Tatiana Proskouriakoff — archaeologist (maya) with roots in the Russian Empire
Tatiana Proskouriakoff was a Russian-American archaeologist and art historian born in Tomsk (Siberia) who made one of the most important discoveries in Maya archaeology — proving that Maya inscriptions recorded historical events and real rulers, not just astronomical data. Her work cracked open Maya history.
Tracing the roots — Tomsk (Siberia)
Born in Tomsk in 1909 to Russian parents who emigrated to the United States after the Revolution, Proskouriakoff spent her career at the Peabody Museum at Harvard. Her 1960 paper demonstrating that Maya glyphs recorded dynastic history transformed the field — before her, scholars had believed the Maya had no historical inscriptions.
.svg?width=900)
Tomsk (Siberia). At the time, this region lay within the Russian Empire, which spanned from Poland to the Pacific.