Famous Russian orientalist Yuri Roerich's 100th birth anniversary

August 16th marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of famous orientalist Yuri Roerich.

The son of a painter and philosopher Nikolai Roerich was born and finished a gymnasium in Russia. Then he spent many years abroad. Yuri Roerich studied Indian philology in England, the United States and France. In the 1920s, he participated in the trans-Himalayan expedition, organised by his father. From 1928 till the end of World War II, Nikolai Roerich was heading the Urusvati Himalayan Research Institute, involved in complex oriental studies. Yuri Roerich had a unique gift - he understood almost all the world languages and had a perfect command of dozens of languages.

In autumn 1957, Roerich returned to Russia to head the department of Indian philosophy and religion at the Oriental Studies Institute of the Soviet Academy of Sciences in Moscow. Yuri helped to return his father Nikolai Roerich's creative legacy to Russia and to spread unique knowledge, known as Agni Yoga or Living Ethic.

The third Altai peak located not far from the sacred Belukha mountain between the peaks of Nikolai Roerich and Urusvati was named after Yuri Roerich.

An exhibition, timed to Yuri Roerich's 100th birth anniversary, will open at the State Oriental Museum on August 16th. The exposition features some 100 exhibits, reflecting the inner world of the outstanding Russian scholar. The 2nd international scientific-practical conference "Roerich's Legacy. New Russia on the Way to Unity of the Mankind" will be held in Roerich's birthplace, the town on Okulovka (the Novgorod region, South-Western Russia) on August 16.