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Mikhail Artamonov | |
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 Artamonov in 1922 | |
| Born | Mikhail Illarionovich Artamonov 5 December 1898 Vygolovo, Tver Governorate, Russian Empire |
| Died | 31 July 1972(1972-07-31) (aged 73) Leningrad, Soviet Union |
| Resting place | Northern Cemetery [ru],Saint Petersburg |
| Awards | Order of Lenin |
Mikhail Illarionovich Artamonov (Russian:Михаил Илларионович Артамонов; December 5 [O.S. November 23] 1898 – July 31, 1972)[1] was aSoviet and Russian historian andarcheologist, who came to be recognized as the founding father of modernKhazar studies.
Artamonov was born into a peasant family inTver Governorate. He moved toSaint Petersburg when he was nine years old to pursue secondary education, including studying painting underKuzma Petrov-Vodkin and art history underNikolai Sychov, as well as archaeology. He was an active participant in theRussian Revolution.[2]
Artamonov's scholarly career was centered onLeningrad University, where he taught from 1928,[2] was a professor from 1935 and the head of the department ofarchaeology from 1949.[3]
He researchedBronze Age andIron Age settlements by theDon River, in theNorth Caucasus and inUkraine.[3] He excavated a great number ofScythian and Khazarkurgans and settlements (most famously, the Khazar fortress ofSarkel, which he discovered during the first excavation he arranged in 1929),[2] and published a hefty monograph (Istoriya Khazar) on theKhazars in 1962. Early editions of this work (1937, 1939), which emphasized the enormous influence of the Khazars on the development of the earlyRus' and other peoples, were denounced by Soviet authorities, compelling him to add a conclusion to his work stating essentially that they had in fact had no lasting influence.[citation needed]
In 1939, he was appointed Director of theAcademy of Sciences of the Soviet Union's Institute of the History of Material Culture in accordance with the wishes of the institute's staff, after they rebelled against Artamonov's predecessor,Joseph Orbeli, who had sacked many of its leading members - an about-face by the authorities which was unprecedented duringStalin's rule. Under his leadership the Institute launched a number of periodicals, includingSovetskaya arkheologiya,Brief Reports of the IHMC andMaterials and Research on the Archaeology of the USSR, and also established a branch inMoscow.[2]
Artamonov was appointed director of theHermitage Museum in 1951. Thirteen years later, he was ousted from office due to resisting interference fromCommunist Party officials in his running of the Museum, especially regarding his refusal to remove paintings by the FrenchImpressionists - described by the government as "bourgeois decadents" - from display.[2]
Artamonov was awarded theOrder of Lenin, theOrder of the Red Banner of Labour and various medals.[3] His many disciples includeLev Gumilyov,Anatoly Kirpichnikov,Dmitry Machinsky, andIgor Dubov. Among the students he trained wereSvetlana Pletnyova andLeo Klejn. He died in 1972, whilst at his desk editing a scientific article.[2]
