Nikolay Katanov, the first Khakas scientist
One of the prominent Russian Turkologists was born 160 years ago.
He worked at Imperial Kazan University and Kazan Spiritual Academy for many years.
Katanov (birth name Pora Khyzyl-ogly) was born on 18 May 1862 in what is now a territory near Askiz, a village in the Republic of Khakassia. He received primary education there and then moved to Krasnoyarsk Gymnasium, whose course he completed with honors in 1884. After that, he moved to Saint Petersburg University to study Eastern languages. During his studies, he managed to publish 9 papers on Turkology and his native Khakas language.
His expedition (1889 鈥� 1892) to Siberia, Mongolia, Dzungaria, and East Turkestan was very fruitful for his further research thanks to immense volumes of collected ethnographic material. Katanov made many more expeditions in later years, covering areas of Siberia and the Volga Region 鈥� traditional areas of indigenous Turkic populations.
In 1893, he was appointed extraordinary professor of the Department of Turkish and Tatar Language of Kazan University and worked here until his passing in 1922. During his tenure, Katanov showed his numerous talents as linguist, ethnographer, historian, archeologist, numismatist, teacher, collector, and administrator.
Katanov was an active member of many societies in Russia, including those in geography, archeology, natural sciences, ethnography, and others. He made major contributions to the studies of Central Asia. He was admitted to scholarly societies in Leuven, Budapest, and Helsinki.
In 1905-1917, Katanov acted as the Chairman of the Council of Kazan Museum (now National Museum of Tatarstan). Many items from his collections were donated to the Museum by him and his spouse after his death.
His magnum opus was doctoral thesis 鈥楾he Study of Uryankhay Language鈥� (now called Tuvan language), defended in 1903 at Saint-Petersburg University. In 1907, he was awarded the title of Doctor of Comparative Linguistics.
Nikolay Katanov, known, among other things, as the first academic degree holder of Khakas ethnic origin, is commemorated with a street in Kazan and as the eponym of Khakas State University (Abakan, Republic of Khakassia).