KRG Launches Project to Honor Renowned Kurdologist Joseph Orbeli with Statue
The announcement was made on Wednesday, following a meeting at the ministry's headquarters with Maxim Rubin, Russia's Consul General to the Kurdistan Region, to discuss expanding cultural cooperation between the two parties.
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) — The Kurdistan Regional Government's (KRG) Ministry of Culture and Youth has announced a project to build a statue honoring renowned Russian scholar and Kurdologist Prof. Dr. Joseph Orbeli, with discussions underway over whether it will be installed in Erbil or Halabja.
The announcement was made on Wednesday, following a meeting at the ministry's headquarters with Maxim Rubin, Russia's Consul General to the Kurdistan Region, to discuss expanding cultural cooperation between the two parties.
During the meeting, the Minister of Culture thanked the Russian Consulate General for its support in promoting cultural ties, particularly its role in facilitating the ministry's participation in the Kurdish film festivals held in Moscow.
Speaking to Kurdistan24, ministry spokesperson Namiq Hawrami said Hawar Ali, a Kurdish sculpture student in Moscow, proposed the idea of creating a statue of Orbeli. He added that the General Directorate of Culture in Halabja has assumed responsibility for producing the monument.
Hawrami said Halabja was initially selected as the location for the statue. However, during Wednesday's meeting, the Russian Consul General suggested that it be installed in Erbil instead.
"The decision had been to place the statue in Halabja, and we believe that is their right," Hawrami said. "However, today the Russian Consul General requested that it be installed in Erbil. To resolve the matter, we proposed creating a replica of the statue for Erbil."
Orbeli is widely regarded as one of the Soviet Union's most influential scholars and a pioneering figure in Kurdish studies. He is credited with establishing Kurdish studies as an independent academic discipline in Russia, separating it from the broader field of Oriental studies.
According to Hawrami, Orbeli's efforts led to the creation of a dedicated Kurdish studies section at the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts in Leningrad in 1959, a development considered a landmark achievement in the history of Kurdish scholarship.
Joseph Orbeli (1887–1961) was a Soviet-Armenian orientalist and historian specializing in the medieval history of the South Caucasus. He served as director of the Hermitage Museum in Leningrad from 1934 to 1951 and was also the founder and first president of the Armenian National Academy of Sciences between 1943 and 1947.