Gorbunova N.G., Kasparova K.V., Kushnareva K.X., Smirnova G.I. Boris Borisovich Piotrovsky (1908-1990) // Soviet archeology. 1991. No. 03. pp. 108-111.
A world-famous scientist, archaeologist and orientalist, director of the Hermitage - known to everyone as a man of real intelligence, rare charm, a wonderful sense of humor, completely devoid of administrative lordship - has passed away. And it is so difficult to imagine that he is no longer there, that you need to sit down and write an obituary, when Boris Borisovich is still standing before your eyes - alive, cheerful, always ready to communicate. Maybe that's why it took us so long to get down to it. So much has been written about B.B. Piotrovsky both as a bright, talented scientist and as a cultural historian who played a huge role in international cultural relations and headed a museum of such a scale as the Hermitage. In some ways, repetition is inevitable, except, perhaps, for one thing: for the first time we write about him when he is no longer with us...
B. B. Piotrovsky was born on February 14, 1908 in St. Petersburg in the family of Boris Bronislavovich Piotrovsky, a teacher of mathematics and mechanics in military educational institutions. He owes his primary education to his mother, Sofya Aleksandrovna Zavadskaya, a teacher by profession. His parents, deeply intelligent people, were bearers of the culture that we now call St. Petersburg. Family foundations and traditions were formed not only by parents, but also by grandfathers - generals of the Russian army, who from childhood accustomed little Boris and his brothers to future vicissitudes of fate.
In 1915, the Piotrovsky family moved to Orenburg, and in 1921 they returned to Petrograd. And here at school Boris Piotrovsky first saw Egyptian antiquities (ushabti figurines), shown by the teacher in a history lesson. Perhaps this impression has an internal connection with the appearance of 14-year-old Boris Piotrovsky in the Hermitage, where in 1922 he began to study Egyptian hieroglyphs under the guidance of the famous Egyptologist and deep connoisseur of the Ancient East N. D. Flittner.
He received further education at the Faculty of History and Linguistics of Leningrad State University (1925-1930), where he studied with such prominent scientists as archaeologist A. A. Miller, orientalists V. V. Struve, N. Ya. Marr and S. A. Zhebelev. Already in 1927-1929. Boris Borisovich, in addition to specializing in Egyptology - his main profession - receives his first practical and theoretical knowledge in the field of archeology, and broad linguistic training.
In 1928, student B. Piotrovsky wrote his first article on the term “iron” in the ancient Egyptian language, which was highly praised by his teachers. The article was published in 1929 in the "Reports of the Academy of Sciences". His article on the bas-relief of Amenhotep in the Karnak Temple was no less important. This is where the young scientist’s path to science began. In 1929, even before graduating from the University, Boris Borisovich was hired as a junior researcher at the Academy of the History of Material Culture. It was then that his teachers N.Ya. Marr and I.A. Orbeli attracted the attention of the novice researcher to the still little-known state of Urartu, the monuments of which were discovered at that time only outside our country.
Having already had extensive field experience, Boris Borisovich in 1939 began excavations of the Karmir-Blur hill (the Urartian fortress of Teishebaini), which determined the main direction of his research for many years. Field work was interrupted by the Great Patriotic War, and processing and comprehension of the extracted materials continued in besieged Leningrad. Here he remained, since the partisan detachment, which included B.B. Piotrovsky, was disbanded, and he was appointed head of the fire-fighting team of the MPVO of the Hermitage, on whose staff he had worked since 1931. Boris Borisovich was very worried that all the materials, mined before the war may die in besieged Leningrad. Therefore, work on the monograph “History and Culture of Urartu” became his main goal at this time. It was completed and published in Yerevan in 1944 and in the same year defended as a doctoral dissertation, which immediately promoted him to the ranks of leading archaeologists. This research opened a new direction in Russian archeology and Urartian studies. It fully realized the excellent qualities of the scientist - his talent and high professionalism. And it is not surprising that already at the age of 37 he was elected a corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences of the Armenian SSR (1945).
