Researcher, Scientific Organizer, Teacher: Leonid Semenov’s Contribution to the Archaeological and Ethnographic Study of the North Caucasus (1920s–1930s)

The aim of this study is to establish the scientific significance of Leonid Petrovich Semenov's ethnographic and archaeological fieldwork in the North Caucasus in the 1920s and 1930s. The source base for this work is comprised of a collection of previously unpublished archival materials, introduced into scholarly circulation for the first time. The primary sources were documents from Professor Semenov's personal collection, stored in the Central State Archives of the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania (field diaries and expedition reports from 1924–1932). Additional materials were drawn from the Scientific Archives of the Abaev North Ossetian Institute of Humanities and Social Research (excavation reports in the Koban Gorge) and the Scientific Archives of the Institute of the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg (documents on archaeological and ethnographic exploration). The research methodology is based on a combination of historical-biographical, source-study, and comparative-historical methods. The study is structured according to a problem-chronological principle. The first stage analyzes Semenov's development as a scholar, demonstrating the influence of the Kharkiv historical school with its archaeological component, as well as his father's regional studies interests. The central stage was a detailed reconstruction of his fieldwork from 1924 to 1932. Archival materials were used to trace the scholar's expedition routes through North Ossetia, Ingushetia, Chechnya, and several regions of Georgia. Particular attention is paid to analyzing the methods for recording archaeological and ethnographic sites, many of which have now been lost. Semenov's activities as an organizer of scholarship at the North Caucasus Institute of Regional Studies and its successors were examined. The final stage was devoted to a comprehensive assessment of his contribution to the training of national academic personnel and the development of museum studies in the North Caucasus. It has been established that Leonid Semenov's scholarly legacy, characterized by a unique synthesis of archaeology and ethnography, laid the foundations of Soviet Caucasian studies. His fieldwork, including those documenting now-lost monuments of material and spiritual culture, is a unique source that retains its scientific significance to this day. The archival documents introduced into scholarly circulation not only confirm the scholar's fundamental contribution to the study of cultural interaction in the Caucasus but also represent a valuable resource for modern historical and cultural reconstructions.