Igor M. Diakonoff facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Igor M. Diakonoff
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| И́горь М. Дья́конов | |
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Igor Mikhailovich Diakonoff
12 January 1915 Petrograd, Russian Empire
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| Died | 2 May 1999 (aged 84) Saint Petersburg, Russia
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| Alma mater | Saint Petersburg State University |
| Known for | Contributions to the study of the Ancient Near East and its languages |
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| Institutions | Oriental Institute, Saint Petersburg branch |
Igor Mikhailovich Diakonoff (born January 12, 1915 – died May 2, 1999) was a famous Russian historian, linguist, and translator. He was a leading expert on the Ancient Near East and its many languages. His brothers were also well-known historians.
Igor Diakonoff's Life and Work
Igor Diakonoff grew up in Norway. He finished his studies at Leningrad State University (now called Saint Petersburg State University) in 1938. In the same year, he started working at the Hermitage Museum in Leningrad (which is now Saint Petersburg).
He wrote many important books and studies. In 1949, he published a detailed study about Assyria, an ancient kingdom. Later, in 1956, he wrote a book about Media, another ancient land.
Diakonoff also worked with a linguist named Sergei Starostin. Together, they created important studies about languages from the Caucasus region, Afroasiatic languages (like Arabic and Hebrew), and Hurro-Urartian languages.
In 2003, a special book of essays was published in his honor. This book, called a festschrift, included a five-page list of all the works he had published.
Diakonoff's Family
The Diakonoff family was known for being very smart and contributing to many areas of knowledge, both in science and the humanities. His wife and two sons also became well-known researchers and professors.
His Wives
Igor's first wife, Nina Dyakonova (1915–2013), was a historian and literary critic. She was especially interested in English Romantic poetry from the early 1800s, like the works of Keats, Byron, and Shelley. She taught at Saint Petersburg State University and Herzen University.
His second wife, Ninel Yankovskaya (1925–2005), was also a historian and an expert on ancient Assyria at the State Hermitage Museum.
His Sons
Igor's sons became important physicists.
- Mikhail Dyakonov (born 1940) is a Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences. He worked at the Ioffe Institute in Russia and later became a professor at the University of Montpellier in France. He won the USSR State Prize.
- Dmitry Dyakonov (1949–2012) was also a Doctor of Physics and Mathematics. He was a professor at the St. Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute.
See also
In Spanish: Ígor Diákonov para niños
