Yakov A. Sher (1931–2019): Milestones of Academic Career

Professor Yakov A. Sher (1931–2019), Doctor of History, was a world-famous specialist in prehistoric art. This research relied on the archives of the Institute for Material Culture History, the State Hermitage Museum, and the Kemerovo State University to trace Professor Sher’s career path. Yakov Sher did his postgraduate research at the Institute for Material Culture History, USSR Academy of Sciences. Upon defending his PhD thesis, he obtained a position as Head of Laboratory of Archaeological Technology at the Institute of Archaeology, Leningrad. When he was not re-elected, Yakov Sher had to turn to school pedagogy but did not give up his research. With I. S. Kamenetskiy and B. I. Marshak, he co-authored a profound Analysis of Archaeological Sources (1975). Professor Sher dedicated ten years of his academic career to the Department of Museum Informatics at the State Hermitage Museum, Leningrad. For more than half a century, he worked at the Department of Archaeology of the Kemerovo State University, where he founded a scientific school of prehistoric art studies.

1. Antopolsky A. B., Hookk D. Yu. On the preparation of the Russian translation of the CIDOC CRM cultural heritage ontology. Nauchno-tekhnicheskaia informatsiia. Seriia 1: Organizatsiia i metodika informatsionnoi raboty, 2024, (3): 24–30. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/agntfs

2. Aseev Yu. A., Brakker N. V., Lisyuk V. E., Nol L. Ya., Ryabov A. B., Shelov S. D., Sher Ya. A. Automated information systems in museums of some foreign countries. Museology and protection of monuments. Express information. Moscow: Informkultura, 1982, iss. 2, 19. (In Russ.)

3. Aseev Yu. A., Podnozova I. P., Sher Ya. A. Cataloging museum collections and informatics. Modern Art Museum. Business problems and promising areas of development, ed. Novozhilova. Leningrad: SRM, 1980, 16–37. (In Russ.)

4. Blednova N. S., Vishnyatsky L. B., Goldchmidt E. S., Dmitrieva T. N., Sher Ya. A. Primitive art: Origin. Kemerovo, 1998, 211. (In Russ.)

5. Gardin J.-C. Theoretical archaeology. Moscow: Progress, 1983, 295. (In Russ.)

6. Grach V. A., Lavlinskaya L. A., Lesman Yu. M., Marsadolov L. S., Nemirovskaya E. L., Fonyakova N. A., Sher Ya. A., Shigin A. E. Linguistics of museum data banks. Current issues of museum and ethnography: Proc. Sci.-Prac. Multilateral Conf., Leningrad, 15–18 May 1984. Leningrad, 1984, 35–37. (In Russ.)

7. Hookk D. Yu. Using heterogeneous sources in electronic format for scientific work: Incidunt cum leporem. Informatsionnyi byulleten assotsiatsii Istoriia i kompiuter, 2022, (49): 154–155. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/fjobny

8. Hookk D. Yu. Fuzzy logic application to the dendrochronological analysis of the constructions on the pile-dwelling Serteya II. Archaeology of lake settlements IV–II mill. BC: Chronology of cultures, environment and palaeoclimatic rhythms: Proc. Intern. Conf., St. Petersburg, 13–15 Nov 2014. St. Petersburg: Periferiia, 2014, 105–114. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/tcntrt

9. Kamenetskiy I. S., Marshak B. I., Sher Ya. A. Analysis of archaeological sources: Formalized approach. Moscow: Nauka, 1975, 176. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/rbnfcl

10. Kamenetskiy I. S., Marshak B. I., Sher Ya. A. Analysis of archaeological sources: Formalized approach. 2nd ed. Moscow: IA RAS, 2013, 182. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/sxnvbn

11. Kitova L. Yu. Ya. A. Sher’s activity at the Department of Archaeology of Kemerovo State University. Measuring harmony with algebra: Collected papers in memory of Yakov Abramovich Sher, eds. Vishnyatsky L. B., Chugunov K. V. St. Petersburg: IHMC RAS, 2021, 40–46. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/xyefhi

12. Kitova L. Yu., Ganenok V. Yu., Ismaiylova E. R. Scientific archaeological school of A. I. Martynov: Early stages of formation. Teoriya i praktika arheologicheskih issledovanij, 2023, 35(1): 197–212. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.14258/tpai(2023)35(1).-12

13. Kitova L. Yu., Ismaiylova E. R. The history of formation of Kemerovo scientific archaeological school of ancient and medieval art researchers. Vestnik Kemerovskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta, 2013, (3-4): 24–31. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/rbwslf

14. Kolchin B. A., Marshak B. I., Sher Ya. A. Preface to archaeology and mathematics. Statistical and combinatorial methods in archaeology, eds. Kolchin B. A., Sher Ya. A. Moscow: Nauka, 1970, 3–7. (In Russ.)

