined the term ''

U

Fyodor Uspensky Fyodor Ivanovich Uspensky or Uspenskij (russian: Фёдор Ива́нович Успе́нский ) was a Russian Empire and Soviet Byzantinist. His works are considered to be among the finest illustrations of the flowering of Byzantine studi ...

(1845-1928), Byzantinist, researcher of the Trapezuntine Empire * Aleksey Uvarov (1825-1884), founder of the first Russian archaeological society, discovered over 750 ancient

V

Vasily Vasilievsky Vasily Grigorievich Vasilievsky (also spelled ''Vasiljevskij'' and ''Wasiliewski''; russian: Васи́лий Григо́рьевич Василье́вский) was a Russian historian who founded the St. Petersburg school of medieval studies an ...

(1838-1899), prominent 19th century Byzantinist * Alexander Vasiliev (1867-1953), author of a comprehensive ''History of the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantin ...

'' *

Nikolay Veselovsky Nikolai Ivanovich Veselovsky (, November 1848 - 30 March 1918) was a Russian archaeologist and orientalist. Born in Moscow, Veselovsky went to school in Vologda, and then studied at Saint Petersburg State University. Reader in 1877, extraordinar ...

(1848-1918), first to excavate

Afrasiab Afrasiab ( fa, ''afrāsiyāb''; ae, Fraŋrasyan; Middle-Persian: ''Frāsiyāv, Frāsiyāk'') is the name of the mythical king and hero of Turan. He is the main antagonist of the Persian epic Shahnameh, written by Ferdowsi. The mythical ki ...

(the oldest part of

Samarkand fa, سمرقند , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from the top: Registan square, Shah-i-Zinda necropolis, Bibi-Khanym Mosque, view inside Shah-i-Zi ...

), as well as the

Solokha :''Solokha is also the name of a witch in Rimsky-Korsakov's opera Christmas Eve.'' :''Solokha is also a hamlet at .'' The Solokha () kurgan is on the left bank of the Dnieper, 18 km from Kamianka-Dniprovska, opposite Nikopol, in central Uk ...

and Maikop kurgans in Southern Russia Solovjev S

* Viacheslav Petrovich Volgin, (1879–1962), historian of early communist systems

Y

* Nikolai Yadrintsev (1842-1894), discoverer of

Genghis Khan ''Chinggis Khaan'' ͡ʃʰiŋɡɪs xaːŋbr /> Mongol script: ''Chinggis Qa(gh)an/ Chinggis Khagan'' , birth_name = Temüjin , successor = Tolui (as regent) Ögedei Khan , spouse = , issue = , house = Borjigin ...

's capital

Karakorum Karakorum ( Khalkha Mongolian: Хархорум, ''Kharkhorum''; Mongolian Script:, ''Qaraqorum''; ) was the capital of the Mongol Empire between 1235 and 1260 and of the Northern Yuan dynasty in the 14–15th centuries. Its ruins lie in t ...

and the

Orkhon script The Old Turkic script (also known as variously Göktürk script, Orkhon script, Orkhon-Yenisey script, Turkic runes) was the alphabet used by the Göktürks and other early Turkic khanates from the 8th to 10th centuries to record the Old Tu ...

of ancient

Türks The Turkic peoples are a collection of diverse ethnic groups of West, Central, East, and North Asia as well as parts of Europe, who speak Turkic languages.. "Turkic peoples, any of various peoples whose members speak languages belonging to t ...

Valentin Yanin Valentin Lavrentievich Yanin (russian: Валентин Лаврентьевич Янин; 6 February 1929 – 2 February 2020) was a leading Russian historian who authored 700 books and articles. He had also edited a number of important journals ...

(1929-2020), primary researcher of ancient birch bark documents

Z

Gennady Zdanovich Gennadii Borisovich Zdanovich (Russian: Геннадий Борисович Зданович; 4 October 1938 – 19 November 2020) was a Russian archaeologist based at the historical site of Arkaim, Chelyabinsk, Russia. Zdanovich led the exca ...

(born 1938), discoverer of

Sintashta culture The Sintashta culture (russian: Синташтинская культура, Sintashtinskaya kul'tura), around 2050–1900 BCE, is the first phase of the Sintashta–Petrovka culture. or Sintashta–Arkaim culture,. and is a late Middle Bronze Ag ...

settlement

Arkaim Arkaim (russian: Аркаим) is an archaeological site, dated to 2050-1900 BCE, of an ancient fortified settlement, belonging to Sintashta culture, situated in the steppe of the Southern Urals, north-northwest of the village of Amursky and e ...

Viktor Zemskov Viktor Nikolaevich Zemskov (russian: Ви́ктор Никола́евич Земско́в, 30 January 1946 – 22 June 2015) was a Soviet and Russian historian, doctor (habil.) of historical sciences (2005), research associate of the Institute ...

(1946-2015), researcher of

political repression in the Soviet Union Throughout the history of the Soviet Union, tens of millions of people suffered political repression, which was an instrument of the state since the October Revolution. It culminated during the Stalin era, then declined, but it continued to exist ...

between 1917 and 1954

Alphabetical list

A

B

D

F

G

H

I

K

L

M

O

P

R

S

T

U

V

Y

Z

See also

Further reading