Yuri Knorozov

Yuri Valentinovich Knorozov (Russian: Юрий Валентинович Кнорозов; 19 November 1922 – 30 March 1999) was a Soviet and Russian linguist, epigraphist, and ethnologist. He is best known for the key role he played in the decipherment of the Maya script, the writing system of the Maya civilization of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica.

Early life

Knorozov was born in Kharkov on 19 November 1922. His parents were Russian intellectuals who had moved from Saint Petersburg to Kharkov in 1911 for work purposes. His father had built a house for the family in the village of Yuzhny (later known as Pivdenne), but his mother decided it would be better to give birth in Kharkov, where there were doctors and hospitals. His paternal grandmother, Zabel (1858–1926), was a stage actress of national repute in Armenia.

Growing up in Yuzhny, Knorozov developed a close affinity with cats, which was to last his whole life. At school, he was a difficult and somewhat eccentric student, who made indifferent progress in a number of subjects and was almost expelled for poor and willful behavior. Aged five, he sustained a heavy injury to his head that nearly left him blind. However, it became clear that he was academically bright with an inquisitive temperament; he was an accomplished violinist, wrote romantic poetry and could draw with accuracy and attention to detail.