Soon after the war, reports on the ongoing excavations of Karmir-Blur quickly began to be published - Boris Borisovich considered it necessary to quickly convey to researchers the results of his discoveries, even before his final generalizations. The books “The Kingdom of Van” (1959) and “The Art of Urartu” (1962) became a brilliant conclusion to the study of Urartian monuments. In them, based on the analysis of the latest unique archaeological materials, written sources, a deep understanding of the history and art of the Ancient East, many pages of the history and culture of Urartu were essentially recreated for the first time. The researcher was able to largely understand the role and place of the state of Urartu in the context of the history of the Ancient East. No wonder “The Kingdom of Van” was published in many countries (Italy, England, Germany, USA, etc.). These studies played a big role in the study of the problems of Armenian ethnogenesis and the connections between the Urartian and Armenian ethnic groups. The materials obtained during the excavations became the basis for the creation of an exhibition on the culture of Urartu in the Hermitage and the Museum of the History of Armenia, and the excavations themselves became a standard in Middle Eastern archeology.
Boris Borisovich's research in Armenia had another very important aspect. Karmir-Blur became the center of archaeological research in Transcaucasia for many years. It was here, under his leadership, that the School of Archaeologists of Armenia was created. Many archaeologists of Leningrad and other cities of the Soviet Union began their scientific career here.
The history of Urartu is not the only research topic of B.B. Piotrovsky. Based on a course taught at the Faculty of History of Leningrad State University, in 1949 he published the book “Archaeology of Transcaucasia”, from which many generations of archaeologists, historians, and ethnographers studied. It is surprising that at its core it is not outdated and can only be supplemented by new facts. Among other problems that constantly interested Boris Borisovich were questions of the origin of Scythian art and its connection with the culture of Urartu and Western Asia, and questions of the development and role of cattle breeding in the history of society.
B. B. Piotrovsky carried his love for Egyptology throughout his life. In the early 60s, his youthful dream came true - he went to Egypt, where he headed the Soviet archaeological expedition to save the monuments of Nubia, which worked in the flood zone of the Aswan Dam. The expedition explored the ancient route to the gold mines of Wadi Allaqi. The result of this work was the book “Wadi Allaqi - the path to the gold mines of Nubia” (1983). Nubian collections, the only ones in the USSR, also replenished the Hermitage funds.
In Egypt, Boris Borisovich studied the treasures of Tutankhamun, which led him to interesting discoveries: some of the objects were made of Nubian gold, the path to which lay through Wadi Allaqi; he also raised the question that among the things found in the tomb were gifts from foreign rulers.
And who doesn’t know his article “Ancient Egyptian objects found on the territory of the Soviet Union,” which retains the significance of the main general summary to this day.
A wide range of research, excellent knowledge of the Hermitage collections, love for things and the ability to “see” them led B. B. Piotrovsky to understand and comprehend the general issues of the development process and the interrelationships of cultures, which he constantly spoke about in his scientific reports, at the openings of exhibitions and just in personal conversations. That is why Boris Borisovich deservedly headed the Scientific Council on Complex Problems of the History of World Culture of the USSR Academy of Sciences.
It is unthinkable to provide in this short article a list of all the positions and titles of B.B. Piotrovsky. Let us recall only the main ones: from 1953 to 1964 - head of the Leningrad Academy of Arts, from 1964 - director of the Hermitage; since 1957 he has been a member of the editorial board of the journal “Soviet Archeology”; since 1968 he has permanently headed the Department of Ancient Oriental Studies at Leningrad State University; he is the chairman of the LO All-Russian Society for the Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments, a member of the International Council of Museums; Academician of the Armenian Academy of Sciences (1968) and the USSR Academy of Sciences (1970), member of the Presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences (1980-1985), in 1983 he was awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor. He was elected corresponding member, honorary member, honorary doctor, foreign member of many Academies, archaeological and art history institutes and societies in different countries: India, England, Germany, Egypt, Italy, France, Spain, Belgium, USA.
