Vasily Abayev Museum
  
in Tskhinvali / South Ossetia
Basic information
(not yet confirmed by South Ossetian heritage specialists)
Description: Vaso (Vasily) Ivanovich Abaev (also transliterated as Abaity and Abayev) (1900 – 2001) was an ethnically Ossetian Soviet linguist specializing in Ossetian and Iranian linguistics.

He was born in Kobi, Georgia, 15 December 1900
Abaev studied at the Gymnasium of Tiflis in 1910-1918 and graduated from the Leningrad University in 1925.

Starting with the 1950s, Abayev became internationally famous as the leading authority on Scythian and Sarmatian linguistics. Assisted by his friend, Georges Dumézil, Abaev demonstrated connections between the Scythian languages and modern Ossetian. He also pointed out some striking similarities between Ossetian and Celtic mythology. His magnum opus, the Etymological Dictionary of Ossetian Language, was published in four volumes between 1959 and 1989.

He died at the age of 100 in Saint Petersburg (18 March 2001).

Source: Wikipedia
Location:
Established in: recently
Collection: Complete inheritance: personal belongings, manuscripts, publications, awards
Exhibition:
Under control of:
Director: Jusa Plijeva
Address:
Tel/Fax:
E.mail:
Website: Biography: See Encyclopedia Iranica and TITUS Galeria
Disaster related information
Site of the destroyed Vasily Abayev Museum
Location:
 Heavy damage to public buildings in Tskhinvali due to shelling, aerial attacks and street fighting in the first days of war.
Staff:
The museums director  in an interview with a German TV team:

Jusa Plijeva is the director of the Abayev museum wich has burned down completely. The linguist Abayev is a symbolic representant of the Ossetian people.

"He edited the five volume ethymologic dictionary of the Ossetian language. Here were all his manuscripts, his awards and his complete inheritance. Everything has been burnt. From August 7 to 8, the museum has burnt. But only on the evening of August 10 we could come out; people were frightened, you know. Me too - I returned to the museum, when the Russian soldiers arrived.
Building: burned down on August 7/8
Collection: completely destroyed
Other:
Report
Perspective:


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This temporary website is provided by  the
 
International Council of Museums (ICOM)


 
It is based on internet sources,
on a German TV report (channel: ARD; culture magazin: ttt)
and information provided by museum colleagues