Boris Borisovich Piotrovsky, also Piotrovskii (; – October 15, 1990) was a Soviet Union Russians academician, historian-oriental studies and Archaeology who studied the ancient civilizations of Urartu, Scythia, and Nubia. He is best known as a key figure in the study of the Urartian civilization of the southern Caucasus.[Wire report from the Associated Press. " Boris B. Piotrovsky, Archeologist; Director of the Hermitage Was 82." The New York Times. October 17, 1990. Retrieved July 21, 2008.] From 1964 until his death, Piotrovsky was also Director of the Hermitage Museum in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg).
Biography
Piotrovsky was born in
Saint Petersburg in 1908. He specialized in the history and archaeology of the
Caucasus region and beginning in the 1930s, he began to acquaint himself with Urartian civilization. He was the head of 1939 excavations that uncovered the Urartian fortress of
Teishebaini in
Armenia (known in Armenian as
Karmir Blur, or Red Hill). Evidence found there has been key in understanding the Urartian civilization. Piotrovsky lead further excavations in Armenia in the ancient settlements of Tsovinar, Redkig-lager, Kirovakan (now
Vanadzor) and Aygevan until 1971.
[ Areshyan, Gregory. «Պիոտրովսկի» (Piotrovsky). Soviet Armenian Encyclopedia. vol. ix. Yerevan, Armenian SSR: Armenian Academy of Sciences, 1983, p. 302.]
These were not Piotrovsky's sole contributions in the archaeological field, however. Piotrovsky worked elsewhere in the Caucasus, especially on the Scythians culture. In 1961, he was placed at the head of an expedition of the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union to study Nubians monuments in Egypt.[The State Hermitage Museum. The Hermitage Readings in memory of Boris Piotrovsky (1908–1990) . Accessed July 22, 2008.] He also spent 26 years as Director of the Hermitage Museum, which has been run by his son Mikhail thereafter. He was also the supervisor of the renowned Armenian archaeologist Gregory Areshian. The Hermitage holds an annual conference in his honor. He died of a cerebral hemorrhage in Leningrad in 1990 at the age of 82.
He was married to Hripsime Djanpoladjian, who was an archaeologist and epigrapher.
Works
In his lifetime, he published more than 200 works in the fields of archaeology, history and art.
One of Piotrovsky's most important works is
The History of Urartu and its Culture, published in 1944 and which went on to receive the Stalin Prize in 1946.
Other notable works include:
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Urartu: The Kingdom of Van and Its Art (1967)
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The Ancient Civilization of Urartu (1969)
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The Hermitage: Its History and Collections (1982)
Honours and awards
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Hero of Socialist Labour (1983)
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Three Orders of Lenin
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Order of the October Revolution
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Three Orders of the Red Banner of Labour
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Medal "For the Defence of Leningrad"
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Medal "For Valiant Labour in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945"
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Medal "In Commemoration of the 250th Anniversary of Leningrad"
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Jubilee Medal "Twenty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945"
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Jubilee Medal "Thirty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945"
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Jubilee Medal "Forty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945"
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Commander of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (France)
External links
