MOSCOW, June 20 Outstanding Russian sinologist, historian and ethnographer Mikhail Kryukov died at the age of 92 on Wednesday, according to the website of the Institute of Asian and African Studies of Moscow State University. M.V. Lomonosov.
Kryukov was born in 1932 in Moscow. Studied at the Moscow Institute of Oriental Studies (1950-1955). In 1957 he was sent to study in China, and in 1962, after graduating from Peking University, he became a unique specialist in the history of Ancient China, especially the Shang-Yin period (c. 1300-1027 BC).
According to the message on the website, having returned to Moscow, he began working at the Institute of Ethnography named after N.N. Miklouho-Maclay (1962–2002). For many years, he lectured on the history of Ancient China, taught classes on ancient Chinese at ISAA (1968-1985) and at the Faculty of History of Moscow State University. At the same time, a unique textbook “Ancient Chinese Language” appeared, which he wrote together with his wife, the famous sinologist Huang Shuying. Kryukov created a number of basic academic textbooks on China and trained a galaxy of Russian and foreign orientalists.
One of his last works was a detailed biography of Sun Yat-sen (1866-1925).
It is noted that Mikhail Kryukov was remembered by everyone who knew him as a great scientist, a talented popularizer of the East, a kind mentor and a sympathetic person.
His highest professionalism, as well as such human qualities as integrity, exactingness and at the same time goodwill, earned him the love and respect of his colleagues, the message adds.
In recent years, Kryukov lived in Beijing. As the Russian Embassy in China reports on its Telegram channel, he died in Beijing Xuanwu Hospital.