Photo: Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons¹³

Nikolai Marr

Georgian ethnologist and linguist (1865–1934)

Nikolai Yakovlevich Marr (Никола́й Я́ковлевич Марр, Nikolay Yakovlevich Marr; ნიკოლოზ იაკობის ძე მარი, Nikoloz Iak'obis dze Mari; 6 January 1865 [O.S. 25 December 1864] — 20 December 1934) was a Georgian-born historian and linguist who gained a reputation as a scholar of the Caucasus during the 1910s before embarking on his "Japhetic theory" on the origin of language (from 1924), now considered as pseudo-scientific, and related speculative linguistic hypotheses.²

From Wikipedia’s article on Nikolai Marr (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Born Jan 6, 1865, died Dec 20, 1934.¹

About

Marr's hypotheses were used as a rationale in the campaign during the 1920–30s in the Soviet Union of introduction of Latin alphabets for smaller ethnicities of the country. In 1950, the "Japhetic theory" fell from official favour, with Joseph Stalin denouncing it in Marxism and Problems of Linguistics.

From Wikipedia’s article on Nikolai Marr, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.²

Companies

Russian Academy of SciencesVice president Mar 3, 1930 to Dec 20, 1934¹²

Early life and education

Date not recordedFaculty of Oriental Studies of the St. Petersburg University³

Career

Occupation: university teacher, linguist, Esperantist, philologist, orientalist, anthropologist, writer, archaeologist.⁶

1930 to 1934Vice president, Russian Academy of Sciences⁴
Date not recordedWorked at Saint Petersburg State University⁴
Date not recordedWorked at National Library of Russia⁴
Date not recordedWorked at Institute for Linguistic Studies⁴
Date not recordedLibrary director⁵

Known for: Japhetic theory.⁷

Personal life

BornJan 6, 1865, Kutaisi⁸
DiedDec 20, 1934, Saint Petersburg⁹
CitizenshipSoviet Union, British Empire, Russian Empire, Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic¹⁰

Awards

Date not recordedHonoured Scientist of the RSFSR¹¹
Date not recordedOrder of Lenin¹¹
Date not recordedOrder of Saint Anna, 2nd class¹¹
Date not recordedOrder of Saint Anna¹¹
Date not recordedOrder of Saint Stanislaus, 2nd class¹¹
Date not recordedOrder of Saint Stanislaus¹¹
Date not recordedOrder of St. Vladimir, 4th class¹¹
Date not recordedOrder of St. Vladimir¹¹

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

1
WikidataNikolai Marr on Wikidata
2
WikipediaNikolai Marr on Wikipedia
3
WikidataNikolai Marr: education, on Wikidata
4
WikidataNikolai Marr: Worked at Saint Petersburg State University, on Wikidata
5
WikidataNikolai Marr: Library director, on Wikidata
6
WikidataNikolai Marr: occupation, on Wikidata
7
WikidataNikolai Marr: notable work, on Wikidata
8
WikidataNikolai Marr: place of birth, on Wikidata
9
WikidataNikolai Marr: place of death, on Wikidata
10
WikidataNikolai Marr: citizenship, on Wikidata
11
WikidataNikolai Marr: award, on Wikidata
12
WikidataRussian Academy of Sciences, Vice president
13
Wikimedia CommonsNikolai Marr photo by unknown, Public domain