Of the 82 years of his life, more than 60 B. B. Piotrovsky was associated with the Hermitage, where he began as a student student, was a junior and senior researcher, head of the Department of Oriental Studies, deputy director for science, and headed the Hermitage for 26 years, continuing the brilliant galaxy of its directors . He knew well all the various types of museum work, participated in the creation of many exhibitions, naturally, played an active role in the scientific work of the museum, was the editor of a number of Hermitage publications, the executive editor of the “Archaeological Collection”, from its 17th issue.
The expansion of cultural international ties of the country, and therefore of the Hermitage, occurred mainly during the directorship of Boris Borisovich, who took an active part in this, organizing various international exhibitions that introduced visitors to the Hermitage to the culture and art of many peoples. The treasures of more than one museum in the world were opened to Soviet people thanks to B.B. Piotrovsky. Let us at least remember “Treasures of the Tomb of Tutankhamun”, on the organization of which he spent a lot of effort and himself wrote a guidebook for it. And how many times did he open exhibitions “Gold of the Scythians” in different countries, to the catalogs of which he wrote introductory articles.
Numerous business trips abroad were associated not only with the opening of various exhibitions or negotiations about them, but also with speeches and reports, lectures that invariably attracted the attention of scientists and the general public. And 24 episodes of a television film about the Hermitage with the direct participation of B.B. Piotrovsky brought the Hermitage closer to people living in “the most remote corners of our country, who recognized and fell in love with Boris Borisovich.
From his youth, Boris Borisovich was fond of drawing and he kept many notebooks in which he not only described in detail his travels, impressions, meetings with people, but also accompanied them with his
amazing elegant light laconic drawings. Everyone who knew him closely is familiar with his manner of constantly drawing something, including cartoons, accompanying them with his own poems.
Remembering the role the Hermitage played for him in his adolescence, B.B. Piotrovsky loved to communicate with children, visited the Hermitage school office, and understood the enormous importance of this aspect of raising children.
But this world-famous scientist, who held the position of director of such a museum as the Hermitage, also had to solve basic production and technical issues. Perhaps the main one was the work to begin the reconstruction of the gradually collapsing museum buildings. It was B.B. Pitorovsky who managed to secure the allocation of the necessary currency to conclude an agreement with a foreign company that was reconstructing one of the buildings of the Hermitage Theater. Unfortunately, Boris Borisovich did not wait for its opening.
Huge busyness did not allow Boris Borisovich to complete all his scientific plans. They remained in his archives, his notebooks, unfinished works.
There is a famous saying: “If you want to know a person, make him your boss.” B.B. Piotrovsky was a boss for a long time, and not a small one, but above all, he remained a man. His office had three doors. They were open not only to countless foreign delegations, foreign and Soviet scientists, representatives of various museums, which is natural for the director of the Hermitage, but also to all employees and visitors.
And he patiently listened to everyone, and the lower a person’s “rank” was, the more likely he was to be listened to. And both his own and outsiders turned to him with so many troubles and requests! Of course, he could not help everyone, and this always upset him; He didn’t agree with everyone, but it was possible to argue with him, and argue on an equal footing...
Boris Borisovich was surprisingly kind to people, simple and democratic in his manners - the director of the Hermitage was from the old St. Petersburg intelligentsia.
Having held administrative positions for many years, Boris Borisovich repeatedly found himself in difficult situations caused by the difficulties and vicissitudes of political life in past years. And he always showed wisdom, tried not to aggravate the situation, not to create an atmosphere of persecution and persecution.
Thus, during the period when departures abroad began, there were no meetings or public condemnations in the Hermitage, which everyone knows quite well about.
The Hermitage was the main home of Boris Borisovich, he remained there forever, and I would like to believe that the best Hermitage traditions, which he tried so hard to preserve, will remain here in the future.
State Hermitage Museum, Leningrad
N. G. Gorbunova, K. V. Kasparova. K. X. Kushnareva, G. I. Smirnova
The outstanding scientist, long-time director of the Hermitage Boris Piotrovsky passed away on October 15, 1990.
