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(*23 September 1922 - f22 December 2013)
One of the founding archaeologists of Central Asia, a world-famous archaeologist, the discoverer of the "Gold of Bactria" in Afganistan and, in the middle of the 20th century, the discoverer of a new center of ancient civilization in the sands of the Karakum in Turkmenistan, passed away on 22 December 2013 in Moscow. His entire life was associated with and dedicated to archaeology. For the most part, to his final days (Viktor Ivanovich's excavation season finished on 26 October 2013) he worked in field conditions under a blazing Asiatic sun, in wind- blown tents, at times having to bring water over several tens of kilometers from camp and having only several pieces of dry bread for dinner. V. I. Sarianidi was a bright star in the Pleides of the foremost researchers - Μ. E. Masson, B. A. Kuftin, S. P. Tolstov, A. N. Bernshtam, A. M. Mandel'shtam, B. A. Litvinsky, V. M. Masson, I. N. Khlopin, B. Ya. Stavissky, B. I. Marshak and Yu. A. Zadenprovsky - who brought to light for the scientific world the ancient history of the vast territory between the Caspian Sea and the Pamirs, who created an entire epoch in the study of the history of Central Asia, the Near East and Eurasia as a whole. With the departure of V. I. Sarianidi this epoch has ended but the results of his labors represented by his great scientific legacy will survive as long as scientific research lasts. Archaeologists, historians and linguists will interpret them, agreeing with some and calling into question others.
V. I. Sarianidi was born 23 September 1929 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, and was the only son of three children. His family were Pontic Greeks (his father was born in Gyumyushkhan/Argiropolis near Trapezunda and his mother was born in Yalta in the Crimea) who moved there in search of work and ran a small bakery. In 1947 he entered the Archaeology department of the Historical faculty of the Central Asiatic (now Tashkent) State University and already in 1948 he participated in the archaeological expedition of the Institute of History and Archaeology (Academy of Science of the Uzbek SSR) under the direction of V. A. Shishkin (1893-1966),...