15. Lesman Yu. M. Principles of building information and logical models of museum data pools. Museum in modern culture: Proc. Sci. Conf., St. Petersburg, 5 May 1995. St. Petersburg: SPbSUC, 1995, 75–78. (In Russ.)

16. Lesman Yu. M. Description structure of easel art pieces. Museum in modern culture. St. Petersburg: SPbSAC, 1997, vol. 147, 139–187. (In Russ.)

17. Lesman Yu. M., Chepovetsky M. A., Sher Ya. A. Classification principles for portable monuments of history and culture. Current issues of museum and ethnography: Proc. Sci.-Prac. Multilateral Conf., Leningrad, 15–18 May 1984. Leningrad, 1984, 33–35. (In Russ.)

18. Marsadolov L. S. Classification of archaeological sites of Southern Siberia, 1000 BCE. Space of culture in the archaeological and ethnographic dimension. Western Siberia and adjacent territories: Proc. XII West Siberian Archaeological and Geographical Conf., Tomsk, 1 Jan – 31 Dec 2001. Tomsk: TSU, 2001, 171–172. (In Russ.)

19. Marsadolov L. S. Classification of archaeological objects from Southern Siberia, 1000 BCE. Prehistoric Archeology. Man and art, ed. Bobrov V. V. Novosibirsk: IAET SB RAS, 2002, 118–125. (In Russ.)

20. Marsadolov L. S. General classification of weapons from South Siberia, 1000 BCE. Weaponry of Eurasian Nomands: Proc. All-Russian Sci. Conf., Barnaul, 21–25 Sep 2005. Barnaul: AltSU, 2005, 10–14. (In Russ.)

21. Matskevoi L. G., Sher Ya. A. Methodology of comparing mass finds by layers. Sovetskaia Arhheologiia, 1974, (1): 102–119. (In Russ.)

22. Nol L. Ya., Ryabov A. B. Automated information system Pamyatnik: Basic provisions. Nauchno-tekhnicheskaia informatsiia. Seriia 1: Organizatsiia i metodika informatsionnoi raboty, 1984, (9): 11–14. (In Russ.)

23. Smirnov D. A., Sher Ya. A. Museum informatics. Computer in the museum, museum in the computer: All-Union Seminar on Museum Computerization in 1990. Moscow: GTG-Olivetti, 1991, 17–20. (In Russ.)

24. Chenhall R. Museum cataloging in the computer age. Moscow: Mir, 1983, 296. (In Russ.)

25. Sher Ya. A. Internet, virtual reality, and human factor. Information resources of Kuzbass: 1 Region. Sci.-Prac. Conf., Kemerovo, 28–29 Apr 2001. Kemerovo: Poligraf, 2001, pt. 2, 158–159. (In Russ.)

26. Sher Ya. A. Museum informatics: Achievements and problems. Provincial Museum: New forms of work: Proc. Sci.-Prac. Conf. Kemerovo, 2000a. (In Russ.)

27. Sher Ya. A. Stone sculptures of Semirechye. Moscow-Leningrad: Nauka, 1966, 140. (In Russ.)

28. Sher Ya. A. Creating a cybernetic pool of archaeological sources with automatic information retrieval. Archeology and natural sciences, ed. Kolchin B. A. Moscow: Nauka, 1965, 326–330. (In Russ.)

29. Sher Ya. A. Prehistoric art. Kemerovo: Kuzbasvuzizdat, 2006a, 350. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/raalkl

30. Sher Ya. A. Prehistoric art. 2nd ed. Kemerovo: KemSU, 2011, 436. (In Russ.)

31. Sher Ya. A. Early years of the Department of Museum Informatics at the Hermitage (1975–1985). Information technologies in the Museum: Proc. Round Table for the 25th Anniversary of Department of Museum Informatics at The State Hermitage Museum. St. Petersburg: The State Hermitage Museum, 2006b, iss. 2, 4–9. (In Russ.)

32. Sher Ya. A. Petroglyphs of the Middle East and Central Asia. Moscow: Nauka, 1980, 328. (In Russ.)

33. Sher Ya. A. Classification principles for portable historical and cultural monuments as part of AIS. Current issues of museum and ethnography: Proc. Sci.-Prac. Multilateral Conf., Leningrad, 15–18 May 1984. Leningrad, 1984, 33–35. (In Russ.)

34. Sher Ya. A. Computer in museum work. Siberian Studies in Museum Research, ed. Paramonova V. I. Krasnoyarsk: KrasSU, 1989, 22–24. (In Russ.)

35. Sher Ya. A. M. P. Gryaznov was my mentor. V Historical Readings in memory of Mikhail P. Gryaznov: Proc. All-Russian, Omsk, 19–20 Oct 2000. Omsk: OmSU, 2000b, 132–142. (In Russ.)

36. Sher Ya. A., Blednova N. S. Origin of semiotic behavior. Moscow: Nauchnyi mir, 2004, 280. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/qwhayp

37. Sher J. The use of computers in museums: present situation and problems. Museum, 1978, XXX(3/4): 132–138.