Igor M. Diakonoff
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И́горь М. Дья́конов
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| Born | Igor Mikhailovich Diakonoff (1915-01-12)12 January 1915
Petrograd, Russian Empire
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| Died | 2 May 1999(1999-05-02) (aged 84)
Saint Petersburg, Russia
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| Known for | Contributions to the study of the Ancient Near East and its languages |
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| Alma mater | Saint Petersburg State University |
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| Institutions | Oriental Institute, Saint Petersburg branch |
| Main interests | Ancient Near East and its languages |
Igor Mikhailovich Diakonoff (occasionally spelled Diakonov, Russian: И́горь Миха́йлович Дья́конов; 12 January 1915 – 2 May 1999) was a Russian historian, linguist, and translator and a renowned expert on the Ancient Near East and its languages. His brothers were also distinguished historians.
Diakonoff was brought up in Norway. He graduated from Leningrad State University (now Saint Petersburg State University) in 1938. In the same year he joined the staff of the Hermitage Museum in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg). In 1949, he published a comprehensive study of Assyria, followed in 1956 by a monographonMedia. 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.
Diakonoff'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.
Igor's first wife Nina Dyakonova (1915–2013) was a historian and critic of English literature, with a special interest in English Romantic poetry of the early 19th century (Keats, Byron, Shelley) and its reception in European and Russian literature. A student of Professors Viktor Zhirmunsky and Mikhail Alexeyev, she was a professor at her alma mater Saint Petersburg State University, and later, teacher-training Herzen University.
Second wife Ninel Yankovskaya (1925–2005) was a historian, assyriologist in the State Hermitage Museum.
Igor's sons became prominent physicists.
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