Vorobyov Pavel Ivanovich
15 January [ 3 January ] 1892, Saint-Petersburg — 24 November 1937, Leningrad
Biography, education, career:
In 1911‑1915 Pavel Vorobyov was a student of the Faculty of Oriental Languages of Saint-Petersburg University, studying Chinese, Manchu and Mongolian. In 1914 he went on a student program to Manchuria (China). In 1912-1916 he studied at the Oriental Practical Academy. In March he was mobilized in the Red Army and joined the Russian Communist party of the Bolsheviks. From February 1923 to 1932 he was the President of Petrograd / Leningrad Institute of Living Oriental Languages (since 1927 – Leningrad Oriental Institute named after A.S. Yenukidze). In 1926‑1930 he was also Director of the State Russian Museum. In 1932‑1933 Vorobyov was Deputy Chair of the Committee for the Protection of Historical Monuments of All-Russian Central Executive Committee of the USSR. In April 1934 he was appointed Deputy Director of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the USSR Academy of Sciences and, at the same time, Director of the State Museum of Ethnography in Leningrad. When he occupied these two positions, more attention was paid to research and publishing activity. In the 20-s he began his teaching career. On 15 May 1936 Vorobyov he was conferred the degree of Candidate of Historical Sciences without defense. In the middle of 1936 he was sent to work in the Mongolian People’s Republic, where he was appointed advisor of the Academic Committee of the Republic. He took part in expeditions and research. On 11 September 1937 he was arrested in his flat in Leningrad. He was charged on article 58-6 p. 11 of the Penal Code of RSFSR. On 19 November 1937 he was sentenced to death (the sentence was executed on 24 November 1937). On 16 April 1957 he was posthumously exonerated by the Military Collegium of the USSR Supreme Court.
Areas of expertise: History and ethnography of Chinese peoples; Ethnic museology; Ethnolinguistics