Mikhail Piotrovsky

He was born in Yerevan in the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic on 9 December 1944 to Boris Piotrovsky, a notable Orientalist and himself the future Director of the Hermitage Museum, and Armenian mother Hripsime Djanpoladjian.

At the Leningrad University, Mikhail Piotrovsky obtained a doctorate in Arabic linguistics. After graduating in 1967, he worked as an interpreter in Yemen and took part in archaeological exploration of the Caucasus. After his father's death in 1990, Piotrovsky was appointed Director of the Hermitage in his stead.[1]

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Piotrovsky advocated the opening of the Hermitage collections to the wider world, which resulted in the establishment of the Hermitage Rooms in Somerset House, Hermitage Amsterdam and the Guggenheim Hermitage Museum.[2] His tenure was not entirely free of scandals, however. After the museum announced in July 2006 that 221 minor items, including jewelry, Orthodox icons, silverware and richly enameled objects, had been stolen by one of the museum officials, there were calls for Piotrovsky's resignation.[3]

Piotrovsky has been invested with numerous orders and medals, both Russian and foreign, including the Order of the Rising Sun and the Order of Honor. He has also had a minor planet named after him. Piotrovsky has been Chair of the Board of the First Channel of the Russian television since 2001.[1]

On 1 October 2009, Piotrovsky received the Woodrow Wilson Award for Public Service from the Kennan Institute.[4][5][6]