The scientific conference "Vitebsk Antiquities" is dedicated to the 90th anniversary of the birth of the Russian historian L. Alekseev

October 27, Vitebsk / Diana Kurilo - BELTA /. The scientific conference "Vitebsk Antiquities", dedicated to the 90th anniversary of the birth of the famous historian and archaeologist Leonid Alekseev, who gave a second life to the Cross of Euphrosyne of Polotsk, will be held at the Vitebsk Regional Museum of Local Lore on October 28 and 29, a BELTA correspondent was informed at the cultural institution. A native of Rostov-on-Don, Leonid Alekseev dedicated a significant part of his work to studying the history of the Principality of Polotsk, its relations with neighbors, and the reasons for its early separation from other lands of Kievan Rus'. In the 1950s-1970s, the scientist conducted excavations of ancient settlements in Drutsk, Braslav, and the village of Kamen. The findings, including very valuable ones such as spindle whorls, neck torcs, and artistic castings, were transferred to the collections of the regional museum. The world-renowned scientist, Doctor of Historical Sciences, and leading researcher at the Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences was a consultant in the creation of the historical department at the regional museum in Vitebsk. In the early 1950s, Leonid Alekseev discovered photographic plates in the Leningrad Archive depicting the Cross of Euphrosyne of Polotsk, taken in the 19th century by photographer N. Chistyakov, and dedicated many years to studying the Belarusian shrine. These studies were used by the enamel artist Nikolai Kuzmich in the recreation of the cross. Leonid Alekseev worked for several years at the Grodno Historical and Archaeological Museum and taught archaeology at the Mogilev Pedagogical Institute. He is the author of 130 scientific works. The scientist passed away in 2008 in Moscow. In January 2011, scientists from Belarus and Russia will widely celebrate the 90th anniversary of the scientist's birth. Historians from Belarus, Ukraine, Russia, and Latvia will come to Vitebsk to draw attention to the scientific, historical, and cultural significance of the scientific works and the personality of one of the greatest researchers of medieval Belarus. During the conference, the results of archaeological research in the Polotsk lands will be discussed, scientists will raise issues of the development of archaeology and local history at the present stage, and discuss problems of museology and the formation of museum collections. The opening of a photo-documentary exhibition dedicated to the 90th anniversary of Leonid Alekseev's birth, "Alekseev and the Vitebsk Regional Museum of Local Lore," is also planned. -0-