Mikhail Borisovich Piotrovsky is Museum Director of The State Hermitage Museum. In 1991 he was invited to join the Hermitage staff as first deputy director with responsibility for research work. In July 1992 Dr. Piotrovsky was appointed Director of the State Hermitage by government decree. He has taken part in archaeological excavations in the Caucasus, Central Asia and Yemen. He is the author of more than 200 scholarly works, including catalogues of Arabic manuscripts, the publication of mediaeval works and ancient inscriptions, works on the spiritual and political history of Islam and Arab culture, and on the archaeology of Arabia.
Dr. Piotrovsky has been awarded the Netherlands Order of Orange-Nassau, the Russian Order of Honor, the French Order of the Legion of Honor, the Alexander Pushkin Medal, the Swedish Order of the Polar Star, the Order for Merit to the Italian Republic, the Armenian Apostolic Church’s Order of St Mesrop, the Tsarskoye Selo Prize, the Ukrainian Order of Yaroslav the Wise, the Presidential Prize in the field of literature and art, the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland and many others.
In 1997 a minor planet was named “Piotrovsky” by the International Astronomical Union in joint honor of Dr. Piotrovsky and his father Boris Borisovich Piotrovsky.
Source-The State Hermitage Museum
http://www.hermitagemuseum.org/html_En/02/hm2_6.html