Boris Borisovich was on guard of the museum in its most difficult times - during the war and the blockade. And then, over the course of 25 years, he increased the museum’s collections and preserved its age-old traditions.
World sensation
Boris Piotrovsky has been interested in history since childhood. He was especially attracted to ancient Egypt. Over the years, this boyish passion gave the world an outstanding archaeologist and scientist. Boris Piotrovsky spent his entire life in the Hermitage. He probably knew this huge museum by heart. For a quarter of a century he was its main custodian.
Boris Piotrovsky first appeared in the Hermitage as a teenager, in those years when the head of the museum at that time, Joseph Orbeli, created the Oriental Department here. Boris became “sick” of these halls, antiquity, history and decided to stay. He was then barely 16 years old. It was the 1920s, a new system was emerging around us, many communists believed that Soviet Russia did not need a bourgeois history.
There were also attacks on the Hermitage. The museum's curators tried to prove to the new government that culture is more important to history than wars and revolutions. Piotrovsky also viewed the historical process as the development of a culture that preserves eternal values and passes them on through generations.
In 1925, Boris entered Leningrad University at the Faculty of History and Linguistics. Brilliant mentors taught there, the greatest scientists of that time, who instilled in the youth a love for subjects. Soviet science will rely on these people in the future. In 1930, 21-year-old Piotrovsky left on his first expedition to Armenia. The tasks of the expedition included searching and studying traces of the Urartian civilization. At the same time, Piotrovsky began working at the Hermitage as a junior researcher.
Only by miracle did the young scientist escape Stalin's camps. In 1935, he and his comrades were detained and taken into custody on charges of terrorist activities. He spent a month and a half in a cell and was released due to the lack of proof of the charges. Having been released, he went to court and got him reinstated at work.
Expeditions to the Caucasus continued, Piotrovsky walked the Caucasian roads for nine years, studied history, but no traces of the ancient civilization of Urartu could be found. Finally, luck turned to the scientist. In 1939, he and his colleagues found the ruins of an ancient Urartian fortress. It was a world archaeological sensation of the 20th century; historians around the world started talking about the discovery of Boris Piotrovsky. Each year of excavations of the Urartian fortress brought unique finds. Once, historians dug up a bronze figurine of Teisheb, the Urartian god of war. It was June 1941...
Guarding values
The news of the beginning of the Great Patriotic War found Piotrovsky on an expedition, and work was immediately curtailed. He immediately rushed to Leningrad. In the Hermitage I saw ruined halls; the museum’s collections were being prepared for evacuation. Two special trains left for Sverdlovsk, preparing to send valuables with the third echelon. But the Hermitage workers were late, and a blockade closed around Leningrad. During the bombing, museum workers were on duty on the roofs, extinguishing lighters. They practically lived in the museum, staying within the historical walls around the clock. During that terrible and frosty winter of the siege, Boris Borisovich wrote the book “History and Culture of Urartu.”
In March 1942, Orbeli literally forced Piotrovsky to evacuate to Yerevan and thereby saved the young scientist from starvation. There the historian continued to write his work, defended his doctoral dissertation, and received the Stalin Prize. The book brought the author fame as one of the greatest specialists in the history of Transcaucasia. By the way, Stalin enjoyed reading Piotrovsky’s book about the history of Urartu.
Boris Piotrovsky helped save the museum during the siege. Photo: www.russianlook.com
In 1964, Boris Borisovich became director of the Hermitage. Shortly before this, Mikhail Artamonov was removed from his post because he allowed an exhibition of young avant-garde artists Shemyakin and Ovchinnikov to be held at the museum. A scandal occurred, provocative and incomprehensible paintings were removed from the halls of the Hermitage, and the director of the museum was fired. Piotrovsky refused to accept this position for a long time; he considered it indecent to occupy the director’s chair in this way. But Artamonov himself asked Boris Borisovich to accept the Hermitage; they both understood that otherwise a party functionary who knew nothing about history would be appointed to lead the museum.
