Opening of a memorial plaque dedicated to Yuri Knorozov

On November 20 at 2 pm, the grand opening of the memorial plaque to the outstanding scientist, ethnographer, linguist, decipherer of Mayan writing Yuri Knorozov took place.

From August 1953 until the end of his life in 1999, Yuri Valentinovich worked in the Leningrad part of the N.N. Miklouho-Maclay Institute of Ethnography, now Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamera) of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in the department of ethnography of America. The range of his scientific interests was not limited to the decipherment of Mayan writing. Yuri Knorozov was interested in a wide range of issues related to communication within communities. He worked on deciphering the Proto-Indian language, the Easter Island script (rongo-rongo tablets), and in his later years he studied the problems of Ainu pictography. However, it was his early work on the decipherment of Mayan writing that brought Yuri Knorozov world fame and international recognition.

“Yuri Knorozov is a man of the era, a man of discovery, a man of mystery,” this is how the director of the MAE (Kunstkamera) RAS Andrei Golovnev began his opening speech. – What he did and how he did it is still a mystery in its own way. He undertook research that seemed impossible, he did not stop at what seemed insoluble. It seems to me that this is an important, if not the main legacy that Yuri Knorozov left as an impetus for science.”

November 19, 2022 marked the 100th anniversary of the birth of Yuri Knorozov. In the anniversary year, it was decided to perpetuate the name of the great scholar and place a memorial plaque on the facade of the museum building in the Tamozhenny Lane. Work on the creation of a memorial plaque dedicated to Yuri Knorozov began in April 2022. It was decided to take as a model the strict and academic memorial plaques installed at the “House of Academicians” in St. Petersburg. As a reference to the works and personality of Yuri Knorozov, an edging consisting of Mayan hieroglyphs was made along the perimeter of the board. For this purpose, several hieroglyphic signs were selected, mainly of a plant and zoomorphic nature. The hieroglyphs were taken from a publication by Yuri Knorozov “The writing system of the ancient Maya (decipherment experience)” in 1955 and have a drawing technique characteristic of his works. The design of the memorial plaque was created by the chief designer of the MAE RAS Denis Kukanov, and the preparation and production of the memorial plaque was carried out by Matvey Makushkin.

“The board looks very dignified, elegant, made according to St. Petersburg style. It fully reflects the significance of the figure of Yuri Knorozov for science, and corresponds to the surrounding architecture, which is very difficult,” said Boris Piotrovsky, Vice-Governor of St. Petersburg for Culture and Sports, in his speech.

Anna Maslova, granddaughter of Yuri Knorozov, thanked everyone involved in creating the memorial plaque on the building in which Yuri Knorozov worked for many years.

In the future, other memorial plaques will appear on the facade of the museum building in Tamozhenny Lane. The name of Yuri Knorozov begins the project “Pantheon of the Kunstkamera” on the facade of the museum building in Tamozhenny Lane, where the central entrance of the museum is located.

After the opening ceremony of the memorial plaque, a ceremonial scientific meeting was held in the reading room of the MAE library, at which reports were made on the activities of Yuri Knorozov and his scientific heritage. There was also a presentation of a book by Margarita Albedil “Yuri Valentinovich Knorozov: Science Without Borders.”