Galina Anatolevna Pugachenkova (7 February 1915 – 18 February 2007) was a Soviet archaeologist and art historian, regarded as a founder of Uzbek archaeology and central to the progression of archaeology and art history under Soviet regimes. Her work has contributed greatly to the register of surviving buildings in Central Asia and in many cases was the first register of traditional surviving buildings. G. A. Pugachenkova directed a branch of the archaeological expedition of southern Turkmenistan from 1946 to 1961, and of the Uzbek historical-artistic expedition from 1959 to 1984.
Education and career
Pugachenkova was an outstanding academic and scholar, publishing over 700 works in six languages, on the fine and applied art of antique and medieval central Asia. Her career began in 1937 when she graduated from the Central Asian Industrial Institute. This led to a long career studying the development of ancient Asia, including monuments such as exploring places such as Holchayon, Dalvarzintepa and Bactria.
Pugachenkova began writing her first scientific works in 1958, characterised by her interest in the evolution of Central Asian architecture in the history of architecture, with a particular focus on 14th and 15th century. The study of the architectural material collected during the excavation campaigns of Khalchayan and Dalverzintepa allowed Galina Anatolevna to develop theories on the genetic origins of Kushan art and the various influences of Bactrian and Parthian culture on the artistic culture of Gandhara.
She developed a great interest in numismatics, which allowed her to refine her study of the different ancestral sculptural styles and her lively interest in the coroplastics of Margiana and Northern Bactria, led her to study the bas-reliefs of Samarkand as a relative material for details and small architectural patterns.
G.A. Pugachenkova has left a number of monographs on the concept of the evolution of Central Asian art, including "The Art of Uzbekistan from the Most Ancient Times to the middle of the 19th Century", awarded by the Khamza Uzbek SSR State Prize. (co-author with L.I. Rempel), "The Art of Turkmenistan", "The Art of Afghanistan", "The Art of Bactria of the Kushan era", "From the artistic treasure of the Middle East".
Pugachenkova held the following positions over the course of her career:
Associate Professor of Archaeology Department of History Faculty, Central Asian University (Tashkent State University) (1942–60), then Professor (1962) Head of the Department of History of Art and Architecture (1960–84) Head of Scientific Expedition and Head of Art History of Uzbekistan (1959–84) Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan Academician-Secretary of the Department of History, Linguistics and Literary Studies (1984–87) Academic Advisor at the Institute of History of the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan (1987)
She was critical of the dispersal of Uzbek treasures into foreign museums and called in the 1970s for their repatriation. This has begun with extensive publications of catalogues to draw the material together.
Galina Pugachenkova was married to Mikhail Masson, who was also a well-known central Asian archaeologist. After her death, mourners were able to see her a final time in her coffin in the Central Exhibition Hall of the Uzbek Academy of Arts. She was buried on 19 February 2007, following Christian rites.
Art history
As an art historian she wrote on a wide variety of central Asian art-forms, including miniature painting. On miniature painting, she said that when artists illustrated literature in the form, they showed "their time and their place" not that of the literary work. Pugachenkova came up with original interpretations of art historical questions, including a study of the dragon totem seen on the Sheikh Jemaliddin Mosque in Turkmenistan. She also studied illuminated manuscripts in Uzbekistan.