October 13, 2023 is the 60th birthday anniversary of Serguei Alexeyevich Frantsouzoff, Head of the Department of Middle Eastern and Near Eastern Studies at the IOM RAS, Senior Researcher, Doctor of Sciences in History.

S.A. Frantsouzoff was born in Leningrad in 1963. After finishing high school in Chelyabinsk with a gold medal, he entered the Department of Oriental Studies at the State University of Leningrad in 1980. In 1985 he graduated with honours specializing in the history of Arab countries. S.A. Frantsouzoff showed interest in research back in his student years when he made brilliant presentations at the Student Research Society’s meetings at the Department of Oriental Studies.

From 1985 to 1989 S.A. Frantsouzoff did his postgraduate studies at the Leningrad branch of the Institute of Oriental Studies under the supervision of P.A. Gryaznevich.

In 1990 he successfully defended his Candidate of Sciences (PhD) dissertation titled “The Socio-Political History of Hadramawt in early Middle Ages”. In 2004 it was published in Arabic in Sanaa (Yemen). Also, from 1985 to 1986 he worked as an editor and librarian at the Library of the USSR Academy of Sciences in Leningrad. From 1986 to 1990 he was a customs office inspector at the International airport Pulkovo-2 in Leningrad.

S.A. Frantsouzoff has been working at our Institute since 1990. He started as a senior technician and moved up to the position of the Head of the Department of Middle Eastern and Near Eastern Studies. For almost 30 years, since 1991, he was academic secretary for international relations and from 2004 he also held duties of the academic secretary of the Dissertation Council at the IOM RAS.

In 2010 he defended the Habilitation Dissertation titled “Society and State in Ancient Hadramawt (early 1st millennium BCE – middle of 1st millennium CE)”. In 2010 the Supreme Certifying Committee granted him the title of Associate Professor (specialization 07.00.09 “Historiography, source studies and methods of historical research”).

The scope of research interests of S.A. Frantsouzoff is very wide: Arab studies, Ethiopian studies, Arab Christian manuscripts, Semitic studies, Hebrew studies. S.A. Frantsouzoff is recognized worldwide as an expert in Sabaean studies and he successfully publishes South Arabian inscriptions. His long and thorough research resulted in the publication of the monograph “Raybūn: inscriptions and people (epigraphic documentation, religious life and social structure of a cult center of ancient Hadramawt)” in 2009 (its 2nd edition titled “East of Aden. Oasis of Raybūn in the 1st Millennium BC” was published in 2012).

Research on Arab Christian manuscripts has led to the following significant publications: “The Arabic Psalter: a supplement to the facsimile edition of manuscript A187 (The Petersburg Arabic Illuminated Psalter) from the collection of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the RAS (St. Petersburg Branch)” (co-authors V.V. Polosin and N.I. Serikoff) in 2005 and “Five Lives of Saints. Essays on the Study of Arabic Orthodox Hagiography. Research and Publications” in 2021.

In 1990s S.A. Frantsouzoff began studying Classical Ethiopic (Geʿez) and after the death of S.B. Chernetsov, his teacher of Ethiopian studies, he has been teaching Classical Ethiopic at the Saint Petersburg University where he also lectures on ancient and medieval Hebrew literature.

Numerous students of S.A. Frantsouzoff and their success in research are a reflection of his outstanding talent as a teacher, mentor and supervisor. At the IOM RAS, eight young researchers were trained under his supervision. As an expert and researcher with vast field work experience, S.A. Frantsouzoff guides and inspires a new generation of researchers of Oriental studies.

S.A. Frantsouzoff is the author of nine monographs and 350 articles in various journals, encyclopedias and collective monographs. He regularly participates in Russian and international conferences. For many years he has been the organizer of the “Annual Session of Saint Petersburg Arabists” that developed thanks to his enthusiasm and energy into an international event that brings together scholars from Russia, Europe and the Middle East.

Over the years of his research career S.A. Frantsouzoff has become internationally known and respected by colleagues and friends. In 2007 he was awarded the Medal of Macarius, Metropolitan of Moscow, for his contributions to the “Orthodox Encyclopaedia”. In 2023 he has received the Y.V. Tarle Prize for significant contributions to the study of Near Eastern written sources in the context of intercivilizational contacts.

S.A. Frantsouzoff is a bright and outstanding person with diverse research interests who is exceptionally hardworking, grateful to his teachers, loyal to Oriental studies. He is a worthy continuer of the best traditions of the Leningrad and Saint Petersburg school of classical Arab studies. He has a broad professional outlook and a big-hearted nature. Kind and supportive of his colleagues, he is always ready to help in any situation.

Everyone at the IOM RAS congratulates S.A. Frantsouzoff on his birthday and wishes him good health, cheerful spirit, optimism, continuous inspiration, new research achievements and longevity.