Unknown Pages of A.V. Schmidt’s Biography: from Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography to State Academy for the History of Material Culture
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24852/2587-6112.2026.2.20.30Keywords:
archaeology, history of science, A.V. Schmidt, State Academy for the History of Material Culture, Museum of Anthropology and Ethnograpy, archaeological expeditions, archival materials, case of Serebryakov, Figatner CommissionAbstract
Archaeologist A.V. Schmidt lived a short life but made a significant contribution to the study of archaeological sites in the Kola Peninsula, the Kama River region, and the Urals. From 1923 until his death, he worked at leading academic institutions in Leningrad (the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography and the State Academy for the History of Material Culture); this period of his scholarly biography still contains details largely unknown to the broader research community. A more detailed account of A.V. Schmidt’s activities in the 1920s–1930s has been made possible by materials from St. Petersburg archives. The young specialist’s path into science was far from straightforward: in 1925, his career was nearly cut short by false charges, arrest, and exile to Siberia, and in 1929 he was dismissed from the Academy of Sciences following an inspection by the infamous Figatner Commission. Nevertheless, the researcher continued his work at the Academy for the History of Material Culture, where he was highly regarded and entrusted with leading major archaeological projects. Tragically, an untreatable disease destroyed his future prospects; following several years of unsuccessful medical care, he passed away from laryngeal tuberculosis in April 1935.
References
Antsiferov, N. P. 1992. Iz dum o bylom: Vospominaniia (From thoughts about the past: Memories). Moscow: “ Feniks” Publ.; “Kulturnaia initsiativa” Publ. (in Russian).
Basargina, E. Yu. 2024. In Krasnikov, G. Ya. (ed.). Rossiiskaia akademiia nauk: 300 let istorii (Russian Academy of Sciences: 300 years of history) Vol. 1. Moscow: “Nauka” Publ., 295–308 (in Russian).
Bogoslovskiy, E. S. 1968. In Gorovoi, F. A., Oborin, V. A. (eds.). Trudy Kamskoy arkheologicheskoy ekspeditsii (Proceedings of the Kama Archaeological Expedition) 4. Series: Uchenye zapiski Permskogo gosuniversiteta (Scientific Bulletin of the Perm State University) 191. Perm: Perm State University, 145–161 (in Russian).
Kiseleva, E. L. 2008. In Vestnik Leningradskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta im. A.S. Pushkina. Seriia Istoriia (Bulletin of the Leningrad State University named after A. S. Pushkin. History Series) (4), 109–120 (in Russian).
Krichevskiy, E. Yu. 1935. Sovetskaia etnografiia (Soviet Ethnography) (3), 125–127 (in Russian).
Platonova, N. I. 2002. In Kirpichnikov, A. N. (ed.). Kulturnoe nasledie Rossiiskogo gosudarstva (Cultural heritage of the Russian state) III. Saint Petersburg: “Vesti” Publ., 120–130 (in Russian).
Ravdonikas, V. I. 1935. Problemy istorii dokapitalisticheskikh obshchestv (Issues of Pre-Capitalist Societies History) (9/10), 126–128 (in Russian).
Slepkova N.V. 2013. In Istoriko-biologicheskie issledovaniia (Historical and biological research) 3 (5), 43–71 (in Russian).
Formozov A.A. 2006. Russkie arkheologi v period totalitarizma: (Russian Archaeologists in the Totalitarianism Period). Moscow: “Znak” Publ. (in Russian).
Shmidt, A. V. 1929. In Khoziaistvo Bashkirii (Economy of Bashkiria) Appendix to No. 8–9. Separate edition. 28 (in Russian).
Shmidt, A. V. 1930. In Zolotarev, D. A. (ed.). Kol'skiy sbornik (The Kola collection of papers). Series: Materialy komissii ekspeditsionnykh issledovaniy (Materials of the expeditionary research commission) 23. Leningrad: Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 119–169 (in Russian).
Shmidt, A. V., Prokoshev, A. N. 1935. In Meshchaninov, I. (ed.). Arkheologicheskie raboty Akademii na novostroikakh 1932–1933 gg. (Archaeological Activities of the Academy at New Construction sites in 1932-1933) 1. Series: Izvestiia Gosudarstvennoi Akademii istorii material'noi kul'tury (Reports of the State Academy for the History of Material Culture) 109. Moscow; Leningrad: “Sotsekgiz” Publ., 166–187 (in Russian).
Shumkin, V. Ya. 2023. In Arkheologiia Evraziiskikh stepei (Archaeology of Eurasian Steppes) 4, 192–211(in Russian).
Khudyakov, M. G. 1935. In Problemy istorii dokapitalisticheskikh obshchestv (Issues of Pre-Capitalist Societies History) (9−10), 129–143 (in Russian).
Arkhiv Upravleniia FSB Sankt-Peterburga i Leningradskoi oblasti (Archive of the Federal Security Service for St. Petersburg and Leningrad Region) № P-93190
Gosudarstvennyi arkhiv Rossiiskoi Federatsii (State archive of Russian Federation). F. 8409. Inv. 1. Dossier 82.
Gosudarstvennyi arkhiv Rossiiskoi Federatsii (State archive of Russian Federation). F. 8409. Inv. 1. Dossier. 87.
Rukopisnyi otdel Nauchnogo arkhiva Instituta istorii materialnoi kultury RAN (Manuscript division of the scientific archive of the Institute for the history of material culture RAS). F. 2. Inv. 3, dossier 751 (in Russian).
Sankt-Peterburgskii filial Arkhiva RAN (St. Petersburg Branch of the Archive of the Russian Academy of Sciences). F. 4. Inv. 4. Dossier 1211
Sankt-Peterburgskii filial Arkhiva RAN (St. Petersburg Branch of the Archive of the Russian Academy of Sciences). F. 142. Inv. 1-1923. Dossier 1
Sankt-Peterburgskii filial Arkhiva RAN (St. Petersburg Branch of the Archive of the Russian Academy of Sciences). F. 142. Inv. 1-1924. Dossier 2
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 M.V. Medvedeva, E.G. Zastrozhnova
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
