Тайна византиниста Дмитрия Айналова
The Secret of the Byzantinist Dmitry Ainalov

Summary/Abstract: This paper, for the first time, considers the Mariupol period of D.V. Ainalov’s life, as well as the history of his family and his ancestry from the Crimean-Azov Greeks. D.V. Ainalov’s personal documents concerning his family tree and the early period of his life were introduced into scientific circulation. His research focus (Hellenistic and Byzantine art) was determined by the inherent bond with the Greek culture, which had survived and flourished among the Azov Greeks. With the help of the archival documents, the atmosphere in D.V. Ainalov’s family was revealed in order to understand the conditions under which he developed his artistic abilities. Our findings confirm that the inner circle of D.V. Ainalov’s family, which included artists, prompted him to visual thinking and, therefore, played a key role in his subsequent interest in the study of art. An important evidence of D.V. Ainalov’s artistic abilities is his iconographic legacy. Refining the details of D.V. Ainalov’s biography helps to get a better insight into his creative “laboratory” and personal motives, thereby adding new dimensions to his historiographical image. The paper raises the issue of the urgent need for a special monographic research summarizing and covering in detail all stages of personal and creative biography of D.V. Ainalov.

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