In 2004, on the night of October 5, in the eightieth year, the famous academician, the outstanding Soviet and Russian Slavic scholar Sedov Valentin Vasilyevich, passed away. He created a modern theory of the historical ethnos of the Slavs. Valentin Vasilyevich is an undeniable leader, an academician with worldwide recognition. His amazing industriousness and rare erudition, bright pedagogical and unique organizational qualities allowed the scientist to play an exceptional role in the archaeological research of vast territories for a long time. He did significant work in Old Russian Slavic studies, in the life of the Archaeological Department of the Russian Academy of Sciences and in Russian archaeological science.
Short Biographical Information
Born into a family of workers in Noginsk. After leaving school (1941) he entered the aviation institute, but the war began, and he was enrolled in the military infantry school. In November 1942 he went to the front. Valentin Sedov has been on many fronts. His fearlessness and courage are marked by awards from the government. Home fromthem - the Order of the Red Star. He was also awarded the Medal for Military Merit.
First steps in science
He became interested in history after the end of the war, and the future academician began his scientific activity in the post-war years.
In 1951, Valentin Vasilievich graduated from Moscow University, the Department of Archeology at the Faculty of History. Then there was a postgraduate course at the Institute of Archeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
By 1954, the future academician completes a great work, which results in a dissertation for a Ph. D. degree, “Krivichi and Slavs”. And already in 1967, for his dissertation research "Slavs of the Upper Dnieper and Podvinya" Sedov Valentin received the degree of Doctor of Historical Sciences. Three years later, this work was published as a monograph.
Phenomenal popularity
In the 60s of the last century, at the time of Sedov's formation as a research scientist, his recognition by students went off scale. Already then they composed legends about him. For future archaeologists, Valentin Valentinovich was like a magnet. He attracted young minds with his openness, enthusiasm, new promising areas of science on a global scale, his unique ability to generalize and build logical chains, and simply a fanatical passion for theoretical and practical archeology.
Foreign recognition
Usually, the authority of a scientist develops for a long time and is recognized gradually. Valentin Sedov managed to conquer the foreign academic Olympus back in 1970, being the head of the delegation of Russian archaeologists-Slavists. His speech at the Berlin Second International Congress of the Archeology of the Slavic Ethnos was a great success. At this time, the next monograph of the academician - "Novgorod Hills" was published. Both books caused a great response among archaeologists in Russia and many foreign countries.
Scientific heritage
Valentin Sedov is known for his versatility of publishing activities. The books and magazines in which he acted as managing editor are incalculable. Since 1989, the academician has been a member of the editorial boards of various journals and publications.
It is considered indisputable that Valentin Vasilievich did not have any student work. Even the early publications of the young scientist convinced by their consistency. Particularly distinguished is his work of the period of formation, written in 1953 - "The ethnic composition of the population of the northwestern lands of Veliky Novgorod." Already here, the ability to process complex material, the versatility of views regarding paganism, and the ability to create anthropometric sketches were noticed.
In his first book "Rural Settlements of the Central Regions of the Smolensk Land (VIII-XV centuries)" Valentin Sedov sets a completely new vector in the archaeological Slavic studies of the Russian state. It cannot be said that before him no efforts were made to characterize Russian villages during the period of paganism from an archaeological point of view. But all the work was reduced to the processing of barrow materials. Serious research has simply not been done. Valentin Vasilyevich was the first to starta thorough study of the settlement and structure of ancient Russian settlements, and for several decades remained the only scientist seriously developing this issue. His archaeological campaigns, ahead of time, were continued only after 30 years.
Among the published books and monographs of the academician, the following stands out: "Eastern Slavs in the 6th-13th centuries." It was published in 1982 in the serial issue "Archaeology of the USSR" by Rybakov B. A. The manuscript waited a long time for publication, because its concept was contrary to the editor's convictions. When the book was nevertheless printed, it became clear that it was the main decoration of the series. This happened for the sole reason that the author of this book was one. The remaining volumes were written in collaboration and did not have a single idea and story line. They contained a lot of irrelevant information, behind which it is difficult to isolate the really important facts. As a result, for this work in 1984 Sedov Valentin Vasilyevich received the State Prize of the USSR.
Academician, "who has seen the earth"
In addition to the remarkable research works on the problems of Finno-Ugric, Slavic and B altic archeology, the scientist is also known as an amazing field archaeologist. In narrow circles, his development of the Novgorod, Pskov and Vladimir lands is still popular. Twenty years, since 1971, Sedov Valentin Vasilievich carried out research work in the oldest city, a monument of Ancient Russia - Izborsk. Today it is almost completely excavated. The early history of the monument formed the basis of the monograph "Izborsk - a proto-city". She got out in two yearsuntil the death of the author.
Being the head of the Pskov expedition from the Institute of Archeology and the Historical and Architectural Museum-Reserve of the city of Pskov, from 1983 to 1992, Valentin Vasilyevich made an invaluable contribution to the archaeological base of the primary sources of Russia in the Middle Ages.
Leader and organizer
Since 1974, the scientist headed various departments of the Institute of Archeology. The first unit in which Valentin Sedov did a great job of compiling a colossal card index and systematizing passport data for the archaeological sites of Russia was the archeological code. Then there were the larger sectors of the Institute. In 1988, the academician was appointed head of the Field Research Department. He was involved in the control and evaluation of all archaeological sites in the Soviet Union.
In parallel with these duties, the scientist was a member of the International Council for Landmarks and Monuments (ICOMOS) for 13 years. And from the beginning of 1992 to 1993 he was president of the Russian Committee of the International Council.
Besides this, he participated in many councils, expert commissions and scientific foundations. Despite the collisions of academic work, Valentin Sedov was the standard of integrity, exceptional efficiency and directness. The biography of the academician is a vivid example of an active life position, organizational skills and devotion to his beloved work.
