Yuri Alexandrovich Polkanov

**Yuri Aleksandrovich Polkanov**
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**Biography**
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Yuri Aleksandrovich Polkanov (March 10, 1935 – February 2, 2020) was a Soviet and Ukrainian geologist and mineralogist. He was a Doctor of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences and a full member (academician) of the All-Ukrainian public organization "Academy of Technological Sciences of Ukraine" since 1993.

**Early Life and Education**
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Polkanov was born in Simferopol, Crimea, to a Russian-Karaim family. His father, Alexander Ivanovich Polkanov (1884-1971), was a Crimean local historian and historian. His mother, Anna Ilyinichna Kalfa (1904-1960), also played an important role in his early life.

Polkanov graduated from school No. 14 in Simferopol in 1952. He then went on to study at the geological exploration faculty of the Artem Dnipropetrovsk Mining Institute, graduating in 1957.

**Career**
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After completing his education, Polkanov started his career in northeastern Kazakhstan. In 1959, he moved to the Ukrainian State Institute of Mineral Resources (since 2000 known as the Crimean Branch), where he became a chief researcher.

Polkanov was also the head of the scientific center of the Association of Crimean Karaites and a famous Karaimologist. He was awarded the State Prize of Ukraine in the field of science and technology for his contributions to geology and mineralogy.

**Family**
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Polkanov's father, Alexander Ivanovich Polkanov, was a notable figure in his own right. Born in 1884, he was a professor and educationist who served as a law priest in the Pope's church from 1891. After the Russian Revolution, he took on various roles, including leading art-warrant expeditions to ancient and folk houses. He was also one of the leaders of the Russian society studying Crimean history.

Polkanov married and had four children, with six grandchildren.