For 25 years, Piotrovsky headed the State Hermitage. Under him, a new era of the great collection began, and the storage facilities were rebuilt. Piotrovsky painstakingly compiled lists of masterpieces of art lost in the 1930s. At that time, the country needed machines and weapons, so many works of art were sold abroad. Under Piotrovsky, the Hermitage became the calling card of the country. Unique exhibitions from many museums around the world began to arrive on the banks of the Neva.
In 1985, a terrible tragedy occurred in the Hermitage. The criminal doused Rembrandt's painting "Danae" with acid and cut it with a knife. The battle for the Danae lasted 12 years, which may have affected the health of the museum director. The restored painting returned to the hall only in October 1997, but Boris Borisovich no longer saw it.
Piotrovsky died in 1990 at the age of 82 from a stroke. An entire era in the life of the Hermitage passed away with him.
Director of the State Hermitage, Professor of St. Petersburg State University, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Arts, Doctor of Historical Sciences
Born on December 9, 1944 in Yerevan (Armenia). Father - Boris Borisovich Piotrovsky (1908-1990). Mother - Dzhanpolanyan Hripsime Mikaelovna (born 1918). Wife - Piotrovskaya Irina Leonidovna (born 1944), graduated from the Moscow Institute of Finance and Economics, majoring in economics, candidate of economic sciences. Daughter - Piotrovskaya Maria Mikhailovna (born 1970). Son - Piotrovsky Boris Mikhailovich (born 1982).
The Piotrovskys are a Russian noble family with Polish roots. Traditionally, the older generations of the Piotrovskys were military men. Mikhail Piotrovsky's father, Boris Borisovich, is a world-famous archaeologist, the author of sensational excavations of the ancient Urartian fortress of Teishebaini near Yerevan, a full member of the Russian Academy of Sciences and many other academies. He worked at the State Hermitage all his life and was its director for 26 years (1964-1990).
After graduating from the 210th secondary school in Leningrad in 1961, Mikhail Piotrovsky entered the Department of Arabic Philology of the Oriental Faculty of Leningrad State University, from which he graduated with honors in 1967, having completed a one-year internship at Cairo University (Egypt).
In 1967, he joined the Leningrad branch of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the USSR Academy of Sciences, where he worked for more than 20 years, holding all positions from laboratory assistant to leading researcher. He completed graduate school and defended dissertations for the academic degrees of candidate (1973) and doctor (1985) in historical sciences. In 1973-1976 he worked as a translator and teacher of Yemeni history at the Higher School of Social Sciences in the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen.
M. B. Piotrovsky's sphere of scientific interests is the ancient and medieval history of the Middle East, the history of the Arabian Peninsula, the Koran and the early history of Islam, ancient Arabian inscriptions, epic traditions of the Arabs, Arabic handwritten books, Muslim art. Since 1983, he worked in the Soviet-Yemeni integrated historical expedition, first as the head of the detachment, and in 1989-1990 as the head of the expedition. He conducted field research on ancient trade routes, participated in excavations of ancient cities and temples, and in ethnological research. He published a series of works on Yemeni archeology and epigraphy. His works on Arab history were regularly translated into Arabic. He lectured at many universities in the Arab world and gained worldwide fame as an Arabist.
B.B. Piotrovsky died in 1990 as director of the State Hermitage in the midst of an economic and moral crisis, which, along with the entire country, affected the Hermitage. He felt very strongly about the situation in which Russian culture found itself, and this accelerated his death.
A few months after his father’s death, his successor invited M.B. Piotrovsky to take the position of deputy director for scientific work, and in 1992, by decree of the Government of the Russian Federation, he was appointed director of the State Hermitage.
The museum's work and recovery from the crisis were based on respect for traditions, active openness to the world, ensuring wide access to collections, and tactful modernization.
