Igor M. Diakonoff


Igor Mikhailovich Diakonoff was a Russian historian, linguist, and translator and a renowned expert on the Ancient Near East and its languages. His last name is occasionally spelled Diakonov. His brothers were also distinguished historians.

Life and career

Diakonoff was brought up in Norway. He graduated from Leningrad State University in 1938. In the same year he joined the staff of the Hermitage Museum in Leningrad. In 1949 he published a comprehensive study of Assyria, followed in 1956 by a monograph on Media. Later on, he teamed up with the linguist Sergei Starostin to produce authoritative studies of the Caucasian, Afroasiatic, and Hurro-Urartian languages.
Diakonoff was honored in 2003 with a festschrift volume published in his memory, edited by Lionel Bender, Gábor Takács, and David Appleyard. In addition to articles on Afro-Asiatic languages, it contains a five-page list of his publications compiled by Takács.

Family

Dyakonov's family members are known for their contributions to various fields of knowledge, both sciences and humanities.
His wife and two sons became well-known researchers and achieved ranks of full professors.

Brother's family

Igor's wife Nina Dyakonova, historian and critic of English literature with a special interest in English Romantic poetry of early 19 century and its reception in European and Russian literature. A student of Professors Viktor Zhirmunsky and Mikhail Alexeyev. Professor of her Alma mater Saint Petersburg State University and, later, teacher-training Herzen University.

Sons

Igor's sons became prominent physicists.