December 5, 2025 is the 90th birthday anniversary of Aliy Ivanovich Kolesnikov, Doctor of Sciences in History, Academic Councilor of the IOM RAS, a patriarch of Iranian studies in Russia. He was born into a turner’s family in 1935 in the city of Voroshilovgrad (Lugansk). His father named him Aliy after his Azerbaijani friend. One of numerous examples of friendship between the peoples of our Fatherland, this choice turned out to be prophetic: it determined the future destiny of Aliy I. Kolesnikov. First stages in his biography, however, were quite typical for a young man in postwar Soviet Union: 7 years of school, mining college in Voroshilovgrad, two months of work at a mine in the Komi ASSR, and then from 1954 to 1958 almost 4 years of military service in the Navy at the headquarters of the White Sea Fleet and the White Sea base of the Northern Fleet.

Aliy Ivanovich Kolesnikov sent his admission documents to the Faculty of Oriental Studies of the Leningrad State University choosing “Iranian philology” as his desired specialization. This choice was a very fortunate one, since it gave him an opportunity not only to master modern Persian, Tajik and written Arabic, but also to acquire a solid theoretical foundation in Iranian languages (especially Old and Middle Persian) during his student years (1958–1964). During postgraduate studies, A.I. Kolesnikov also studied the Syriac language under the supervision of Nina Viktorovna Pigulevskaya, Corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Sciences, an outstanding Syriac studies scholar. He did his postgraduate training at the Department of Near Eastern History (Faculty of Oriental Studies), focusing on the 7th century, a critical time period for Iran and the Near and Middle East in general, when the civilization of late Antiquity collapsed and the early medieval society began to form. This topic was a part of research interests of his supervisor N.V. Pigulevskaya.

A.I. Kolesnikov joined the Leningrad branch of the USSR Institute of Oriental Studies in September of 1967 and worked at the Institute for almost half a century. At first he was a researcher at the Department of Near Eastern studies. In 1969 he successfully defended his Candidate of Sciences in History dissertation that was published in 1970 as the monograph “Iran in the early 7th century (sources, internal and foreign policy, issues of administrative division)” [Иран в начале VII века (Источники, внутренняя и внешняя политика, вопросы административного деления)]. A.I. Kolesnikov published its logical continuation in 1982 as his second monograph entitled “Arab conquest of Iran (Iran under “righteous” caliphs)” [Завоевание Ирана арабами (Иран при «праведных» халифах)], in which he demonstrated his expert knowledge of early Arab-Muslim sources. Both works were republished in 2012 as the one-volume edition “Sassanid Iran: History and Culture” [Сасанидский Иран. История и культура] which shows that they remain important up to now.

In our Institute A.I. Kolesnikov has revived numismatic studies that were the foundation of the Asiatic Museum. In 2000 at the Saint Petersburg branch of the Institute of Oriental Studies A.I. Kolesnikov defended the fundamental monograph “Monetary system in the 7th-century Iran” (1998) [Денежное хозяйство в Иране в VII веке] as his doctoral dissertation, which is a rare case of scholarly longevity.

At the same time, A.I. Kolesnikov did not always work as a cabinet scholar of Oriental studies. As an interpreter of Dari, he worked twice in Afghanistan: with a group of Soviet army specialists (1962–1963) and at the office of an economic advisor at the Soviet embassy in Kabul (1970–1974).

Despite his advanced age, A.I. Kolesnikov remains an active researcher. Several years ago he conducted research on understudied aspects of medieval Zoroastrianism based on Zoroastrian works created in the Islamic age in the New Persian, including those kept at the IOM RAS. He published one of the manuscripts (C 1869) with a facsimile, introduction, annotated translation and bibliography in 2021: ““What is the Proper and the Improper”: Traditions and Customs of the Late Zoroastrianism” [“Что можно, а что нельзя”. Предания и обычаи позднего зороастризма].

The IOM RAS administration and colleagues congratulate A.I. Kolesnikov on his anniversary and wish him good health, cheerfulness and creative longevity.

On his 90th anniversary, we would like to thank Aliy Ivanovich Kolesnikov for his exceptional contribution to classical Saint Petersburg Oriental studies.