On September 29, 1970, a prominent Soviet archaeologist and Kavkaz scholar, Lenin Prize laureate, head of the Neolithic and Bronze sector of the Institute of Archeology of the USSR Academy of Sciences, honored Scientist of the Chechen-Ingush ASSR, I. I. Abramovich, died suddenly. Kabardino-Balkar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor Evgeny Ignatievich Krupnov.

E. I. Krupnov was born on March 16, 1904 in Mozdok (North Ossetian ASSR) in the family of an employee. Having started his education in Vladikavkaz (now Ordzhonikidze), he finished it in Moscow, at the Faculty of History of Moscow State University, where under the guidance of V. A. Gorodtsov he studied the history and archeology of the Caucasus. After graduating from the University, E. I. Krupnov worked for about 20 years at the State Historical Museum, but most of the time. his creative life was connected with the Institute of Archeology of the USSR Academy of Sciences. From 1937 until the end of his life, except for 1941-1945, when E. I. Krupnov served in the Soviet Army, he remained its employee. At the Institute, he worked his way up from a junior researcher to deputy director of the Institute and head of the Neolithic and Bronze sector.

Evgeny Ignatievich's activity was distinguished by its versatility: he was an excellent field researcher, a major scientist and a caring teacher, an organizer of science and an active public figure. He is the author of more than 200 works devoted to general and specific issues of archeology and history of the Ciscaucasia and the Caucasus. His fundamental work "The Ancient History of the North Caucasus", awarded the Lenin Prize in 1960, represents the result of more than 30 years of hard work.

E. I. Krupnov was the organizer and permanent leader of the North Caucasus Archaeological expedition, which conducted extensive systematic field research, culminating in the discovery of a large number of historical and archaeological sites of various times. E. I. Krupnov also has great merits in the historical and archaeological study of the vast territory of the North-Western Caspian region. Based on the materials of his field research, E. I. Krupnov extensively covered the issues of interrelationships between the peoples of the Caucasus and the cultures of the Northern Black Sea region and the Volga region; he developed the problem of relations between the North Caucasus and Ancient Russia in a broad aspect. For his work "On the ancient relations of the South of the USSR and the Caucasus with the countries of the Middle East", he was awarded the prize of the greatest Arab poet Said Akl in 1964. Evgeny Ignatievich carried out a huge amount of work on training scientific personnel. He set up his own school in archaeology.

Since 1951, E. I. Krupnov was a member of the CPSU. He was elected a deputy of the Kirov District Council of Moscow, for several years was deputy chairman of the expert commission of the Higher Attestation Commission for Historical Sciences and scientific consultant of the publishing house "Bolshaya Sovetskaya Entsiklopediya", actively collaborated in the All-Russian Society for the Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments. E. I. Krupnov adequately represented Soviet historical science during his research trips to Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Iraq, India, and Yugoslavia. E. I. Krupnov's multi-faceted scientific and social activities were awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor and medals of the Soviet Union, as well as certificates of honor from the Supreme Soviets of the autonomous Republics of the North Caucasus.

Everyone who knew E. I. Krupnov was struck by his irrepressible energy and cheerfulness, crystal honesty and integrity, boundless kindness and amazing charm of a communist scientist.

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