«You Studied Historical Books Telling about the Great Military Victories of the Hellenes and Romans Diligently…»: To the 130th Anniversary of Mikhail Jakovlevich Sjuzjumov and the 85th Anniversary of Vladimir Vasilievich Kuchma

In 2023 marks the 130th anniversary of the birth of the outstanding Soviet historian Mikhail Jakovlevich Sjuzjumov (1893–1982). The anniversary of the largest Russian Byzantinist of the twentieth century coincides with the 85th anniversary of the birth of his student, Doctor of Historical Sciences Vladimir Vasilievich Kuchma (1938–2011). Close attention has been paid to the scientific biography of M.Ja. Sjuzjumov in recent years. However, the question of his scientific interaction with students who left Sverdlovsk, but continued their research on Roman (Byzantine) history, is little studied. The article examines the scientific contacts of Professor Sjuzjumov with V.V. Kuchma after defending his candidate thesis and moving to Volgograd. The article for the first time publishes documents from the State Archive of the Sverdlovsk region and the Archive of the Ural Federal University, the most valuable of which are the letters of the Volgograd historian to his supervisor. The analysis of archival materials shows that V.V. Kuchma, who was engaged in the study of Roman (Byzantine) military affairs, relied on the M.Ja. Sjuzjumov’ theory of dialectical continuity. This was expressed in V.V. Kuchma’s doctoral thesis, as well as in his publication of Byzantine military treatises.