Formation and Development of Ethnographic and Anthropological Research in the Order of the Badge of Honor of the Institute of History, Language and Literature of the Ufrc Ras

The history of complex ethnological research in the Republic of Bashkortostan dates back to the establishment of the Society for the Study of Everyday Life, Culture, and History of Bashkiria, under the leadership of the Bashkir Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic People’s Commissariat. In 1922, an ethnographic and geographical department was created within this organization. In 1929, the society had already had seven departments, including a dedicated ethnographic department, as well as an independent anthropological section, which had been formed in 1928. In 1930, the Bashkir Comprehensive Research Institute was established on the basis of the Academic Center. In 1932, the Bashkir Scientific Research Institute of National Culture was separated from it. After the formation of the Bashkir branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences in 1951, one of its first divisions was the Bashkir Scientific Research Institute of History, Language, and Literature. Ethnographic research continued to be actively conducted in the Bashkir Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic and adjacent territories with a densely populated Bashkir population. The history of the Ethnology Department of the Institute is closely linked to the name of Academician R.G. Kuzeev (1929–2005). He was a corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences and an Academician of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Bashkortostan. In 1955, he completed postgraduate studies at the Miklukho-Maklay Institute in Moscow and defended his PhD thesis. After that, he headed the historical department at the Institute. With the arrival of Kuzeev, there was a renewed focus on the study of ethnographic issues and the history of the origins of the Bashkir people. Based on both published and unpublished sources, this article highlights the work of the Ethnology Department at the Order of the Badge of Honor Institute of History, Language, and Literature at the Ufa Federal Research Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences. It examines the main achievements and future prospects of this department’s research.