LYUDMILA ALEXANDROVNA CHINDINA
Author: V. I. MOLODIN

On August 12, 2007, the scientific community celebrated the anniversary of Lyudmila Alexandrovna Chindina, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor at Tomsk State University, a wonderful scientist, excellent teacher, and one of the founders of the Tomsk Archaeological School.

The whole life of this charming woman is connected with Siberia, Tomsk. Lyudmila Alexandrovna was born in the village of Kudrino, Tomsk district, Tomsk Region, in harsh 1937. Her mother Ekaterina Vasilyevna - a primary school teacher and her father Alexander Ivanovich-a history and literature teacher, director of a rural school-instilled in the girl highly moral traits, instilled in her a love for Siberia, its amazing past. Lyudmila Alexandrovna and her children became worthy successors of the dynasty.

1937 was a tragic year for the Chindin family: the father and grandfather were arrested and shot. The girl was raised by her mother, and later by her stepfather Semyon Savelyevich Lukashevsky. Thanks to their love and care, Lyudmila grew up to be a kind and sympathetic person.

In 1954, after graduating from high school in Tomsk, where her family moved after the war, Lyudmila entered the historical department of the Faculty of History and Philology of the Tomsk State Pedagogical Institute. In those years, outstanding scientists, professors A. P. Dulzon, G. I. Pelikh, B. S. Grigortsevich, V. S. Flerov and others taught there. Associate Professor Sergey Vasilyevich Trukhin, then Dean of the Faculty of History and Philology, became the head of her first course and then her thesis. Apparently, it was he who instilled in the young student a love of archeology; Lyudmila Alexandrovna carried it through her entire life.

In 1955, the history department of the Tomsk State Pedagogical Institute was transferred to Tomsk State University (TSU), where Lyudmila Alexandrovna joined the Faculty of History and Philology together with the students of her group.

Tomsk State University is the oldest Siberian classical university; it has always been distinguished by a very high quality of education. Excellent specialists taught here, and well-known scientific schools were established and operated effectively in the country. Since the third year, Lyudmila Aleksandrovna has been actively engaged in archeology; she is interested in the Early Iron age of the taiga zone of Western Siberia, which at that time was very poorly studied. The taiga zone of Western Siberia is characterized by extremely harsh conditions for field research. Strong water content of the territory, an abundance of swamps, taiga, mosquitoes and midges allow us to equate these conditions almost to extreme. It is not easy to work here even for experienced male field workers. And what is it like for women! Nevertheless, it is this area that becomes the creative testing ground of L. A. Chindina, it was here that she discovered and explored dozens of settlements, ancient settlements, burial grounds and sanctuaries. But this happened a little later. As a student, Lyudmila was fascinated by the expedition life. She has always been characterized by an active life position. In 1956 with a group of students

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L. A. Chindina went to the virgin land, to harvest. Here young people worked hard: sometimes the plan was fulfilled by them by 600%! Lyudmila Alexandrovna's marriage and the birth of a son are connected with her student life.

In 1959, L. A. Chindina defended her thesis "The Early Iron Age of the Taiga Tom region" with honors, which served as the basis for her subsequent scientific work. After a two-year break associated with the birth of her daughter, Lyudmila Alexandrovna again finds herself in the walls of her native university, where she still works. She went through a difficult path from a laboratory assistant at the Museum of the History of Material Culture to a professor at the Department of Archeology and Local History of the TSU Faculty of History. Already in the first years of her work at the university, Lyudmila Alexandrovna conducts independent exploration in the taiga regions of the Tomsk region. It was then that she discovered a series of monuments, among which Malget occupies a special place.

In 1966, L. A. Chindina entered graduate school and under the guidance of V. I. Matyushchenko worked on a dissertation on the topic "The Tomsk-Narym Ob region in the middle of the first millennium AD". In 1968, she became a junior researcher at the TSU Problem Research Laboratory of History, Archeology and Ethnography of Siberia In February 1971 at the Institute of Archeology Academy of Sciences of the USSR L. A. Chindina defends her dissertation.

