BARANNIKOV, Aleksej Petrovič. Zolotonoša, Poltavskaja obl. 25.2. (9.3.)1890 — Leningrad (St.Petersburg) 4.9.1952. Russian (Ukrainian) Indologist. Son of a worker, graduated 1914 from Kiev University (learned Sanskrit from Knauer). In 1916-17 taught at Pedagocical Academy, 1919-20 at Pedagocical In­stitute in Samara, 1920 at Saratov University. In 1921-36 Teacher at St.Peters­burg / Lenin­grad Inst. of Living Oriental Languages (LIŽVJa). Naučnyj sotrudnik in Russian Museum in 1921-30 and at Leningrad otdelenija of Oriental Institute (Institut vostokovedenija) of Russian Academy of Science from 1934, in 1938-40 its director, and in 1946-52 director of its Indian section. Taught at St.Petersburg/Leningrad Uni­ver­sity in 1922-52, as Professor of Indian Philology from 1923. Kand. philol. nauk 1935. Full member of the Academy of Science 1939.

Barannikov started with Sanskrit, but soon turned into NIA. He concentrated especially on Hindi, also on Sanskrit and Marathi. He tried to accommodate himself to the Soviet ideology and started criticizing his teachers Ol’denburg and Ščerbatskoj. As the most of his colleagues became victims of persecutions he had sort of monopoly in Indology. Married Ol‘ga Nikolaevna Nikonova, the Hindi scholar Pëtr Alekseevič B. (1925–2007) was their son, also one daughter.

Publications: At least 80 items (partly in Ukrainian), e.g.:

Kratkaja grammatika hindustani (urdu). I. 114 p. Leningrad 1926; Slovar’ (urdu-russko-anglijskij) k obrazcam sovremennoj prozy hindustani. 284 p. Lg. 1930; Hindustani (urdu i hindi). Gramm. i Učebnik. 1-2. 504 p. Lg. 1934; Pressa urdu. 102 p. Lg. 1935; Pressa hindi. 197 p. Lg. 1935; with P. A. Barannikov: Hindustani (hindi i urdu) grammatičeskij očerk. 240 p. M. 1956.

Maratskij jazyk. Načalnyj kurs. 1-2. 187+73 p. Lg. 1934-35.

Kratkij načerk novoindijs’kih literatur. 127 p. Harkiv 1933 (in Ukr.).

Several studies on Ukrainian gipsies, e.g. Ukrains’ki ta pivdenno rosijs’ki cigans’ki dijalekti. 72 p. Lg. 1933, English tr. 1934.

Russian translations: Lallūjī Lāl, Prem Sāgar. 472 p. Legendy o Krišne 1. M. & Lg. 1937; Tul’si Das, Ramajana ili Ramačaritamanasa. More podvigov Ramy. 926 p. M.–Lg. 1948.

Indijskaja filologija. Literaturovedenie. 334 p. M. 1959 (selection of articles).

Translated: Ar’jašura: Girljanda džatak. Skazanija o podvigah bodhisattvy. Ed. by O. Volkova. Bibl. Buddh. M. 1962 (Jātakamālā, prepared in the 1920s, but published only now).

Sources: *V.M. Beskrovnyj & V.I. Kal’janov, IzvANSSSR 12, 1953:1, 76-83; Miliband 1977, with further references; Russian Vikipedija; photo in Bongard-Levin & Vigasin 1984, 150, also in *Bazijanc, Kuznecova & Kulagina 1969, 77.