Yuri Nikolaevich
Roerich
1902-1960
Yuri Nikolaevich Roerich is an outstanding orientalist, linguist and encyclopedist, who spoke more than 30 languages and dialects, and deeply studied the culture, philosophy and religion of the East. He was born on August 16, 1902 in the village of Okulovka, the Novgorod governorate, he spent his childhood in St. Petersburg. He started studying Egyptology and Mongol studies at the age of 15. He finished Karl May Gymnasium, after which he studied at the University of London, then at Harvard, where he studied Sanskrit, Pali and Chinese. He continued his education in France, at the School of Oriental Languages at the University of Paris. Since 1923 he conducted independent research, and from the same year took part in the Central Asian expedition organized by his father Nikolai Roerich. In 1924, he travelled to Sikkim and Bhutan, and in 1925-1928 he completed the entire expedition route, acting as an interpreter and head of security. Scientific results include the monographs “Tibetan Painting” (1925), “Animal Style among the nomads of Northern Tibet” (1930) and “Along the Trails of Central Asia” (1931), which became important achievements in the field of Oriental studies and archeology. In 1928 he became the director of the Urusvati Institute of Himalayan Studies, which he led for more than 10 years. In 1934-1935 he participated in an expedition to Manchuria and Inner Mongolia. He was a member of many scientific societies in different countries. He lived abroad for more than 35 years, mostly in India, but always retained Soviet citizenship. In 1941, he tried to join the Red Army as a volunteer. In 1957, at the invitation of N.S. Khrushchyov, he returned to the USSR, received citizenship and began to work at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the USSR Academy of Sciences. He headed the Department of Philosophy and History of religion in India, founded the national school of Tibetology, began teaching Sanskrit, and laid the foundations of Nomad studies. He prepared a Tibetan-Russian-English dictionary and numerous scientific works, and was the scientific editor of important Buddhist texts, including the Dhammapada. He worked on the monumental “History of Central Asia”, published after his death. After returning to the USSR, he played a key role in returning and popularizing the heritage of the Roerich family, donated hundreds of paintings by his father and other cultural assets to the state. With his participation, the first exhibitions of Nikolai Roerich began. Two monuments have been erected in Moscow in memory of Yuri Roerich.
Address: Moscow, Volkhonka St., 14, building 8