In 1973, Lyudmila Alexandrovna headed the archaeological group of the problem laboratory, from 1975 to 1980 - the sector of archeology and ethnography, whose scientific director she remained until 1995.Combining scientific work in the laboratory with teaching activities at the Department of the History of the USSR of the pre-Soviet period, Lyudmila Alexandrovna supervised the archaeological practice of students, their coursework and theses. In the 1970s, L. A. Chindina was a well-known specialist among archaeologists; her scientific developments were accepted in the scientific world, and new works arouse constant interest. She is a permanent member of the organizing committee for organizing and conducting West Siberian archaeological and ethnographic meetings held in Tomsk on the basis of the university. She has repeatedly served as its chairman.

Lyudmila Alexandrovna was one of the founders of the Scientific Coordination Council for Archeology and Ethnography of Western Siberia; since 1981, she has been the permanent Deputy chairman. This council was established as a center for coordinating scientific research of universities and academic institutions on West Siberian topics.

I think I will not be mistaken if I say that the most important thing in the life of L. A. Chindina has always been new research and analytical work on the obtained sources. Over 50 expeditions were conducted under her leadership. These include large-scale stationary surveys and explorations in complex areas of the Ob, Vasyugan, Keti, Parabel, and Chulym basins. Lyudmila Alexandrovna discovered and explored dozens of archaeological sites, and such of them as Malget, Relka, Kulaysky settlement complex, Kulayka Mountain, were rightfully included in the golden fund of science and culture.

Among the numerous scientific works of L. A. Chindina, a special place is occupied by three monographs, which are reference books for all those who study the Early Iron Age and the Middle Ages of Western Siberia. In 1977, the book "Relka's Burial Ground on the Middle Ob" was published, in which the problems of chronology, origin, ethnicity, historical and cultural relations of the population of the taiga zone of the Middle Ob region were considered based on the materials of burials of the VI-VIII centuries AD, most of which were studied by Lyudmila Alexandrovna herself. The paper contains a vivid material, based on the analysis of which the medieval history of the region was reconstructed at a fundamentally new level. Published in 1984, the monograph "The Ancient History of the Middle Ob region in the Iron Age" is devoted to the analysis of the bright and distinctive Kulai culture, whose representatives lived in the Middle Ob region in the VI century BC-V century AD. Special attention is paid to the problems of socio-economic development of cultural carriers in difficult ecological conditions of taiga Siberia. In the book by L. A. Chindina "The History of the Middle Ob region in the Early Middle Ages", published in 1991., highlights the historical and cultural processes in this region at the end of the VI-IX centuries AD. The main place in the monograph is devoted to the problems of socio-economic development of Relkin society during the transition to class education. The author's ethnic reconstructions are interesting. The scientist has developed an extremely important ethno-cultural concept for the development of populations that inhabited the southern taiga Ob region in the Early Iron Age and the Middle Ages.

Based on these developments, L. A. Chindina prepared and defended her doctoral dissertation in 1986. In 1989, she was awarded the title of professor. Today, she works at the Department of Archeology and Local History of TTU, largely created and built by her hands, a department that trains archaeologists.

Teaching activity reveals Lyudmila Alexandrovna most fully as a person and as a teacher. The ability to hear and understand, the willingness to support and help, is the basis of her teaching talent; people are drawn to her.-

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She is highly respected among students of all ages and professions.

The seriousness and depth of training of students who passed the archaeological school of L. A. Chindina was manifested both within the walls of TSU and beyond: at all-Union, all-Russian, regional conferences, her students received diplomas, diplomas,prizes. A teacher's wealth is in his students. L. A. Chindina is always surrounded by them, because she combines the talent of a researcher and a teacher; she is generous in transmitting her knowledge and experience. Lyudmila Alexandrovna directs scientific works of applicants and postgraduates. Under her supervision, nine PhD theses and two doctoral theses were defended.

Lyudmila Alexandrovna Chindina is known not only as the greatest expert on ancient history, the author of monographic works, the discoverer and researcher of new bright monuments, but also as a recognized organizer of science, whose works and concerns the glorious city of Tomsk continues to be a Siberian archaeological Mecca, and Tomsk State University is still perceived as a bright scientific temple that periodically collects its collections of all the true champions and guardians of Siberian archeology.

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