“If One Human Mind Has Come up with Something, Then Another Can Unravel It”. On the Centenary of the Birth of Yu.V. Knorozov

Abstract

The article deals with the scientific heritage of the great Russian scientist Yuri Valentinovich Knorozov (1922–1999). He is best known as the decipherer of the script of the ancient Maya Indians, who created one of the most distinctive civilizations of pre-Columbian America. This landmark discovery brought the scientist well-deserved glory and fame. Now his name is forever inscribed in the annals of domestic and world science. But the range of Knorozov's scientific interests and research was not limited to this topic. The scientist fearlessly took on difficult tasks, he believed that there were no unsolvable problems, it was only necessary to choose the right path of research. And he found such ways, relying on his encyclopedic knowledge, the intuition of a scientist and titanic efficiency. Knorozov studied different historical writing systems, which he considered as complex semiotic systems, perceiving them as a secondary code in relation to the language. Among them are the Proto-Indian script, the Easter Island script Kohau Rongo-Rongo, the Khitan script, the ancient Andean script, and the Ainu pictography. In his research, the scientist relied on the theoretical and methodological base he created in the process of deciphering the Mayan script. In fact, Knorozov built a general theory of decipherment, which is important for the study of any writing system. The scientist's interests also included theoretical problems, because the study of historical scripts was one of the particular tasks in the general problem of studying sign systems. This article discusses four areas of Yu.V. Knorozov's work: the decipherment of the Mayan script, the study of Proto-Indian texts, the Rapa Nui script Kohau Rongo-Rongo, and the Ainu pictography. The purpose of the article is to recreate some features of the multifaceted image of a ingenious scientist.