Valentin Yanin
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Valentin Lavrentievich Yanin (born 6 February 1929 in Kirov) is a leading Russian historian who authored more than 700 books and articles.
Yanin graduated from the Moscow University in 1951. His thesis, dedicated to the monetary systems of pre-Mongol Rus, became a classic. The monograph about the posadniks of Novgorod followed in 1962. The same year he was elected a corresponding member of the Soviet Academy of Sciences; he became a full academician in 1990.
Yanin's monograph about the seals of Ancient Rus (2 volumes, 1970) summed up the findings of Soviet sphragistics in the course of half a century. After that, Yanin turned his attention to birch bark documents of Novgorod, on which he is considered the greatest living authority (alongside Andrey Zaliznyak). Since 1978, Yanin holds the chair in archaeology at the Moscow University.
In 1999, Yanin became the first historian to be awarded the Lomonosov Gold Medal. His other awards include the USSR State Prize (1970), Lenin Prize (1984), Demidov Prize (1993), and State Prize of the Russian Federation (1996).
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