Bibliographic Dictionary of Orientalists Native [to the former Soviet Union], from 1917 [to the Present].

• Author: Bayevsky, Solomon

The work under review is the second revised, expanded and improved edition of the Biobibliographical Dictionary originally published in 1975 in one volume. The first edition is now long out of print. The new edition in two volumes is approximately double in content and contains articles on approximately 1,500 scholars on whom no information was given in the first edition. The greater part of these entries are for scholars who had no positions in universities. In this second edition we have more articles about orientalists who died in the period of World War II and during the Stalinist years, 1925-1953. The Dictionary gives us information about the orientalists who were active from 1917 to 1995 in the entire territory of the former Soviet Union. The scope of "oriental studies" includes Asia, the Middle East, South and Southeastern Asia, the Far East, Caucasia, Central Asia, Africa, Australia and Oceania. The historical range is from ancient to modern. Articles devoted to each orientalist are arranged in alphabetical order. The subject areas covered include history, linguistics, archaeology, geography, economics, ethnography, philology, literature, arts, law, music, philosophy, etc. In addition to academicians, included are government officials, diplomats, and military personnel. The utility of the Dictionary is enhanced by various indices where orientalists are grouped by subject and geographical area. There is also a full list of abbreviations that includes official offices, magazines, institutes, etc.

Every article is constructed as follows: last name, first name, father's name; dates, place of birth; family background; orientalistic education, degree(s), title of dissertation and date of defense, titles; important positions held with dates of tenure, pedagogical activities, number of books and articles, honors, military service, participation in conferences, congresses, etc.; bibliography of important publications; literature about the scholar, including death notices.

Although the Dictionary is an important reference work as it now stands, there are many errors and omissions which detract from its usefulness. In the first volume, for example, the alphabetical order of names is broken; on page 383, Djikiya should appear before Djikhangirov, instead of the reverse. In some entries information is not given in the standard order. Even the order of pagination is backwards; for example, the article on Dolinina begins on page 398 and ends on...