Igor Diakonov

From Freepedia

Image:Diakonov.jpg Igor Mikhailovich Diakonov (Russian: И́горь Миха́йлович Дья́конов) (December 30, 1914 (January 12, 1915), Petrograd–May 2, 1999, St Petersburg) is a Russian historian, linguist, and translator who should be ranked among the greatest authorities on Ancient East and its languages.

Diakonov, both of whose brothers were distinguished historians, was brought up in Norway and graduated from the Leningrad University in 1938, joining the staff of the Hermitage Museum the same year. In 1949 he published a comprehensive study of Assyria, followed by the monograph on Media in 1956. Later, he teamed with the linguist Sergei Starostin to produce authoritative studies of the Caucasian, Afro-Asiatic and Hurro-Urartian languages.