To make up for the sharp reduction in government subsidies, the museum launched a series of projects to seek extra-budgetary funds. The Hermitage - Unesco project attracted a series of grants from various states for restoration projects. Societies of Friends of the Hermitage in the USA, Canada, the Netherlands, France, Japan and the International Club of Friends of the Hermitage significantly expanded the world of museum enthusiasts and assistants who helped carry out the restoration of many halls and engineering systems of the Hermitage. A scheme was developed to attract Russian sponsors and investors. Currently, the museum itself generates half of its annual budget. To enhance the museum’s communication with viewers, development, hospitality, and public relations services have been created.
The tasks of the general reconstruction of the Hermitage were concentrated in the “Great Hermitage” project. The reconstruction of the Hermitage Theater has been completed, which has become the base for the activities of the Chamber Orchestra of the State Hermitage and the Hermitage Academy of Music - a new side of the synthetic activity of the museum. The construction of the Open Storage Facility in Staraya Derevnya is close to completion. The “Greater Hermitage” project involves the active involvement of Palace Square in the museum life and increasing the city-forming role of the entire Hermitage complex. In the eastern wing of the General Staff building a permanent exhibition of decorative art in the Empire style and the beginning of a gallery in memory of Morozov and Shukin have already opened. It will also house galleries of porcelain and 20th-century art, combined with museum shops, historical cafes and multimedia centers. Work is underway to create a new entrance to the Hermitage - from Palace Square. Extensive work has been carried out to restore utility networks, waterproofing, facades and historical interiors, and introduce new lighting systems.
The Hermitage maintains its role as a symbol of both Russian culture and the glory of Russian statehood. Numerous exhibitions in the museum and abroad were dedicated to the rethinking of Russian history and had a great public resonance - “Peter the Great and the Netherlands”, “Peter the Great and Charles XII”, “Catherine the Great”, “Catherine and Gustav III”, “History of the Russian Coat of Arms” , "Nikolai and Alexandra". The State Hermitage was included in the state list of especially valuable monuments of the cultural heritage of Russia. By a special decree, as a monument of culture and statehood, it was taken under the patronage of the President of Russia.
The policy of openness was expressed in the creation of the International Advisory Council at the State Hermitage. The museum was the first in Russia to publish reports on its activities, including financial ones. Every year the Hermitage holds several exhibitions abroad telling about the museum’s collections and Russian culture. A system of rotating exhibitions makes it possible to regularly display exhibits from the Hermitage storage facilities. This was continued by projects to create Hermitage exhibition centers abroad. Their creation is planned in London, Amsterdam, New York. A long-term agreement has been concluded with the Guggenheim Museum on joint work on the creation of exhibitions, in particular a series of exhibitions of 20th-century art in the Hermitage. A scheme has also been developed for the restoration of Hermitage items by Hermitage restorers in other museums around the world. Such projects have already been implemented in the Netherlands and Canada. After a long restoration, Rembrandt’s “Danae,” mutilated by a madman, was returned to the exhibition.
An important step in ensuring the accessibility of collections was the creation, together with IBM, of the Hermitage electronic information system. It includes “Navigation Kiosks” located not only in the Hermitage, but also in almost 20 other museums around the world, a children’s computer gallery, a digital image library and the Hermitage Internet page, recognized as the best Internet page in Russia in 1999 and the best museum page in the world in 2000 of the year. The Hermitage has also introduced free museum admission for children and students and a large range of discounts.
Numerous exhibitions of the Hermitage are almost always accompanied by colorful catalogs (almost each contains an article by M.B. Piotrovsky) and become important social phenomena that go beyond the scope of purely museum events. Among them are the exhibitions: “Sinai, Byzantium, Rus'”, “Treasures of the Armenian Church”, “The Art of Islam”, “Treasures of the Golden Horde”. The Hermitage resumed collecting activities, adding to its collection paintings by Utrillo, Dufy, Rouault, Soutine, and ancient Chinese bronzes.
