Igor Mikhailovich Diakonov () (December 30, 1914 (January 12, 1915), Petrograd–May 2, 1999, St Petersburg) is a Russian/Soviet historian, linguist, and translator who should be ranked among the greatest authorities on Ancient East and its languages.

Diakonov, both of whose brothers were distinguished historians, was brought up in Norway and graduated from the Leningrad University in 1938, joining the staff of the Hermitage Museum the same year. In 1949 he published a comprehensive study of Assyria, followed by the monograph on Media in 1956. Later, he teamed with the linguist Sergei Starostin to produce authoritative studies of the Caucasian, Afro-Asiatic and Hurro-Urartian languages.

External link

• Diakonov as a translator

Russian historians | Russian Orientalists | Russian linguists | Soviet linguists | 1915 births | 1999 deaths

Дьяконов, Игорь Михайлович