M.B. Piotrovsky is the author of more than 200 scientific works, including catalogs of Arabic manuscripts, publications of medieval monuments and ancient inscriptions, works on the spiritual and political history of Islam and Arab culture, and the archeology of Arabia. Among them are a series of articles on Muslim mythology in the encyclopedia "Myths of the Peoples of the World", a series of articles about the Prophet Muhammad and the monograph: "The Legend of the Himyarite King Asad al-Kamil" (M., 1977, Arabic translations - Sana'a, Damascus, Aden, 1978 , 1979), “South Arabia in the Early Middle Ages” (M., 1985), “Yemen before Islam and in the first centuries of the Hijra” (Beirut, 1987), “Koranic Tales” (M., 1991), “Islam: Encyclopedic Reference "(Moscow, 1991, co-author), "Hermitage: Collections and Collectors" (St. Petersburg, 1997, co-author), "Earthly Art - Heavenly Beauty: The Art of Islam" (St. Petersburg, 2000).
M.B. Piotrovsky is a corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, a corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Arts, a member of the Academy of Humanities, a member of the International Academy of Ecology, a member of the Ateneum Veneto Academy. He is a member of the Presidium of the State Prize Committee under the President of the Russian Federation, a member of the Council on Culture under the President of the Russian Federation, a member of the Expert Council on Exhibitions of the Council of Europe, a member of the Exhibition Committee of the Federal Exhibition Center of Germany, a member of the Advisory Council of the Museum of Modern Art (New York). He is the President of the Association of Museum Workers of St. Petersburg, President of the World Club of St. Petersburg, President of the Alliance Française of St. Petersburg and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the European University in St. Petersburg.
M.B. Piotrovsky was awarded the Order of Honor (1997), the Pushkin Medal (1999) and a series of foreign awards: - Order of Orange-Nassau (Netherlands, 1996), Order of the Legion of Honor (France, 1998), Order of the Polar Star (Sweden, 1999) , Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (2000), Order of St. Mesrop (Armenian Apostolic Church, 2000). The International Astronomical Union assigned one of the minor planets the name "Piotrovsky" in honor of Boris and Mikhail Piotrovsky.
Bibliography
To prepare this work, materials from the site http://www.biograph.ru/ were used
Director of the State Hermitage, Professor of St. Petersburg State University, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Arts, Doctor of Historical Sciences Born on December 9, 1944Boris Piotrovsky headed the Hermitage for almost 26 years - from 1964 to 1990. The current director of the museum, Mikhail Piotrovsky, shared his memories of him with KP.
A photograph of Boris Borisovich stands in the office where he once worked and where his son now continues his work. The photographs look like very smart and slightly sad eyes.
In fact, this is a sad photograph taken shortly before Boris Borisovich left, says Mikhail Piotrovsky. “My father was very worried that during perestroika, relations between people began to deteriorate. He saw the same thing that happened in the 20s of the last century. Then politics came to the museum, and the baiting began. Many people died, many careers were destroyed... It was incredibly difficult to experience all these things a second time.
ONLY HERE. Director of the Hermitage Mikhail Piotrovsky about his father Boris Piotrovsky
CHAMPIONS OF THE RUSSIAN NOBLEMS
- What kind of person was your father?
I will answer simply - wonderful. He represented a generation to which we are no match. These people lived in difficult times, but worked conscientiously. The ideological situation was difficult. Step to the side - execution. But dad managed to balance on a fine line. At the same time, he was not an opportunist, an initiativeist, or a revolutionary. His main feature is inner self-confidence. Boris Borisovich worked calmly and with optimism.
People were really different back then. But not only here, but all over the world! Compare the current President of France with Charles de Gaulle. And feel the difference.
Constantly argued ( laughs). But dad had a wonderful trait - he never shouted or instructed. He knew how to say words that you remembered and which became a guide for you for many years.
By the way, Boris Borisovich avoided conflicts in different ways. For example, he knew how to swear skillfully. But it was a checkmate of Russian nobles and poets - exclusively at the right time and in the right place. My father's biting remarks always diffused the situation. In general, he had a lot of tricks!
- For example?
Take, for example, the office in which you and I are located. Dad always had all three doors open (I only have two). Anyone could enter here. It would seem like democracy. But in fact it was a little trick. It allowed you to deftly avoid a conversation with one person and quickly switch to a conversation with another person who had entered. I didn't understand this right away. But I still understood - I myself visited my father’s office more than once ( laughs). In general, these were very intelligent techniques.
WINTER AND BOMBS ON THE BEACH
- Boris Borisovich already in his youth decided to become a scientist. Where did he have such a passion for archeology?
It’s hard to answer: after all, my dad was from a military family. If we talk about me, then everything is clear: look at your father and do as he does. I think it all started with him at the gymnasium in Orenburg. The teacher brought some antiquities to class and talked interestingly about them. And then - romance. Dad wrote that he envied the cranes that fly to Egypt...
There was a wonderful museum of archeology and ethnography in Orenburg, and dad dreamed of working there... as a night watchman! There is nothing more interesting than spending a night at a museum. Everyone knows this ( laughs).
- Is it true that Boris Borisovich knew the entire Hermitage by heart?
More likely. He worked here all his life, and during the years of the siege he served in the fire department as an assistant chief of the MPVO team. He walked through all the staircases and attics and even visited those places where ordinary guardians are not allowed.
- Your father survived the blockade winter. What did he say about the work of the Hermitage at this time?
People worked as best they could. They were on duty in the halls and gave lectures. One day we celebrated his birthday. They ate bread crumbs with fish glue. By the way, only our restorers had fish glue. This can be called the “Hermitage menu” of that time.
My father didn’t like to talk about horrors. But he remembered how “picturesque” the shells exploded on the beach of the Peter and Paul Fortress. It was clearly visible from the windows of the Winter Palace - beautiful and scary...
“FATHER WOULD BE PLEASED WITH ME”
- Did Boris Borisovich often take you to work? Did you arrange personal excursions?
There was no need for this. The Hermitage was already part of our family. What was discussed at work was the same at home.
- Is everything intertwined?
Absolutely! We have such traditions - we work as families. There is no other way with the Hermitage. He is your home.
- Do you agree that under Boris Piotrovsky the Hermitage became the calling card of the country?
The Hermitage has always been this. But her father made her more convincing and brilliant.
Dad took over the museum in 1964, when the country began to slowly open up. Tourists came to Leningrad and saw that foreign languages were spoken here, and generally felt free. Dad filled the museum with an atmosphere of openness to the world - he established connections with both the West and the East.
Boris Borisovich laid all the foundations for development that we are now proud of. The transfer of the eastern wing of the General Staff building to the Hermitage, the creation of a storage facility - all this is largely thanks to him. It is important that during the difficult years of perestroika we did not despair and picked up his ideas.
- So you are continuing your father’s work?
Yes. My comrades and I managed to complete what he started. That same openness to the world, constant live contact with other museums, the creation of centers outside the Hermitage - all this is in the spirit of Boris Borisovich.
- Do you think your father would be pleased with you?
Some details might not suit him, but overall he would be satisfied.
- What details?
Maybe he wouldn’t have liked my harsh public statements - he was a very cautious person in this regard. But he would still approve of the results of my work.
HELP "KP"
Boris Borisovich PIOTROVSKY. Born on February 14, 1908 in St. Petersburg into a family of hereditary nobles. Academician, archaeologist, orientalist, doctor of historical sciences, professor. One of the largest researchers of the ancient state of Urartu. In 1944, he married archaeologist-orientalist Hripsime Mikaelovna Dzhanpoladyan (the marriage gave birth to sons Mikhail and Levon). He worked at the Institute of the History of Material Culture, and in 1964 he headed the Hermitage (he worked there since 1930). He died on October 15, 1990, several months after the stroke. He was buried at the Smolensk cemetery.
Mikhail Piotrovsky has been working as director of the museum since 1992. Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, winner of numerous awards, president of the World Club of St. Petersburg, head of the Union of Museums of Russia.
